who sense the Lord calling them to Colorado to help us plant a church, I want you to know how truly unique you are.

who have to sell homes, look for jobs, determine where to live and a whole host of other challenges, you need to know you are special.

It’s not easy to leave what is known to travel to the unknown.  It is not easy to lay down what is comfortable for that which is uncomfortable.  It’s not normal to pick up one’s life and move it more than halfway across the country to serve people you have never met.

Yet, there is a team of people who are doing just that.  To the Joshua’s and Reh’s who are leaving friends and family to help people meet Christ, I say thank you.  To the Jamison’s and Angie’s who are leaving schools and workplaces to find a new community to reach, I say thank you.  To the Addison’s and Caroline’s who are giving up rising careers to write a different story, I say thank you.  To the Brittainy’s and Lauren’s who are willing to give up so much to help those who are lost be found, I say thank you.  To the Sharp’s, Stichweh’s and Kloter’s who are building  the foundations of their marriages on trusting God with a HUGE leap of faith, I say thank you.  To the many families and individuals who are going with us, I say thank you.

Thank you for being unique.  Thank you for being obedient.  Thank you for answering the call to be laborers in a new harvest field filled with fruit.

Thank you.

Since we announced that we are planting a church, we have had so many people offer their prayers.  On numerous occasions I have been asked “What specifically can we be praying for?”

I am always encouraged when people ask that question because it reminds me that I have people in my corner who are supporting us and caring for us.  The challenge with the question is that depending on the day, the specific need might look different.

So, what I have decided to do is post the prayer calendar that Sara and I have created.  Just recently, we decided that we wanted each day of the week to have a specific church planting focus for us to pray for.  I thought I would share these here so you could join us in these prayers.

From the outset, I want to say thank you.  I firmly believe that prayer is our most effective weapon, so thank you for praying for us and the church plant.

Monday: The People of Denver Who Are Not Following Christ

Pray that God would draw those who don’t know Him toward Himself.  Pray that we would find favor with those who are un-churched or de-churched.  Pray that God would radically transform the lives of the millions who call Denver home.

Tuesday: Spiritual Warfare

Please pray that God would protect us from the schemes of the enemy and uphold us during the trials we will face.  God is good and we know He will not leave us throughout this journey, but we also know the battle we will be entering is real.  Please pray that we will be fully equipped to engage in this warfare.

Wednesday: Transition

Please pray for the transition.  Pray for our house to sell and that we would find a new house in God’s timing.  Pray for us to finish well at Seacoast and MUSC and begin well in Denver.  Please lift up our kids during this move and ask God to draw us closer as a family.

Thursday: Wisdom on Timeline and Where to Plant

We need God’s wisdom on where to plant the church and the exact timeline.  We believe that God wants us on the south side of the city, but we are not 100% sure where at this point.  We also are trying to discern the wisest time to start the church to be the most fruitful in the Denver culture.

Friday: Favor with Christ-followers

There are a lot of great churches in Denver and great people who love Jesus.  We are asking for God to bring us in partnership and alignment with those He wants us in relationship with.  We want to learn from those who have gone before us and want to partner with those who seek to make God’s Kingdom come.  Please pray for God to grant us favor with these individuals and churches.

Saturday: Finances

Please pray that God will provide financially for the church, our family and the other families and individuals moving out there with us.  We know God is calling us to do this, so we know He will provide.  God has all the money, we just need those He wants to participate in this to be obedient to His leading. Please pray for His releasing of favor in this area.

Sunday: Seacoast

As we transition to a new place, that means there are transitions happening at Seacoast Church as well. Please pray for Seacoast.  Pray that God would continue giving wisdom and direction to the leadership.  Pray for His favor to fall upon this place like the world has never seen.  Pray that God would bless the generosity and willingness of Seacoast to release so many people to a new city to plant. Pray for God to continue doing what He has been doing with Seacoast for so many years, using this church to impact the lives of tens of thousands.

That’s the schedule.  It’s pretty simple.  If anything changes with it, I will let you know.  Thank you for joining us in seeking God in these areas.

In the latest post, I revealed the values that Sara and I were looking for in a city to plant a church.  Once we identified the 5 values we wanted in a city, we made a very short list of cities that matched those values in the US.

