Love Is Oxygen for the Soul

October 10, 2022

The concept of love transcends time, culture and geographical location. Love can calm the greatest storms in life, bring joy to those in mourning, and not to mention cover a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). I believe love is oxygen for the soul.

Love Is Oxygen for the Soul

The concept that love is oxygen is something that I’ve been processing for awhile now, so much so that it is the focus of one of my books. Why? Because I believe love is one of the greatest forces the world has ever seen. The greatest example of it? Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for the sake of those who didn’t deserve an ounce of it.

Love is powerful. Love is contagious. Love is Jesus.

“But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” 1 John 4:8

Jesus is by far the truest definition of love itself. And while many people choose to withhold this vibrant force from others, our calling as Christ followers is to showcase it regardless of the circumstances. All throughout scripture we find Jesus and his disciples showcasing love to people whom others saw as unworthy. This truth paints such a beautiful picture of who Jesus really is and what his mission was throughout his years of earthly ministry. We’re called to reflect this image on a daily basis. A life without love is a life without Jesus himself.

God created us in his image, which means the force of love lives within us, fuels our souls and continuously transforms us from the inside out. We are image-bearers of God. We are called to be image-bearers of love.

I truly believe that the more people would choose to showcase love to one another, the better a place this world would truly become. The Gospel of Jesus is found within the interlinings of love. Why? Because Jesus himself is love in action. It’s the fabric of his being.

7 Attributes of a Great Worship Leader

Ron Edmondson

October 10, 2022

I’ve been blessed with many a great worship leader and the pastors with whom to work. I’ve worked with enough now to form some opinions of what makes a great one.

7 Attributes of a Great Worship Leader

1. Humble

They love Jesus and attempt to walk with Him daily. They are willing to let others help lead, because it’s not about them—it’s about Jesus. And, they don’t have to always be center stage.

2. Strategic

They think through the planning of a service from start to finish. They are conscious of the need to remove distractions and give people the best opportunity to potentially engage in worship.

3. Cooperative

I once worked with a worship leader who could not handle a change. I believe in planning. I also believe the Spirit of God can work in our planning process. But it’s very difficult to allow God’s Spirit to reign when we are the ones in control of the service. The bond between the teaching pastor and the worship pastor is so important. In fact, the ability to form chemistry with them may be my most important quality when seeking a worship leader.

4. Faithful

In this one, I really mean a willingness to walk by faith—even when it’s uncomfortable. A good worship pastor can lead people to respond, but it is one position in the church where there are multiple opinions of their “performance. ” The worship pastor is subject to receiving criticism as much or more than the pastor. It can be a challenging position for anyone who thrives on popularity. A great worship leader focuses more on the call of God in their work than in the comfort of the position or the response of the people.

Tending Small Group Ministry – the Soil of the Church

Sean Buono

October 9, 2022

This article will summarizes and expands upon a book written by Jim Wilder and Michael Hendricks: The Other Half of Church. Here are a few points to help grow your small group ministry. Based on the guidance provided within the book The Other Half, let us explore three vital concepts that can be extracted from their text and why they are important.

Tending Small Group Ministry – the Soil of the Church

1. Small Group Ministry: Staying Small While Growing Big

To create a relational environment that fosters transformation, Wilder and Hendricks encourage pastors and other leaders to be laser-focused and to stay small. Yet they also say in their text that a “Full-brained church must become more decentralized” with distributed responsibilities. They say that when this occurs, “the community functions like an interdependent network of equals—like a family.” But how do we reconcile the concept of “staying small” with a concept that aims to spread involvement and leadership among a wider population of individuals? Perhaps another way of asking would be, what does it mean for a small group ministry to stay small while it also has growth among its leaders?

A small group ministry focused on transformation succeeds in this. First, Wilder and Hendricks recommend for pastors to be a bit vulnerable and to openly share some of their own weaknesses in areas where they feel underqualified. When congregants hear that their pastor isn’t “the guy”/”the gal” who has all of the answers (and that it’s okay that they don’t), it can spark more opportunities for the Holy Spirit to encourage and motivate an individual to step forward and to contribute to the church’s mission and vision. Next, rather than being left to figure out ministry on their own, newer leaders are given “on-the-job training” by the church so that they remain properly equipped. In such a model, leadership becomes comfortable with messiness. Rather than expecting newer group leaders to have their own perfected knowledge and doctrine, more trust is handed to these up-and-coming lay leaders of the congregation as Pauline-like training is given to them while they continue to serve. Finally, an increase of leaders brings with it more groups. As churchgoers have more options to choose from, larger class-like sizes of groups need not be used as often, and the smaller, more intimate groups slowly become more favored.

2. Small Group Ministry: Nurture the Soil of the Church

While we previously spoke on the importance of joy within the small group ministry, one unexplored element on the topic is the ability of “joy” to act as a healing agent. For those who possess what Wilder and Hendricks refer to as good “relational brain skills,” building joy can help an individual work more easily through trauma recovery. They elaborate, explaining that “joy does not remove our pain, but it gives us the strength to endure…‘joy in suffering’ means that God and our community are glad to be with us in our distress. They do not allow us to suffer alone.” Oftentimes at convenience stores there is a “Give-a-Penny / Take-A-Penny” dish next to the cash register. When a deduction is made from our wallets that is slightly more than what we have, the cashier is able to take a small amount of change from the dish to reconcile their register so that it remains balanced. Similarly, when events occur in our lives that cause stress and/or our joy to become imbalanced, we can tap into the relational joy that is overflowing from the others who are around us. Keeping such a communal perspective prevents the relational soil of the church from becoming dangerously depleted (a state of “half-brained Christianity” where spiritual formation is prevented from thriving and where the influence of narcissistic individuals are allowed to grow).

Sermon Closings With Impact: 6 Ideas to Try This Week

Rachel Blom

October 9, 2022

Sermon closings can be challenging, even for veteran youth preachers. You may have managed to keep teenagers’ attention all through the message, but you need to devote a little extra effort to the final words. The beautiful thing is that with a strong ending, you’ll not only maintain the listeners’ focus but also bring home your key message in a powerful way. Here are some effective ways to do that.

