Church planting can be a daunting task, especially for first timers. To help first-time church planters, Send Network Oklahoma provides guidance and materials to make the process of planting easier. One of the events offered is the Send Network ONE Day event which is hosted by numerous churches across the nation. Oklahoma City, Southern Hills hosted the event on Sept. 8, drawing in approximately 200 pastors, leaders and everyday followers of Christ.

ONE Day featured two main sessions–at the beginning and end of the day–with multiple breakout sessions between them.

In the first main session, Send Network Oklahoma Director Rusty Gunn encouraged participants to be “Groundbreakers in a Movement” rather than “Guardians of a Moment,” by being open to new methods of advancing the Gospel.

“Groundbreakers in a movement hold the Gospel message with a closed fist while holding methods with wide open hands,” Gunn said.

Preaching from the Scriptures, Gunn highlighted Numbers 11, where Moses rebuked Joshua for being closed to God’s movement among the Israelites. This is echoed in Mark 9, when the disciples attempted to stop those who were doing ministry but not following them. Jesus rebuked the disciples saying that “He who is not against us is for us.”

“We need more churches in Oklahoma,” Gunn said. “Not because Send Network needs more dots on a map, not because NAMB needs another statistic, not because Oklahoma Baptists need another success story for a video or article, but because there are over 2.5 million people in Oklahoma who are lost without Jesus.”

Breakouts were led by Doug Melton, Tyler Barnes, Ever Borunda, Luis Ruiz, Joey Dean, Rivers Partin, Chris Gulley and Chad Balthrop.

Two of the breakout sessions were offered for Hispanic pastors. The first was led by Luis Ruiz, Send Network Church Planting Catalyst and pastor of Oklahoma City, God’s Grace Baptist Church. Ruiz emphasized that God has entrusted every pastor and church with gifts and responsibilities, but the most important measure is faithfulness to what God has entrusted to us.

“We are not designed to hold on to, but send,” Ruiz said. “To send our best so that they can go and plant other churches.

Oklahoma City, Southern Hills Pastor Doug Melton led a breakout session focused on the topic of “Ministry Longevity.” Melton shared that the keys to ministry longevity and health is care for those in ministry and reach out to those who are lost.

“To be in the ministry for the long term, we need to keep loving the saints, be burdened for the lost and live in repentance,” Melton said. “Remaining close to the Lord is key to perseverance.”

Preceding the second main session, a panel of missionary church planters were interviewed about their calling and experience in planting churches in Oklahoma. Panelists were Jared Jackson from Verdigris, Church Inside Out and Logan Key from Mustang, Refuge Church

Concluding the ONE Day event, Oklahoma Baptists Executive Director-Treasurer Todd Fisher shared from Isaiah 6 in the second main session, reminding participants to stay focused on the mission and point the lost to Christ.

“There are no chairs in the temple because the priests’ work of continual sacrifices is never done,” Fisher said. “When Jesus paid the price for our sins once and for all, He sat down at the right hand of the Father.”

Fisher highlighted the greatness of the need noting that the greatest problem in the world is lostness; the greatness of the One who calls highlighting God’s holiness; the greatness of provision exclaiming that the Holy One has done everything needed for our sins to be forgiven and for us to be saved; and calling all to a response of humility, selflessness and obedience.

For more information about upcoming Send Network events in Oklahoma, visit https://www.oklahomabaptists.org/sendnetwork/