We then placed Denver on the top of our list, simply because of my love for the Broncos, and we placed Miami number two on the list because it was the more un-reached city on the list.  I know…differing reasons to place these two at the top of the list.  Don’t judge me. J

We decided that after visiting both cities, if we didn’t fall in love with either one, then we would move to the next two cities on the list.  What we didn’t account for is if we fell in love with both cities, which is exactly what happened.   Now we were faced with a dilemma.

What do you do when you have two choices in front of you that are both great choices?

Rarely have I been in this situation before.  In marriage, I had one great choice.  In choosing a church to work at, I had one great choice.  In college, well only one chose me, so that was my great choice.

As Sara and I discussed day after day what we sensed the Lord telling us, there were many things that lead us toward Denver, but there was one thing that sealed our decision.

In Denver, God seemed to be stoking more of a fire for us than He was in Miami.

I don’t mean that God gave us a burning bush experience or that we felt extreme heat in Denver, but rather God was already up to something in Denver and was welcoming us to be a part.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  God is doing some great things in Miami. There are some phenomenal churches in Miami and God is moving in mighty ways and we believe there are church planters that God is stoking a unique fire for in Miami, it just wasn’t us at this time.

We sensed God was doing something unique in Denver and He was inviting us to be a part of it.

Pastor Greg Surratt has taught over the year, Instead of moving in a direction and asking God to bless where you are going, try to find out where God is already blessing and see if He will let you join Him.  For us, God was already blessing Denver in some unique ways and it seemed pretty apparent that He was going to allow us to join in that blessing.

After we processed that God was already stoking a fire in Denver and was allowing us to be a part of what He was blessing, our choice was easy.  We made a long, arduous decision by simply relying on the belief that if God is already blessing something and He would allow us to be a part, then we should jump on board.

How about you?  What decisions are you faced with today?  Do you have two great opportunities in front of you?

If so, then my encouragement to you is to find out where God is blessing and see if He’ll allow you to be a part of that movement.  Life is great when we join God where He is blessing.  Find out where and GO!!

Since making the announcement that we are moving to Denver, Colorado to plant a new church, I have had a barrage of questions.  Some have been humorous, others serious, most of them deserving an answer.

Besides the question “Are you going to sell your golf cart?” (NO! We are keeping that thing and putting some awesome snow tires on it), the question we have received more than any other is…

Why Denver?

This is a legitimate question.  Out of all the cities in the world, well, really the US, why would we choose Denver, Colorado?  Some have taken their best guess…

“It’s because of the Broncos, right?” …well, there may be some truth to that.

“It’s because you want to live in the mountains!” …doesn’t hurt.

“It’s because they just legalized marijuana, right?” …maybe if I was 17 years younger, that one would count.

So, why did we choose Denver?

As Sara and I were praying about where God wanted us to plant, since we didn’t feel a specific tugging to one specific city at that time, the best advice we received was “Choose a city you want to live in the rest of your lives.”

This was great advice because our plan is to live in Denver for more than just a couple years, so we wanted to make sure we chose a place that we would enjoy living.

Therefore, one evening, while eating dinner and looking over the Charleston harbor, Sara and I made a list of values that we wanted in a city.  I am going to lay out these five values within this post and then have a follow-up post explaining why Denver over the other cities that matched these values.

5 Values We Wanted In a City (I will list these in order that we said them, although that doesn’t mean these are in order of importance. These were all important to us. Sara went first)

1.   Warm Weather (Sara said the coldest she would go is Denver, Colorado…although there is a drastic difference between the “wet” cold of Charleston and the “dry” cold of Denver).

2.   A city large enough to support at least 2 professional sports franchises (Not just because I love sports but because I love large cities…large cities = lots of people who need to meet Jesus.  Denver has multiple sports franchises)

3.   Water (Although Sara would love to have a beach, Denver has lots of water…the frozen kind )

4.   A city that has an un-churched population of 85% or higher (Denver is 88-95% depending on where in the Metro area)

5.   A city that does not have a lot of mega-churches OR many, healthy church plants (although Denver has a lot of GREAT churches, and some are really large, I have also been told that it is a church planter’s graveyard.  When people say this they mean many church plants don’t succeed)

These were the five values that drove our search for a city.  These were the 5 values that helped us answer the question “Why Denver?”

