Every movement begins with a remnant.

How a small group of people can change the landscape of human history...

As a church planter, I live in the book of Acts. If you’ve never really heard my story before, the book of Acts was the spark that ignited the vision within my heart and soul as a college student in Atlanta. Reading Luke’s record of the mission of Jesus through the early church led me to the deepest “holy discontent” I’ve ever felt… I was grieved. I was haunted. I was hungry. What for? New Testament Christianity.

I could not understand why I had to settle for a version of following Jesus that was less than that of the early church. Why did my everyday experience have to be more shallow? I had no biblical reason to suspect that I had to replace true spiritual power with hype. I wanted to be transformed deeply and permanently. I wanted to be part of a disciple-making movement that saw the Kingdom of Heaven come near to places that were dark and whole families, neighborhoods, and cities transformed as a result.

This is the ONLY logical place to end up if you allow the Scriptures to shape your expectation rather than your experience.

After being captivated by Jesus and His mission, I went on a deep dive into HOW Jesus went about establishing and expanding His movement. That’s when, at 21 years old, I discovered church planting. Since then, all of my focus and intention have been directed towards leveraging the whole of my life to start and multiply churches that worship Jesus, form people, and renew cities—one heart, one home, one neighborhood at a time.

One of the things I’ve noticed about the way God has worked throughout human history and the way Jesus designed His missional movement through the local church was this: It always starts with a remnant.

God started with a couple in the garden. Then he chose a family in Abraham. Then, he chose a nation in Israel.

Then he sent Jesus to usher in His Kingdom. Jesus chose His disciples/apostles to partner with Him. He commissioned them to expand His Kingdom through disciple-making and church-planting.

God is now increasingly redeeming and restoring His world through His people—the Church—in the power of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus returns to fully consummate His Kingdom and restore His creation, He will do so with His Bride, His remnant, the Church. They will rule and reign together for eternity.

God, in His sovereign will and grace, has chosen to operate according to this pattern: Every movement began with a remnant.

“When they arrived, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. They all were continually united in prayer, along with the women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers… When the day of Pentecost had arrived they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying…” —Acts 1:13-14, 2:1-2

The question that always crosses my mind as I read this passage about the upper room remnant is this: Who wasn’t in the room that could have been? What names aren’t listed that could’ve been but aren’t because they walked away or didn’t stay through the beginning?

You know how beginnings are… They’re not very attractive to most people. They want to be somewhere established, efficient, well-resourced, and professionally led. It’s human nature to let things move through the unsafe/uncertain and step into them when we can guarantee a smooth experience. The reality of beginnings is that they simply don’t look and work like that.

• They’re awkward. You have various personalities and groups of people that don’t necessarily “mesh”. It’s a group of people who have individually experienced and bought into a mission and vision but don’t necessarily know or care about one another… yet.

• They’re disorganized. You don’t have all the systems in place. Even if you do have systems or structures, you don’t have professionals to run or lead things. Often, they’re normal, everyday people who are passionate and full of faith, hope, and optimism but that doesn’t necessarily equate to proficiency. People are learning on the go and wearing several hats—many of which they aren’t skilled in.

• They’re uncertain. You may have a dream, but dreams cost resources—money, people, connections, opportunities, and open doors. In the beginning, those resources are minimal. Many movements began on a day-to-day, week-to-week basis of just trying to make it. Their vision and dreams far outpace their resources.

But imagine if there were no beginnings. If there weren’t people who were willing to wade through the awkwardness, the disorganization, the uncertainty. There would be no movements. Why? Because every movement begins with a remnant… a committed community of people united around a common mission and vision to birth something new that blesses people and impacts the world.

There have been around 3 billion self-proclaimed Christians in the history of the world, but it all began with this small group of people huddled in a single room, united in prayer. A small group of people pulling Heaven down into the streets of their city and carrying it to the nations. And look at what has happened:

Acts 1-2 - 20ish (named) 120 (estimated)

AD150 - 40,000

AD200 - 218,000

AD250 - 1.17 Million

AD1000 - 150 Million

AD2025 - 2.4 Billion

We are standing in the exponential effect of a small group of people’s faithfulness. As we launch Kingdom City Church this fall, we are praying that the God who poured out His Spirit in Jerusalem at Pentecost would pour out His Spirit in Atlanta… not so Kingdom City Church will be “successful” but so the trajectory of the Kingdom of Heaven in our city can shift and people can see the redemptive power of Jesus on full display in their hearts, their homes, our neighborhoods, our city, and among the nations. But we know this: It’ll all start with a remnant.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.” —Margaret Mead