Inception at Restoration

INCEPTION, an Acts29 (church planting network) regional event was hosted yesterday at Restoration Church in Amherst, NY.  The open event was targeting those who are interested in church planting or who are in the first years of it. J.R. Vassar, the founding pastor of Apostle's Church in New York City was the keynote speaker of the event that brought together a mostly young crowd of church planters. Vassar encouraged attendees to fulfill their role in God's plan for their city and stay within the bounds of what God had called them to do, not more, not less. Citing the life of John the Baptist who said, 'I must decrease, he must increase' and was a friend of the Bridegroom, Vassar exhorted the mostly young crowd of church planters from Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany and NYC to not over extend what God had called them to do, relieving some of the pressure that church planters typically are under. Breakout sessions were included during the event with tracks including:
       
          Option #1 - "Funding a vision" - Alex Adema and GCM
          Option #2 - "Your Priesthood" (Breakout for worship & creative types) - Wes Walters, Scott Womer, Jim Murphy
          Option #3 - "The Team" - w/Jordan Stinziano.

The day finished with a message from J. R. Vassar on Exegeting Your Culture, where he exhorted pastors and teachers to understand what the culture is telling their people and how to speak into it and make a stark contrast between what culture is telling people to do and what Jesus is calling people to.