I think we have all had this experience at some point in our life.  For me, I had this experience yesterday.

I woke up yesterday morning and one of my immediate thoughts was “Tonight is the last theWell that I am speaking at.”  For those who don’t know, theWell is our college/20 somethings ministry I helped create 5 years ago.  It has been the primary ministry that I have invested in “hands-on” over the last 5 years.

When my thoughts went to theWell yesterday morning, I was immediately hit with sadness.  I knew this day was coming for a while.  Ever since we told God we would plant a church, I knew this day would come, but now here it is.

This was a day I was dreading.  To say goodbye to so many people.  To say goodbye to a ministry that my family and I have poured so much into.  To say goodbye to a community that I knew had my back.  It was a day I didn’t want to see come, but one that I knew was inevitable.

Yesterday, as I processed all the emotions, all the memories, all the future hope for theWell, I came to the conclusion that three things will help make this day be one that is not just bearable, but fruitful.  Maybe these three things will encourage you when you are in a time of transition…

First,

Thank God for the Opportunity

If it wasn’t for God’s grace and mercy, I would have never had the opportunity to be a part of leading something like theWell.  If it wasn’t for Seacoast trusting me and giving me the chance with the ministry, then I would never have seen this community grow and reach so many.

Nothing I have been a part of is because I am unique or super gifted.  Everything I have been blessed to be a part of is because God has allowed me the opportunity, so I must thank Him for that.

Second,

Celebrate the People Who Made it Happen

Without other people in my life and in the ministry, there is no chance that theWell is anything at all.  Without the men, like Pastors Greg Surratt, Geoff Surratt and Mac Lake, who have mentored me I would not be a leader that anyone would follow.  Without the staff and volunteers who helped start theWell, like Chris and Abbi Russo, Mel Alm, Garrett and Lauren Abel, Aubrey Atkinson, Frank and Abbey Robertson and sooo many others, there would be no foundation for us to have built upon.  Without the staff and volunteers who labor every week, like Jonny and Janna Sharp, Wes and Lia Stichweh, Brandon and Brittany Lake, Ashley Wiebers, Glenn (Larry) Coltharp and the list could go on and on, there would be nothing for people to come to on Monday night, no small groups for people to grow in their faith through, no mission trips to take part in, no parties to build community.  And, without the support of my wife and the sacrifice of my family, I would not have been able to lead in the way that God called me to.

From the depth of my heart…THANK YOU to everyone who has made theWell a ministry that has sought to Love God, Love Others and Be the Change.

Lastly,

Let Truth Be Your Goodbye

When I was contemplating and praying about what that last message would be about, I sensed that I simply needed to leave everyone with some truths that will challenge everyone to keep seeking the Lord and living for Him.

I could have simply said good bye by talking about all the good things that God has done. I could have talked about how much more there is to do.  What I wanted to share were some simple truths that allowed the ministry to bring glory to God and help create change in others.  Allowing truth to be your goodbye allows others to focus on what’s truly important…not the person leaving, but the One who remains.

What would you add to this list to help someone make a transition?

If there is no picture for you, then just refresh the page. Thanks.

I see this time being important for 3 reasons:

1. We want to share the vision God has given to us and fill everyone in on the details we have up to this point.
2. Building community as a launch team will be essential, so we want to start early.
3. We want to share next steps for all those who are considering going with us.

If you are interested in hearing more about the plant or you have already decided that you would like to go reach Denver for Christ, then please join us on May 5^th at 2pm.  If you would like to come, please e-mail me (ernestsmith@seacoast.org) so that I can give you directions and so we will have enough food and drinks for everyone.

Hope to see you on Sunday!

This weekend, Pastor Greg Surratt invited me up on stage at Seacoast Church to commission us to go plant a church in Denver, Colorado.  For more information on our announcement to plant a church, check out my earlier post.  This commissioning from pastor Greg showed me two things.

          1.       Pastor Greg is a godly leader that I desire to be like. 

Over the last year, I have met many church planters who did not have a good experience as they left their current church to go plant a church.  Many times their senior leader was not supportive and did not bless the church planter as they left.