6 Suggestions for Strong Sermon Closings

1. Close with a story.

Ending with a story that sums up your key point is a great way to come full circle. You also can return to a story (or quote) you used in the intro.

Example: Last Easter I spoke on 1 Corinthians 15:51-57. My sermon was titled “The Lord is risen indeed,” and my key point was that we don’t fear death anymore because Christ has conquered death. I ended with an illustration about a Russian priest who had his entire congregation stand up and state, “The Lord is risen indeed” to defy a government official who’d just claimed Jesus to be a fabrication. The story perfectly symbolized my message.

2. Close with an action.

Think of a symbolic action listeners can take that will reinforce your key message. It can be anything from lighting a candle to writing something down, shaking a neighbor’s hand or standing up. When prepared and executed well, this can become a special moment in which people truly encounter God.

Example: During a youth Christmas service, I preached the gospel and shared how Christ’s birth brought light into the darkness. I invited everyone who believed that Jesus is the light of the world to light a candle up front. It was an intimate moment when youth came forward to light candles and confirm their belief in Christ.

3. Close with an appeal.

Depending on the topic, try ending with an appeal for listeners to make a certain decision. The best-known appeal is, of course, the decision to follow Jesus, for the first time or again. No matter how “routine” this may seem, it’s one appeal you should never skip if it fits the key message. If you’ve just preached the gospel, invite people to respond to God’s call. If you do an “altar call” of any kind, make it simple.

But an appeal also can be for something else, such as forgiving someone for how they’ve hurt you, inviting a friend to the next worship service, or deciding to start thanking God for his blessings every day. Whatever the appeal is, make sure it fits your key message and is both easy and practical. People need to know exactly what you want them to know, feel or do.

Example: After a message about the gospel, we invited teenagers who had never accepted Christ to come to a large wooden cross in the corner of the church, while others could worship with the band. Leaders were standing there to pray with kids.

4. Close with prayer.

Sermon closings that include prayer can be beautiful, as long as the prayer goes somewhere, so to speak, and fits the central theme. Just don’t make it a routine, because then it will lose its impact. And can I be so bold as to suggest you also prepare the prayer in some way? It’s rather disappointing if you’re eloquent and powerful all through the message, only to stumble over the words of a prayer. I’m not saying a prayer needs to be perfect for God to hear it; you just should think about it in advance.

You also can combine prayer with an appeal, such as asking youth who want to commit to Christ to raise their hands during the prayer. Again: Make it simple so everyone understands what they need to do.

5. Close with a refrain.

This is one of my favorite techniques for sermon closings. In my messages, I often use certain refrains, or short statements I return to a few times. “The Lord has risen indeed” is one example. I’ve used that phrase about 10 times in one sermon, making it a powerful refrain.

When you have such a refrain, try to find a way to end with it; literally make it the last sentence. It will linger in listeners’ minds and have a powerful impact on them.

Example: In a youth service, I preached on John 21:15-22. The main point was that we shouldn’t look at what others do or how God uses them; we just need to follow Jesus. The refrain I used was “Stay out of it; you just follow Jesus.” This is how I ended: “God wants to use you, just as you are. And what he does with others, how he uses them? Stay out of it; you just follow Jesus.”

6. Close with Scripture.

The last sentence you say in a sermon has authority; by ending with Scripture, that’s even more true. If a short Bible verse perfectly sums up the message or makes an appeal, use it. Resist the temptation to explain Scripture; just read it and let that be the end.

Example: During a message for a praise service with the theme “He reigns,” I made a point about being a subject in God’s kingdom and honoring Christ as King. I ended with these words from Revelation 19:6,7a: “Then I heard what sounded like a crowd, like the sound of a roaring waterfall, like loud peals of thunder. I heard them say, “Praise God! For the Lord, our Almighty God, is King! Let us rejoice and be glad; let us praise his greatness!” (Good News Bible)

What other sermon closings do you recommend? Do you have a favorite way to end youth talks?

This post is part of the series on preaching for youth.

7 Skills for Effective Church Administration

Ron Edmondson

October 9, 2022

God can and does work through all different types of people in church administration. But (He has appointed some to be leaders, some teachers, etc.) I know this from my experience working with and hearing from dozens of pastors each month. There are some great pastors who admit they aren’t skilled at leading the church. I hear it at least weekly—“I know how to teach and care for the people, but I’m simply not always sure how to lead.” And yet they recognize the value in and the need for leadership and church administration.

I believe there are some helpful skills for those who want to lead in church administration to not only care for and disciple the people in the church now, but actually grow and be healthy at the same time—where there is momentum and unity and excitement around the vision of the Great Commission.

7 Skills for Effective Church Administration:

1. Networking

For definition purposes, this is “the cultivation of productive relationships.” It is the ability to bring the right people to the table to accomplish the mission, and it is invaluable for any position of leadership. This is true inside and outside the church. One place where good relationships are proving helpful in the community, for example, is within school systems. With the right people, churches can make significant missional differences in their community with school relationships. Those relationships are formed through networking. And the possibilities here are endless.

2. Connecting

If the church is large or small, the best leaders bring people together. When a new person comes into the church, it’s important that they be able to connect quickly to others. First, the pastor needs to meet them, but that isn’t enough to really make people feel connected to a church. Good leaders connect them to people within the church, or help create systems of connection. They value connectivity—creating healthy, life-changing relationships in the church—and see that it is a natural, but intentional, part of the church’s overall mission.

3. Visioneering

Good leaders are able to cast a picture beyond today worthy of taking a risk to seek. They may not always have all the ideas of what’s next—they should have some—but they can rally people behind the vision.

4. Pioneering

To lead a church by faith, a leader has to be willing to lead into an unknown, and take the first step in that direction. People won’t follow until they know the leader is willing to go first. Momentum and change almost always start with new—doing things differently—creating new groups, new opportunities—trying things you’ve not tried before. Pioneering leaders watch to see where God may be stirring hearts and are willing to boldly lead into the unknown.

