Confluence Community Church | Lewiston, ID

• Jeff Pernsteiner
• May 17, 2010
• Series: Church Profiles
• Categories: Church Planting Articles

Briefly describe your story of your call to plant a church

I fell in love with two different things. I fell in love with the Gospel and I fell in love with my community. As my wife and I spent many, many hours praying and contemplating what the Lord would have us do with those two loves we ultimately found ourselves kicking around the idea of planting a church.

We took several years to think about and pray this one through. God eventually made it clear to us that He wanted us to step out by faith and start up this church so that's what we did.

How did you build up your core? What advice would you give to guys in the core-stage? 

Get your heart right with Jesus. Choose Him as your one true passion. You will going through a whole spectrum of emotions. You will have weeks where you think you're the most amazing person on the planet and weeks where you wonder why on earth you ever thought you could make it as a church planter. But when your greatest prize is Jesus, that will sustain you.

And pray your fool head off. Give me a man with a great prayer life and a lousy strategy and you can have a man with a great strategy and no prayer life, and I guarantee my guy kicks your guys' tail. You won't build a single thing worth talking about if you are not continually on your face before the throne.

What were the biggest challenges you faced in planting your church (and/or currently facing)? 

Without question the biggest challenge has been time. Since the church couldn't pay me a salary I had to take on a full-time job to pay the bills. By the time I worked my 50 hours a week on the tent making job and then came home and took care of all the family matters I had very little time for the church. I worked long and slept little. Those first six months were without question the hardest six months of my life.

How did you become involved with Acts 29? What have been the biggest benefits of being in the network? 

I was attending a pastor's conference in Texas back in 2006. It was the first time I had been introduced to Mark Driscoll. I began to explore the network at that point. The more I got to know Acts 29 the more I appreciated their commitment to the truth of God's word and their zeal for the lost.

I have loved the sharpening that has come from being a part of this. There are some great men of God I get to rub shoulders with regularly as I work within the network. I have grown personally and ministerially because of it.

What advice do you have for men who are wrestling with the decision to plant? 

I have always appreciated George Mueller's approach to finding the will of God. Listen to how he put it, "I seek at the beginning to get my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to a given matter. Nine-tenths of the trouble with people generally is just here. Nine-tenths of the difficulties are over come when our hearts are ready to do the Lord's will, whatever it may be. When one is truly in this state, it is usually but a little way to the knowledge of what His will is."

How do you pastor your family? 

The verse that has impacted the most on family living comes from Deuteronomy 6. The idea of talking about Christ and His word and His love throughout the day is huge. When I rise, and lie down, when I sit at home and when I walk along the way. These are the best times for shepherding my family.

Outside of the Bible, what is the most helpful book you have read for church planting?

It's not a book, it's sermon series by Tim Keller, "Preaching from the Heart"

How can we pray for you? 

Pray that people get saved.

Church Profile: Confluence Community Church 
Launch Date: October, 2008
Location: Lewiston, ID

Mission, Vision, Values of Church 

We exist to Love God, Love Others, Preach the Gospel and Make Disciples.

What is your philosophy of community in your church and what does that look like practically in your church? Of evangelism? 

One of the key tenets of our church is this concept of Loving Others. We are forever encourage people to grow in their love for others. The more we emphasize this the more our people are inclined to live out what it means to be in Biblical and the more they are engaged in bringing people to Christ.

Functionally, we do Community Groups. But it's the love of others that we really emphasize.

What are some examples of God's grace that you have seen in your life and/or the life of your church? 

We have been blessed with a fantastic core group. We have so many wonderful people who are committed to the Lord. This has been one of the best parts so far. Unity is an all the time thing here. I know this can be uncommon. I am quite grateful for it.