As I heard these stories, I knew this was not going to be my experience at Seacoast.  Pastor Greg is the real deal.  He is a man who truly wants God’s Kingdom to come and not his own.  He wants to support the dreams and calling of others in his life.  He is a man who is an authentic representation of Christ.

In 1 Corinthians 11:1, Paul makes a statement that I believe Pastor Greg could say…“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ”. 

The second thing the commissioning showed me was…

          2.       God’s grace has brought me a long way.

There are too many times in my life where I focus more on how far I need to go, rather than how far I have come.   This weekend was not one of those times.

For a moment of time, I was able to reflect back on how far God has brought me.  Seacoast was the first church I felt comfortable at.  It was the first church that explained to me the truth about Jesus Christ.

It was at Seacoast that I came to love the Word of God and serving His people.  It was at Seacoast that I have seen God throw off many chains in my life.  It was at Seacoast that I have come to discover my gifting and ministry.

I still have a long way to go, but this weekend, I was able to pause long enough to see that God’s grace has brought me a long way.

Take time today to remember how far God has brought you.  You may still have a ways to go, but don’t forget how far you’ve come. 

Now that we have told everyone we are heading to Denver, CO, I wanted to share some of the process of how we came to the conclusion that we were to plant a church.

Have you ever had a time where you had buyer’s remorse?  Maybe it was after you bought that car.  Maybe it was after you paid too much for something at a garage sale.  Maybe it was after taking that girl to the prom.   You know, that feeling you get deep down in your gut after you have made a decision that you might not be able to take back.   Well, I didn’t want that feeling after making this decision, so our process was long and arduous.

For over 3 years, I have been sensing a discontentment in my heart.  I didn’t know if that discontentment was with my job, where we were living or something else I couldn’t discern.  Whatever it was, it was bothering me.

So, I did what I normally do…I began processing in a logical way.  Two years ago, the church allowed me to take a one month sabbatical.  I was so grateful to have this time to pray and reflect on what God was saying to me and I was determined to find an answer to my discontentment.

While sitting in a mountain house with no family or friends around, I hung 3 large post-it notes on the wall.  I then wrote the words “Seacoast”, “Church Planting” and “Full-Time Missions” on separate sheets.  Each sheet represented what I thought Sara and I could do the rest of our lives.

I systematically went through each possibility and wrote out pros and cons. I then identified which of the pros were selfish and which were biblical.  For example, if I were to stay at Seacoast, it would be comfortable to live in Charleston because of our family, friends and everything we know in life is there.  This was not bad, but it was more of a selfish pro than a biblical one.

Then I went through the cons and marked the ones that I felt stemmed from fear.  For example, if I were to go plant a church, who’s to say I would “succeed”?  Maybe we would fail miserably and then we would be broke, with no friends and living on the streets. (my mind can wander far from reality if I allow it)  Not a godly thought, but a thought provoked by fear.

After walking through this exercise, I stepped back and the option that seemed to be best for us was to plant a church.  Now, this is how I normally work, logically, but I remember hearing Pastor Greg Surratt say one time “You should never go plant a church unless you wake up every single day and that is all you can think about.”

At that point, I couldn’t say that was true for me, but that was the place where God began to birth a desire to plant.

It wasn’t until eight months later that I could say that all I could think about was planting a church and on January 25^th, 2012, I prayed “God, if you want Sara and I to go plant a church, we are ready.  Use us in whatever way you want.  We are ready.”

It might have felt like this process was too slow at times.  It would have been nice to have prayed that prayer of submission earlier in the process.  It would have been great to know why I had feelings of discontentment years earlier.  Yet the process was perfect.

Ultimately, the process drew me closer to God.

Have you ever been in a difficult decision making process and had a tough time hearing from God?  Have you ever wondered why God didn’t just answer your questions in the timing you wanted?

I’ve learned that the most important thing about the process is not the answer one receives, but the dependency on God it creates.  The process forced me to my knees in desperation for God to answer.  The process allowed me to use my intellect, as well as listen for the still small voice of God.  The process challenged me to pray and fast at a level I had never done before.

The process allowed me to truly know and live out Proverbs 3:5-6, which states,

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Although I would have preferred the process to have been different at times, I am thankful for the final result…especially the result that God has created in me.

What process are you walking through right now? 