5. Delegating

No one person can or should attempt to do it all. It’s not healthy, nor is it biblical. This may, however, be the number one reason I see for pastoral burnout, frustration and lack of church growth. Good leaders learn to raise up armies of people who believe in the mission and are willing to take ownership and provide leadership to complete a specific aspect of attaining that vision.

6. Confronting

If you lead anything, you will face opposition. Period. Church administration involves change, and change in church involves change in people. And most people have some opposition to change. After a pastor is certain of God’s leadership, has sought input from others, cast a vision and organized people around a plan, there will be opposition. Perhaps even organized opposition. Good leaders learn to confront in love.

7. Following

Ultimately, it’s all about Christ. I can’t lead people closer to Him—certainly not be more like Him—unless I’m personally growing closer to Christ. But following also involves allowing others to speak into my life. It means I have mentors, people who hold me accountable and healthy family relationships. Good church administration leaders have systems in place that personally keep them on track. Self-leadership—and following others who are healthy—keeps a leader in it for the duration.

The Bewitching Influence of Secularism

Nicholas Batzig

October 8, 2022

Secularism is a religion. Make no mistake about it. Though many seek to advance it as a neutralizing alternative to a religiously structured society, it is, in its own right, a religion. A secular worldview is not content until it has permeated every fabric of society–civics, ethics, media, and education. Just as the Christian worldview is meant to permeate all human activity, so secularism seeks to stand in the gap and block a truly consistent application of Christianity to every aspect of life. There is a bewitching element of secularism to which many–even many Christians–are blind.

Prior to considering one important measure to counter the permeating influence of secularism, a brief history of secularism as an ideological movement is in order. In the chapter, “Atheism and Secularism,” in the Ligonier Field Guide on False Teaching, we read,

The Enlightenment in France particularly fueled atheism and secularism in the Western world. Baron Paul-Henri Thiry d’Holbach—an atheist intellectual—taught a form of mechanistic metaphysics that served as a catalyst for the modern atheism movement. D’Holbach devoted two works to the defense and propagation of atheism: Système de la Nature and Le Bon Sens. His contemporary Denis Diderot is believed to have assisted him in the production of the strongly atheistic and materialistic book Système de la Nature. Diderot was the first to give a modern definition of atheism, including it in his Encyclopédie.

With the rise of the scientific revolution, materialistic understandings of the origins of the universe became more widely accepted in the West. Accordingly, the publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of the Species in 1859 was seized upon by atheists as providing a scientific justification for their view. Darwin’s work fostered secularist agendas in Western countries, primarily through Karl Marx’s application of Darwin’s principles to his economic and political theories. In Das Kapital, Marx appealed to Darwin’s contributions. Although Darwin was not supportive of Marx’s use of his philosophy for the propagation of political and economic socialism, the rise of secularsm can be directly tied to the influence of Darwin on Marx.

After Marx, the nineteenth-century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche further advanced anti-theistic philosophy throughout the Western world. On numerous occasions, Nietzsche used the phrase ‘God is dead’ to explain the effects of the Enlightenment in producing an increasing disbelief in God and subsequent secularization in Western society.

In 1927, the British philosopher Bertrand Russell gave a talk at the National Secular Society in London that was later published in 1969 under the title Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects. This book had a significant effect on readers in Britain and America, further popularizing atheism and secularism. Russell helped pave the way for the “new atheist” movement—a contemporary form of atheist apologetics popularized by Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens. Dawkins’ The God Delusion, released in 2006, was a New York Times best seller and the second-best-selling book on Amazon that year. New atheism distinguishes itself from older forms of atheism in that it does not simply reject belief in God but also is hostile to those who hold religious views.

The term “secularism” was first coined by George Holyoake in the mid-nineteenth century in his work Principles of Secularism. Holyoake defined secularism in this way:

Secularism is a series of principles intended for the guidance of those who find theology indefinite, or inadequate, or deem it unreliable. It replaces theology, which mainly regards life as a sinful necessity, as a scene of tribulation through which we pass to a better world.

While secularism spread through Europe in the eighteenth century, it took longer to take root in the United States, arriving in force in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In 1963, the Supreme Court ruled in Abington School District v. Schempp that school-sponsored Bible reading and prayer were unconstitutional. Madalyn Murray O’Hair, founder of American Atheists and the woman who brought a companion case, Murray v. Curlett, was an infamous leader in the push for the secularization of public schools in America.

Unleashing the Transformative Power of 10 Essential Prayers for Pastors

Ron Edmondson

October 8, 2022

A leader’s most effective tool may be prayer. For the Christian leader, especially, prayer should be critical to how we lead. I’m in my 50’s and I’ve not mastered this yet—even though I know how powerful these prayers for pastors are. Our leader, Jesus, was always walking in prayer with the Father.

Jesus said, “I do nothing except what the Father tells me to do.” So, when Jesus needed to feed the multitudes, he lifted up the bread and fish and prayed. Just before Jesus was about to be crucified—at the weakest point in His life—we find Him praying.

Why? Because prayer taps into that relationship with God. The power in prayer is not in the process of prayer, but the person of prayer. Prayer takes us into the very Throne Room of God. Talk about power!

So, as Christian leaders, we need to pray. I thought with this post I might spur that in each of us by offering some good prayers for pastors to pray.

