The Vision to Plant a Church in Every Neighborhood in Metro LA is Picking Up Momentum

God has been growing New City Church of LA and I believe we have become an inclusive gospel-centered community here in downtown.  But our vision is not just for downtown.  We want to spur a church planting movement in Los Angeles so that there is a gospel driven church in every neighborhood in Metro Los Angeles.  There are 114 neighborhoods in the City of LA and with the surrounding Metro LA communities, there are about 200 neighborhoods.  Some of these neighborhoods are as small as 10,000 and some are as large as 220,000 people.  We want to plant a neighborhood church that brings people together in every neighborhood, that becomes the light of Jesus in that neighborhood, that preaches the good news of Jesus in that neighborhood, and that becomes good news by serving that neighborhood.

We are going to do this in partnership with Stadia, a non-denominational church planting organization. They have committed to put in $50,000 per every church plant with LA CPN.

God has blessed this vision.  We have put together 10 churches so far that are committed to this vision.  We are calling it the Los Angeles Church Planting Network.  The churches that have committed to this vision are:

New City Church of LA
Christian Assembly
Shepherd of the Hills
Discovery Church
Real Life Church
First Christian Church of Newbury Park
Knott Ave Church
Diamond Canyon Church
Park Ave Church
Huntington Beach Christian Church

I believe we are just getting started.  We are talking to more churches and more individuals.  If you know churches that might be interested, please let me know.  Among these churches, we have raised over $240,000 for the first church plant (including Stadia's contribution).  And we are on our way to raising the money needed to plant the second church plant.  Our goal is to plant 1-2 churches every year.

Please keep this in your prayers!

I want to encourage you to listen to this message.  It is a sermon entitled, "Seek the Shalom of the City," and kicks off our series on the vision of New City called, For the City.  It lays down one of the things that is at the heart of New City, and in particular, why participating in our Grow and Serve Group is so important.  This is a very important sermon on why New City exists.

Major Launch of a New Kind of Small Group at New City: Grow and Serve Groups

We are launching new groups this fall called Grow & Serve Groups. These groups will replace Community Groups and become the basic building blocks of the church. The goal of the Grow and Serve Groups will be twofold: to grow together AND serve the city, in other words, to become a discipling community that is on mission for God.

Click HERE for the Grow & Serve Groups FALL 2011 Catalog.  We have 13 new groups.  It's a perfect time join a small group.  The groups are 13 weeks long (9/11-12/15).  Click here if you want to find a group.

FAQs re Grow and Serve Groups

New Series at New City: FOR THE CITY

We are starting an important vision series this Sunday called, For the City.  This is a series on what it means to be a part of the gospel movement in Los Angeles where we not only share the good news but be the good news by serving the city.  This is an important series to clarify our vision as we move towards the launch of Grow and Serve Groups.  Please join us!

A Community Prayer Vigil for Baby Marcello who was Killed at Artwalk Last Night

My heart is broken for baby Marcello Vasquez, the 2-month old baby killed last night at Artwalk.  He was crushed by a falling parking meter which was hit by a car.  It was an accident.

I think we all feel the need for the downtown community to come together to mourn the death of baby Marcello and pray for the family.  So, we are calling the community to gather for a candlelight prayer vigil tonight at 8pm at 4th and Spring, the site of the accident.

What is a gospel-centered church?

Here is a blog I found from RethinkMission.org on the question of "What is a gospel-centered church?"  I think he is right on.  Check it out:

A movement has begun among a diverse group of evangelical churches. Simply, one by one, pastors are coming to the realization that they are not preaching the gospel.

Pause.

Christian churches that do not preach the gospel? Wait. Are they teaching anti-Christian doctrine? Satanism? Snake-handling? Neo-shamanism? (I don’t really even know what neo-shamanism is, but it sure sounds cool.)

Often, it’s not that these churches have fallen into some gross heresy. Most likely, it’s just that over time, they’ve let the gospel slip in favor of another way to try to draw people and change people.

A few of the most prevalent things I’ve seen that can crowd out the gospel:

Moralism – using fear, rules, and commands as the basis for discouraging sin and encouraging holy living, which sadly results in increased self-righteousness among rule-keepers and absolute despair in those who are unable to live up.

Pragmatism – when in an effort to reach new people, church leaders spend more time teaching helpful techniques or useful principles than actually pointing people to the only thing that has real power to change both hearts and lives.

Political agendas – out of a desire to get involved in the public square and to influence policy, Christians of every political stripe often begin to equate the spread of the gospel with the growth of a specific political party or platform.

What’s tricky is that usually these –isms start with a noble aspiration: a desire to help people change & grow, a desire to reach out to people far from God, a desire to use influence to change the way things are done.

Unfortunately when something other than God is our primary goal, no matter how good that goal is, we will eventually start taking short cuts to get what we want accomplished.

A gospel-centered church understands that change or transformation of any kind, especially authentic heart-transformation, cannot happen apart from the gospel of grace.

A gospel-centered church roots and keeps the focus of all its activity – teaching, worship, outreach, social activism, and discipleship – honed in on the gospel: the riches of the grace of God available because of the sacrificial death of Jesus for sinners.

Because of this, a gospel-centered church is committed to:

• Reading & teaching the entire Bible in light of the gospel.
• Preaching the gospel to believers, not just unbelievers.
• Leaders applying the gospel to themselves first; church leaders are the first repenters.
• Cultivating a leadership culture marked by ever increasing “gospel astonishment.”
• Being known for an atmosphere of grace; gospel-centered churches are safe places for seekers, skeptics and those outside of the faith.
• Producing people who don’t just know the doctrine of the gospel but who love the person of Jesus Christ.

These are the themes that we are committed to fleshing out together in greater detail at Rethink Mission.

At the end of the day, grace isn’t just something we “get” and the cross is not just some object in time. These things hinge on a person. At the center of it all is a person.

Jesus.

In an age when his name is easily tossed around or relegated to some minor point of doctrine used to win arguments and manipulate people, we long for the day when Jesus is seen for what he is: the hero of the story.

Studying Missional Community as a Vehicle for Discipleship and Serving the City

We are in the process of studying, reading, listening, strategizing, and discussing the missional community model for growing together and serving the city.  This video is by a guy named Mike Breen and I am starting to learn from him.  Check it out.

Mike Breen: What is a missional community? from Verge Network on Vimeo.