What is God trying to teach you through the experience you are currently going through? 

Over 17 years ago, I walked into Seacoast Church for the first time.  I was lost, hurting, angry, broken and looking for something more.  I immediately felt accepted, wanted, but more than that, I knew this was a community of people who had discovered something I had not.  Through the love and grace of many, I came to discover the transforming power of Jesus Christ.  My life has never been the same.

It was at Seacoast where…

…I came to discover God’s love and grace.

…I led my first small group.

…I led my first person to Christ.

…I learned to be generous.

…I found true community.

…I was given my first chance in full-time vocational ministry.

…I preached my first sermon.

…I was given the permission to fail and the opportunity to succeed.

…I met my wife, Sara.

…we got married.

…we dedicated our first child.

…I continually experienced the presence and power of God.

Needless to say, I LOVE Seacoast Church, which is what makes writing this so difficult.

Several months ago, I began sensing God was going to close this chapter of our lives.  I didn’t know what that meant or what would come next.  All I knew was that He was beginning to stir something new in my heart.

I began to dream about leading a church.  I began to think about what it would look like to plant a church some place.  As I shared these thoughts with Sara, she was sensing the same thing.  We didn’t know what the next steps were going to be.  We didn’t know what planting a church looked like.  All we knew was that God was drawing us to do something different, to plant a church.

I knew I needed to talk with Pastor Greg Surratt, Senior Pastor of Seacoast Church, and share with him what we were sensing God was saying.  His response was truly amazing.  He told me that he would love for us to stay at Seacoast, but he always knew God was going to call us to plant a church.  He told me he was completely supportive of us and would help us throughout the process.

We have been truly blessed by Pastor Greg’s support, not only throughout this process, but over the last 17 years of being under his leadership.  He truly is the real deal.  He is a man of God who desires God’s best for every person and I can honestly say that I would not be the man or leader that I am today without his leadership and influence in my life.

After talking with Pastor Greg, Sara and I began a fun process of trying to determine what city we were going to be planting a church in.  We identified the values that we wanted in a city and then chose a short list of cities in the United States that matched those values.  We prayed over the list and decided to visit the top two on that list.

After visiting both cities, we fell in love with both.  We had hoped that God would clearly tell us which city to move to, but He seemed to leave that door wide open.  We sensed Him telling us “The reason you are going to either city is for the right reason, to plant a church.  So, neither city is the wrong city.  Just pick the one you want to live in the most.”  As we processed this, we made a decision.  It was an 8 month process, but we finally received clarity.

This summer, Sara and I will be leaving great jobs, a great church, great friends, great family and a beautiful city that we were both born in to plant a church in Denver, Colorado.  We are excited about this new journey and the opportunity we are going to have to learn more about God and each other while introducing thousands of people to the transforming love and power of God.

To say we are excited is an understatement.  Yet with our excitement comes a sense of nervousness, sadness, and uncertainty.  We are going to miss our church family very much.  We are going to miss our friends and neighbors.  We are going to miss our family.

We still have a lot of questions that we would like God to answer for us.  Yet, we continue to trust God in this process.  We know that He will give us the wisdom that we need and will lead us in this new adventure.  We firmly believe that He will be our comfort, our guide, our sustainer through it all and it is in seasons like this where we are able to see God’s provision and presence in new ways.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.  I will be writing more blog posts about the process we have been in and the development of the church.  I would love for you to continue this journey with us.  If you would like to be a part of this journey, here are a few things you can do.

1. Pray that God would guide us in our decision making, prepare the hearts of the people we will meet in Colorado, give us favor with those we meet along the way, provide financially for us as a family and the sustaining of the church, be our source of comfort as we miss home, build community within a different community and experience the presence of God like never before.
2. Pray for our families, friends, Seacoast Church and theWell ministry.
3. Be a source of encouragement for my family and for those who will go with us.
4. Pray about joining us.  We believe that God will call some to go with us. Maybe you will be one of those. Pray about it.
5. Follow us on this journey.  You can subscribe to my blog and receive updates involving the church plant through the blog.

We are excited about the future and I want to say thank you to Pastor Greg Surratt for helping us along this journey. Your support has been more than all we could ask or imagine.  Thank you!

Let the journey begin!!!!