10 Powerful Prayers for Pastors

Dear Lord, grow my love for you so I will trust in You when I can’t see the path ahead clearly. Help me to trust in You, more than I trust in my abilities.
Dear Lord, help me not to say yes when no is the right answer. Help me balance my time to be most effective and to accomplish Your will more than the will of others.
Dear Lord, never allow my plan to get ahead of—or in the place of—Your plan. Remind me frequently that Your way is best and I will always be most successful when I wait for You.
Dear Lord, allow me to forgive easily, hold no grudges or bitterness, and live in and extend to others the grace You have provided to me. Never let me get so proud or arrogant that I forget I am nothing apart from Your hand upon my life.
Dear Lord, provide me with courage and conviction to face my fears and critics and lead people to bigger realities of Your will than today. Give me the courage of Gideon, the steadfastness of Nehemiah, and the boldness of Daniel.
Dear Lord, grant me wisdom to make decisions big and small and conviction to follow You when it contradicts my desires or the demands of others. Give me discernment and surround me with wise people who follow You and can speak into my life.
Dear Lord, help me guard my heart, overcome temptation, and keep my character and reputation above reproach. Build around me people who believe in me, know me and are willing to speak hard truths into my life.
Dear Lord, give me patience with people, the pace of progress and with things I can’t understand. Assure me continually that Your plan is always worth waiting for and will be better than anything I can produce on my own.
Dear Lord, help me communicate with clarity, consistency and competence. Guard my tongue and keep me from reckless words. Make me an encourager and a builder of people with the things I say.
Dear Lord, help me to love people and use my influence for the good of others. Allow me to see my life’s mission as bigger than today. Help me leave a legacy, which brings glory to You.

In Jesus name, Amen.

This article originally appeared here.

Pastor Refuses To Baptize, Dedicate Baby on Grounds Couple Is ‘Living Together in Sin’

Jessica Mouser

October 7, 2022

baby dedication — L: Screenshot from Facebook / @Kamri Mclendon. R: Stock photo from Adobe Stock

A couple in Sumrall, Mississippi, is looking for another church after their pastor refused to baptize their baby on the grounds that the couple is “living together in sin.” Kamri McLendon, the baby’s mother, says the pastor knew of the couple’s living situation when he agreed to the request and that what she and her boyfriend wanted was a baby dedication.

“Instances like this are why young people are scared to go to church,” said McLendon in a Facebook post with a photo of the pastor’s refusal letter. “I will be the first to admit that yes I have sinned and have done wrong in my life. But how did me trying to dedicate my daughter to Jesus turn into us being shamed for being young parents and unmarried?”

Baby Dedication Refused by Pastor

According to WLBT, McLendon, 18, grew up in Hickory Grove United Methodist Church in Sumrall and says her family attended the church for “generations.” WLBT reports that she wanted her daughter baptized in the church where she was baptized. In her Facebook post, however, McLendon said that she and her boyfriend, Tristan McPhail, wanted a baby dedication. ChurchLeaders has reached out to McLendon for comment and clarification.

“We asked for a baby dedication for Presleigh,” said McLendon, “and after being told yes, being sent the materials, as well as it being announced at this church, we received this letter.”

The letter, from Rev. DeWayne Warren, is dated Sept. 15, 2022, and says that the pastor is unable to perform a “baby dedication” on Sept. 25, 2022. It continues in part:

I am informed that you and the baby’s father are living together in sin; the baby was conceived before the parents were married. The grandmother is living with a man in sin. You and the father have not been in regular, faithful attendance at our church.

The ceremony that you want performed is a Christian ceremony. It is a covenant between the parents and God. You promise to raise your child in the Christian faith with all that entails. That means that you attend church on a regular basis with your child. It means that your life shows that you are living the Christian faith. I do not see that in your life at this time…Also in the United Methodist Church we don’t do “baby dedications.” We do infant baptisms.

Warren says that he believes performing the baptism would set a bad example for the young people of the church and also says McLendon should not have given him the date for the ceremony since it is the pastor’s job to set the date. The letter concludes, “I say all of this in Christian love. I know that it is harsh, but it is the truth. I was trying to wait for the Holy Spirit of God to convict you on this, but we were running out of time. I cannot in all good conscience perform this ceremony at this time.”

Kanye Tells Tucker Carlson, ‘I Perform for Audience of One and That’s God.’ Sean Feucht, Owen Strachan Respond

Jesse T. Jackson

October 7, 2022

west_carlson — Screengrab via YouTube @Fox News

On Thursday (Oct. 6), Ye, better known as Kanye West, appeared on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” for a candid, uncensored interview, in which he discussed why he wore a “White Lives Matter” shirt earlier this week, former President Donald Trump, why he feels Black babies are the main target of abortion providers, and his faith, among other things.

Sitting in his office located in Los Angeles, California, Ye recently returned from the Paris Fashion Week. The successful fashion designer, billion-dollar entrepreneur, and iconic rapper and producer was still wearing a lanyard around his neck from his Paris trip, which he designed and that displays a photograph of a prenatal ultrasound.

Carlson asked Ye what it meant.

“It just represents life and pro life,” the 24-time Grammy Award winner replied.

“What kind of responses to you get,” Carlson wondered. Ye told him, “I don’t care about people’s responses. I care about the fact that there’s more Black babies being aborted than born in New York City at this point; that 50% of Black death in America is abortion. So I really don’t care about people’s response to that. I perform for [an] audience of one, and that’s God.”

The Fox News host laughed and said, “I’m starting to see why they want to make you be quiet.”

Ye shared that he felt the need to really express himself starting in 2016—even more boldly than he’d done before—when people, especially those close to him, told him that his career would be over if he supported Trump.

Giving an example, Ye said some told him that people get killed for wearing a hat that says “Make America Great Again.” Ye further expressed that some of those people threatened his life for wearing slogans that supported Trump.

Ye Discusses Wearing ‘White Lives Matter’ Shirt

“I had someone call me last night and said anybody wearing a ‘White Lives Matter’ shirt is going to be green lit,” a term that describes someone marked for getting a physical beatdown. Ye was referring to a shirt that he and Candace Owens wore at the Paris fashion show, which was quickly met with strong disapproval.

“God builds warriors in a different way,” Ye told Carlson. “I don’t know if it’s because of me being born in Atlanta and growing up on the Southside of Chicago that, you know, [God] made me for such a time like this. It’s like with David, you know, he tended to the sheep. But while he was out there, he had to fight all kinds of animals. So when it was time for Goliath to come, he thought because he was a sheep herder that he didn’t have the skill set to take down Goliath. The thing that I have is the position I have [and] my heart, but the number one thing is we have God on our side. For the people, even if you don’t believe in God, God believes in you.”

