Vision for Planting a Church in Every Neighborhood is 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!

For the City: A Community that Grows Together

This sermon continues the series on the vision of New City entitled, For the City.  We are not designed to grow on our own, but together in community.  God calls us into a community called a body of Christ, to love and honor one another, and to be on mission together.  What makes Christian community unique is not just in the way we interact with one another; it is in the way we interact with outsiders: we love them and serve them as we do insiders.  This sermon was delievered on September 4, 2011 at New City Church of LA.

For the City: The Who before the Do

This sermon by Kevin Haah continues the series on the vision of New City: For the City. We often try to serve out of guilt, duty, inspiration, or just trying to feel better about ourselves. But, none of these motivations to serve leads us to a sustainable and loving service. We must be motivated by the gospel-- that God has created all of us, even the weakest among us, in His image, that nothing we have is ours, and that we are sinners living in God's grace. We are called to soak in God's love and grace for us and demonstrate that same love and grace to others.

For the City: Seek the Shalom of the City

This message kicks off a vision sermon series called, For the City. What is God's call regarding how to respond to the city? God is not calling us to be AGAINST the city, or be OF the city, or just be IN the city. He is calling us to be FOR the city. From Jeremiah 29, Kevin shares with us God's command to "seek the shalom of the city." What does that mean and how do we do it? And where do we get the power to do it? Preached on August 21, 2011 at New City Church of LA as a part of the series, For the City.