Ye explained that he used his gut instinct, his connection with God, and his brilliance to create his “White Live Matter” t-shirt at the Paris Fashion Week, comparing what he did to former Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding unconsciously being able to pull off a triple flip because of how much she practiced.

“That’s what’s happening. God is, like, preparing us for the real battles. We are in a battle with the media. The majority of the media has a godless agenda,” Ye said, citing that media outlets like to call him crazy and make jokes about what he says yet stay quiet about real travesties, many of which he is attempting to bring to people’s attention.

Elaborating more on the shirt, Ye shared that his well educated father, a former Black Panther, texted him laughing after seeing his “White Lives Matter” design. Ye responded, “I thought it was funny. What did you like about it?” His father replied, “That a Black Man was declaring the obvious.”

DOJ Charges 11 Anti-Abortion Protesters, Including Doctor Who Protested With Prayer, Scripture

Stephanie Martin

October 7, 2022

carafem — Composite image. Screenshots from Facebook / @Coleman Boyd. Counterclockwise from left to right: Cal Zastrow, one of those indicted; protesters try to dissuade a woman at CaraFem from getting an abortion; law enforcement outside of CaraFem on March 5, 2021.

Following an investigation, 11 people face federal charges for allegedly interfering with access to a Mount Juliet, Tennessee, abortion clinic called CaraFem in March 2021. On October 5, a federal grand jury in Nashville indicted the individuals with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. The 1994 act, signed by President Bill Clinton, prohibits even temporary interference with reproductive health care services.

Seven people face conspiracy charges and face up to 11 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines. The other four, charged with misdemeanors, face up to one year in prison and up to $10,000 in fines. All defendants will appear in U.S. district court in Nashville; dates are to be determined.

CaraFem: Anti-Abortion Protesters Charged With Blocking Access

According to a Department of Justice press release, the “co-conspirators” used social media to promote and coordinate a “blockade” of CaraFem, a Nashville-area abortion clinic. Protesters, the indictment says, “used force and physical obstruction to injure, intimidate, and interfere with employees of the clinic and a patient who was seeking reproductive health services.” The DOJ says protesters described their actions as a “rescue.”

Participant Coleman Boyd, a pro-life doctor from Mississippi, streamed the event on Facebook Live. While filming protesters’ arrests, he quoted Scripture and requested prayers that “people’s hearts would be stirred up and convicted” and that their eyes would be opened “to the reality that babies are being murdered here.”

The doctor, who has been arrested for pro-life activities in other states, added that “God’s judgment is on us, and his wrath is coming.” He urged listeners to “act as the church of Jesus Christ” before God gets “tired of relenting” and closes the window giving us a chance to repent. Boyd is one of the seven protesters now facing conspiracy charges related to the March 2021 incident.

CaraFem sought a temporary restraining order against 10 protesters in early August 2022. Later that month, after Tennessee’s “heartbeat bill” banned abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, CaraFem stopped performing the procedures.

Charges Against Protesters Spark Reactions

Since Wednesday, abortion opponents have been sharing news of the charges. Pro-life advocate Lila Rose tweets that “the home of pro-life activist Chet Gallagher was raided by the FBI, guns drawn, over his peaceful activism to save preborn children.”

While retweeting Rose, the Reproductive Rights Coalition writes: “Breaking: lifetime clinic harasser and terrorist has finally gotten a small consequence. Blocking clinics and harassing patients and staff is not and has never been ‘peaceful activism.’ The federal government is finally enforcing the FACE act and [it’s] freaking them out.”

Rose’s organization Live Action spoke to a pro-life activist who describes a “new tactic the DOJ has been throwing at pro-lifers to see if the charges stick.” A.J. Hurley says, “The FBI isn’t even performing the investigations. The DOJ is doing their own investigations and…sending local branches of the FBI with arrest warrants to be their strong arm.”

NJ Church Opens Cafe Staffed by People With Special Needs To Fund Clean Water Initiative

Dale Chamberlain

October 7, 2022

liquid church clean water cafe — Screengrab via Liquid Church website video

Liquid Church, a multi-site megachurch located in New Jersey, opened a coffee shop at their Parsippany County campus on Monday (Oct. 3), which will be staffed by people with special needs and forward proceeds to the church’s global clean water initiative.

Called the Clean Water Cafe, the goal of the coffee shop is to provide “delicious coffee, breakfast and lunch with a cause.” The cafe will serve the local need of “supportive employment for all adults, including those with Special Needs,” as well as the global need of clean water, which Liquid Church has already been a part of supporting through Clean Water Cause, a ministry run by the church.

“At Liquid Church, Clean Water is our global cause – and we envision a day when every person on the planet has access to safe drinking water! That’s why we’re committed to sending financial support and manpower to countries around the world,” their website says. “With the help of our global partners, we support clean water, sanitation, and hygiene projects in Africa and Central America.”

To date, Liquid Church reports having drilled more than 360 clean water wells in nine nations, which has brought clean water to over 130,000 people—the result of more than $3 million in donations.

“At the Clean Water Cafe, we believe that people with Special Needs can change the world for good,” said Brooke Stempert, communications manager for Liquid Church. “We hope that our customers and supporters realize that as they enjoy their favorite coffee, they are changing the world with every sip.”

Plans to open Clean Water Cafe were originally announced to the church and surrounding community in 2020, but the opening was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to their ongoing efforts to provide clean water to under-resourced communities around the globe, Liquid Church is also well known for their ministry to those with special needs.

Liquid Church hosts a special needs “Night to Shine” prom every year, turning their entire worship space into a party celebrating the special needs community.

“It’s a little taste of heaven on earth,” founding and lead pastor Tim Lucas recently told Charisma.

Recounting the story of a family that commutes 90 minutes from New York to attend Liquid Church because of their ministry to those with special needs, Lucas recalled the family telling him, “Not only is our child being loved on, we get respite for an hour and 15 minutes. We actually get to sit in a service, hold hands…and we get to have our souls restored.”

Michael Flynn’s ReAwaken Roadshow Recruits ‘Army of God’

Michelle R. Smith and Richard Lardner

October 7, 2022

Michael Flynn reawaken — A man holds up a shofar as the audience prays inside a tent during the ReAwaken America Tour at Cornerstone Church in Batavia, N.Y., Friday, Aug. 12, 2022. The instrument, used in some Jewish worship services, has been adopted by the far right, and several people blew the horns to open the conference. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

BATAVIA, N.Y. (AP) — By the time the red, white and blue-colored microphone had been switched off, the crowd of 3,000 had listened to hours of invective and grievance.

“We’re under warfare,” one speaker told them. Another said she would “take a bullet for my nation,” while a third insisted, “They hate you because they hate Jesus.” Attendees were told now is the time to “put on the whole armor of God.” Then retired three-star Army general Michael Flynn, the tour’s biggest draw, invited people to be baptized.

Scores of people walked out of the speakers’ tent to three large metal tubs filled with water. While praise music played in the background, one conference-goer after another stepped in. Pastors then lowered them under the surface, welcoming them into their movement in the name of Jesus Christ. One woman wore a T-shirt that read “Army of God.”

Flynn warned the crowd that they were in the midst of a “spiritual war” and a “political war” and urged people to get involved.

ReAwaken America was launched by Flynn, a former White House national security adviser, and Oklahoma entrepreneur Clay Clark a few months after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol failed to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Attendees and speakers still insist — against all evidence and dozens of court rulings — that Donald Trump rightfully won.

Since early last year, the ReAwaken America Tour has carried its message of a country under siege to tens of thousands of people in 15 cities and towns. The tour serves as a traveling roadshow and recruiting tool for an ascendant Christian nationalist movement that’s wrapped itself in God, patriotism and politics and has grown in power and influence inside the Republican Party.

In the version of America laid out at the ReAwaken tour, Christianity should be at the center of American life and institutions. Instead, it’s under attack, and attendees need to fight to restore the nation’s Christian roots. It’s a message repeated over and over at ReAwaken — one that upends the constitutional ideal of a pluralist democracy. But it’s a message that is taking hold.

A poll by the University of Maryland conducted in May found that 61% of Republicans support declaring the U.S. to be a Christian nation.

“Christian nationalism, really undermines and attacks foundational values in American democracy. And that is a promise of religious freedoms for all,” said Amanda Tyler, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee, which advocates for religious freedom.

She said the ReAwaken cause is “a partisan political cause, and the cause here is to spread misinformation, to perpetuate the big lie and to have a different result next time in the next election.”

___

This story is part of an ongoing investigation from The Associated Press and the PBS series “Frontline” that includes the upcoming documentary “Michael Flynn’s Holy War,” premiering Oct. 18 on PBS and online.

When Disaster Strikes, CP Helps Deliver Tools for the Job

Scott Barkley

October 7, 2022

Editor’s note: October is Cooperative Program Emphasis Month in the Southern Baptist Convention.

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (BP) – The overwhelming majority of Southern Baptists won’t personally clean out a single home in this city that bore the brunt of Hurricane Ian’s fury Sept. 28. Personally, they won’t extend a single plate of food nor help wash one pair of socks.

But their contribution to make those things happen is extremely personal.

“The Cooperative Program really is the lifeline that helps provide resources and equipment so that we can respond,” said Coy Webb, crisis response director for Send Relief.

“I hope Southern Baptists realize that when they see a kitchen trailer capable of serving 60,000 meals a day, that’s their trailer. Their gifts make that kind of equipment possible.”

Storm destruction brings images of feeding trailers and chainsaw teams, but Webb noted the impact of another group.

“People don’t know how important the laundry area is,” Webb said. “Imagine if everything you own was under water. Imagine the cost of going to the laundromat and washing all of that – clothes, curtains, bedspreads, everything.

“That can be very costly, especially if you’re a single mother or an elderly person on a fixed income.”

The time spent at a laundry trailer also leads to Gospel conversations, he added.

“It’s a great opportunity for our volunteers to have a few minutes to talk with those folks and pray with them,” Webb said.

The Cooperative Program is the funding engine whereby Southern Baptists collectively send financial gifts toward numerous ministries and efforts such as seminary training, international and domestic missions work, church planting, benevolence ministries and disaster relief response. October is Cooperative Program Emphasis Month.

New Name, Logo for Southern Baptist Hispanic Group To Represent Unity

Timothy Cockes

October 7, 2022

NASHVILLE (BP) – Bruno Molina, president of the recently rebranded and revitalized National Hispanic Baptist Network (NHBN), said he wants the group’s new name and logo to promote unity and inclusion among Hispanics in the SBC.

Molina serves as the language and interfaith evangelism associate for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and an adjunct professor for both Southwestern and Midwestern seminaries.

After being elected president during the group’s meeting at the 2022 SBC Annual Meeting in Anaheim, one of Molina’s first priorities was creating a new name and logo for the group as a step to better connect Hispanic Baptists.

Formed in 2017 as the Hispanic Baptist Leadership Council, the group was designed to help coordinate efforts of Hispanic churches and various Hispanic entities as well as improve communication between Hispanics and the SBC Executive Committee.

Now in the official process of renaming themselves the NHBN, the group will serve a similar purpose of unifying Hispanic Southern Baptists, while also carrying out the task of fulfilling the Great Commission.

“The reason for these changes is due to the need to emphasize the importance of the purposes of the NHBN which are to connect on the mission, to contribute and share resources and to celebrate what God is doing among Hispanic Baptists,” Molina said.

“The Network also recognizes the need and the opportunity to address certain challenges with the Hispanic community such as single mothers, retired Hispanic pastors and health issues. Addressing these challenges will facilitate the flourishing of the Hispanic community.

“There are more than 64 million Hispanics in the United States, and the majority, 48 million, do not know Christ as their Savior. This is an alarming indication that we live in a time of grave urgency regarding the Gospel. The task of reaching Hispanics without Christ is not an ethnic issue but a Kingdom issue encompassing a particular key ethnicity.”

In addition to the name change, the group’s new logo is also designed to promote inclusion among all different types of Hispanics.

The logo’s image resembles three stylized people in three different colors, all locking arms around an open Bible. Each colors represents a different heritage within Hispanic culture.

The color red is for Indian heritage, the color gold is for European heritage and the color black is for African heritage.

Molina explained those three heritages are the ethnic mixture in most Latin American countries which resulted in modern day Latinos or Hispanics.

Stand for Life Tour Launches With Call To ‘Save Lives’

Tom Strode

October 7, 2022

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (BP) – The Stand for Life Tour opened Wednesday night (Oct. 5) at a Southern Baptist church with a challenge for Christians to respond to “a wake-up call” and “save lives.”

The tour, with stops remaining at a Southern Baptist seminary and four Christian universities, is designed to help churches become engaged in serving vulnerable mothers and preborn babies, to foster unity in the pro-life movement and to build momentum toward a national conference in January.

The Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) has been a vital leader in Stand for Life, an alliance of more than 100 organizations committed to a comprehensive approach in affirming and protecting the dignity of preborn children and all other human beings.

Elizabeth Graham, the ERLC’s vice president of operations and life initiatives and a key leader of Stand for Life, said she was “thrilled” to begin the tour. Central Baptist Church in College Station, Texas, hosted a gathering estimated at more than 500 people for the first stop.

“It was a great night of worship and encouragement from leaders committed to seeing a day when every life is affirmed and protected,” Graham told Baptist Press in written comments.

“This is a significant moment and opportunity for the church to be wholeheartedly engaged in this issue with compassion and conviction,” she said. “It is critical we inspire and equip a new generation to transform our culture to value the dignity in every single life.

“As we begin this journey that we call Stand for Life, we aim to unify and advance the momentum of the holistic pro-life movement.”

Jonathan Pokluda – lead pastor of Harris Creek Baptist Church in Waco, Texas, and an author – told the audience the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal in June of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide is the beginning, not the end, for Christians.

“I know the Supreme Court ruling is something worthy of celebration, and for some of us it can feel like the finish line,” he said. “But I really think it’s the starting line, a wake-up call for the church that we should respond in such a way that everyone who is in a bind would say, ‘I’m going to go to that place. I’m going to walk in here. I know the leadership here. I know that it’s consistent with their heart.’

“And I pray that throughout our country God would raise up more churches like that.”

In closing his message, Pokluda urged those in attendance, “Consider the call upon your life – to save lives, to stand for life.”

The tour will continue with stops on these dates and at these locations:

Oct. 11, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, N.C.
Oct. 19, Union University, Jackson, Tenn.
Oct. 27, Samford University, Birmingham, Ala.
Nov. 1, Cedarville University, Cedarville, Ohio.
Nov. 8, Oklahoma Baptist University, Shawnee, Okla.

The Satanic Temple Takes Aim at Idaho, Indiana Abortion Bans

Rebecca Boone

October 7, 2022

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Religious organizations have long been involved in the debate over Idaho’s strict abortion laws, with Catholic priests, evangelical Christian groups and others frequently lobbying lawmakers and filing legal briefs in support of abortion bans.

Now The Satanic Temple is also weighing in. The Salem, Massachusetts-based group, which doesn’t believe in a literal Satan but describes itself as a “non-theistic religious organization,” sued Idaho in federal court late last week contending that the state’s abortion bans infringe on the rights of members who may want to practice the temple’s “abortion ritual.”

“Our members hold a sincere religious belief that they can and should have an abortion,” in cases of unwanted pregnancies, W. James Mac Naughton, the attorney representing The Satanic Temple, said in a phone interview Wednesday. The organization filed similar lawsuits in Indiana last month and in Texas last year, and Mac Naughton said he wouldn’t rule out filing additional lawsuits in other states.

Forcing people to abide by one religious belief — that life begins at conception — and denying them the right to practice a different one — that everyone has the right to control their own body — violates religious freedom, he said.

“Abortion is a tricky enough issue as it is, but it just gets all inextricably intertwined with religious beliefs,” Mac Naughton said.

The Satanic Temple, dubbed TST in the lawsuit, is separate from the Church of Satan, which was founded in the 1960s. Founded in 2013, the Satanic Temple advocates for secularism and considers Satan a literary figure who serves as a metaphor for defending personal sovereignty against religious authority.

The Satanic Temple’s religious tenets include beliefs that people should have control over their own bodies, that the freedoms of others should be respected, and that scientific facts shouldn’t be distorted to fit personal beliefs.

The organization also has something it calls a “Satanic abortion ritual,” that includes the process of a person reminding themselves that their body is inviolate, undergoing the abortion and then reciting a personal affirmation.

In the lawsuit, the organization says some of its members in Idaho are “involuntarily pregnant women.” Each woman has a property right to her own uterus, the organization said, and that right — including the ability to remove a “protected unborn child” from the uterus — can’t be legally taken by the state without compensation.

The temple also contends that Idaho subjects involuntarily pregnant women to involuntary servitude by forcing them to provide an embryo or fetus with oxygen, nutrients, antibodies, body heat and other services, during gestation. Finally, the organization claims the state wrongly discriminates against many pregnant people by only allowing abortion for those who were subjected to rape or incest, and not allowing it for people who became pregnant accidentally.

The Idaho Attorney General’s spokesman Scott Graf declined to comment on the lawsuit because the office has a policy against commenting on pending litigation.

5 Reasons Why Kids Grow up and Turn Away From the Faith

Dale Hudson

October 7, 2022

Why do kids turn away from the faith? What causes them to say, do and believe the exact opposite of what they embraced earlier? There is no one-size-fits-all answer, but there are factors that it can be traced back to. Let’s take a look at five of them.

False Profession of Faith

Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged. (1 John 2:18-19)

One reason kids turn away from the faith when they grow up is because they were never true believers. God doesn‘t have any grandchildren. He only has children. A child must own their faith. It can‘t be something they do just to please their parents. If they are riding on the coat tails of dad and mom‘s faith, when they are on their own, the child‘s lack of faith will soon become apparent.

Lack of Understanding

One of the keys to seeing kids make a true profession of faith is taking time to help them clearly understand the decision they are making. Far too many kids have gone forward in a service, been announced to the church and baptized without a clear understanding of what they were doing.

Hypocrisy

Kids have the ability to spot hypocrisy. When they see their parent‘s life at home does not match their parent‘s life at church, it has a negative impact on their faith. And when they see hypocrisy in the life of church leaders, it also has a negative impact on their faith.

The Pull of the World

For most kids, fame will not come calling, but for the few who do experience this, it can put their faith to the test big-time. As we just mentioned, the pressure to compromise for success, can cause kids like to trade in their purity ring for popularity, wealth and notoriety. Jesus said that it is hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of Heaven. Notice He didn‘t say it‘s impossible, He just said it‘s hard. It takes a very deep faith to survive fame. Ideally, the fame can be used to spread the Gospel and make an impact for Christ, but that‘s hard to sustain when you‘re in a culture that demands the opposite if you want to stay on top.

Shallow Knowledge of the Bible

Then there is a shallow knowledge of the Bible. You could almost say it’s “Biblical illiteracy.” A recent study found that only 45% of people who regularly attend church read their Bible more than once a week.

Almost 1 in 5 churchgoers say they never read the Bible. And what we don‘t read…we don‘t know. And we are not effectively teaching kids the Bible.

Biblical illiteracy usually doesn’t show up until kids get into high school and college. It is then their shallow knowledge of the Bible is exposed by peers and teachers. Without answers to the hard questions that are asked, their faith can be destroyed.

This article originally appeared here and is used by permission.

How to Format a Sermon Outline

Josh Weidmann

October 7, 2022

“What should I take to the pulpit?” This is one of the most common contemplated conundrums for preachers. The second you step to the pulpit, you are going to want the hours of your sermon preparation to be close to your heart and your fingertip. Yet, some seminary classes teach that preaching with a sermon outline is a weakness. They say that you should mount the pulpit like a wild stallion— saddle-less and ready to ride into the sunset with passion and ease.

Is it really a good idea for you to take nothing to the pulpit? On the contrary, should you take a manuscript? How about an annotated outline? A simple outline? Nothing more than a sticky note?

Each preacher is different.

There is not a one-size-fits most solution here. The best solution is to take the perfect amount of notes that will allow your personality to be used by God while allowing His Word to be clearly explained to His people.

The Length of Your Sermon Outline Has to be Right for Your Personality

Knowing what you should take to the pulpit will take trial and error; yet, I assure you — the right solution can be found! When formatting the notes you will take with you to the pulpit, you must ensure that you are as comfortable in them as an old pair of slippers. You should not feel confined to your notes, nor should your notes be so freeing that you cannot keep a good train of thought.

Some preachers will need a full manuscript that is well memorized so he doesn’t read; by having it all written out and memorized, this kind of preacher will feel most comfortable in front of an audience. Others should take minimal notes with them to ensure they are personal, free-flowing and natural, never reading aloud, laborious page-after-page.

I have been preaching for 22 years, and I’ve tried every kind of notes in the pulpit. From the back of napkins to printed PowerPoint slides; from 4,000 word manuscripts to a one-page outline. I’ve tried them all on for size and found the best solution for me is a detailed outline form. My outlines are between 600 to 800 words, bulleted with detailed hierarchy, 1.75 spaced, and only fill one page. I only recently went back to this way of preparing my pulpit notes after six years of manuscripting.

How Does a Preacher Decide Which Type of Sermon Outline to Use?

Start by thinking through your unique make-up outside of the pulpit. Are you quick on your feet? If someone asked you to take a passage and give a devotional thought without notice, could you do it? Do you find that you can organize your thoughts well in a personal conversation? Do you think in chunks of content that can be easily explained? Or, are you more of a processor? Do you need time to think about something before speaking clearly? Do you need help making complete sentences that are easy for the listener to make sense of?

I believe the way you communicate outside the pulpit can give a clue as to how you can best communicate in the pulpit. If you need to have everything really thought through before you speak, then maybe a manuscript is best. If having fluidity in your mind allows you to speak more clearly and passionately, then you should outline. Sometimes this changes by the seasons in your life.

For example, I had to manuscript my sermon for six years as I was leading Grace Chapel through revitalization. I needed to know all the words and transitions were thought through because I had so many other things I was managing in addition to my sermon on Sunday. I needed to know all the words of the sermon were locked in. As our church has become healthier, and I’ve been able to primarily focus on preaching on Sunday morning, I teach off of an outline, and that is perfectly fine.

The goal is to allow your unique voice to be used by God as you preach His Word to His people. Your uniqueness is your “Ethos,” as Aristotle called it. It is “the personal character of the speaker as projected in the speech: the orator should seem trustworthy.” If you have any sense of being inauthentic, untrue to God, others, or yourself, people will smell that out quickly. God has chosen to use your quirks and qualities to communicate; He doesn’t need to— he could convey His truth in a much more standardized way. Yet, he chose to allow your unique makeup to be a part of the delivery process.

When choosing which kind of notes to take to the pulpit, you must choose that which allows you to be yourself — yet always be true to the text. At this stage in my preaching, I am much more myself and true to the text if I do not labor over a manuscript. Rather, I fill one page of an outline (to the brim!) and write all over my ESV double-spaced Inductive Edition. This was not the case for six years of my ministry, but it is now.

My current template is as follows:

One page, landscape
Two columns, no line, 0.25 space between
Margins of 0.3 all the way around
Lato Font, size 11 (my favorite!)
1.75 line spacing

If I have any endnotes or “Appendix” items, those will be on the second page. Otherwise, everything has to fit on that one page. Here is my blank template in Word. If you would like to see a completed sermon outline that I take to the pulpit, you can do so here.

This May Take Time to Figure Out

There is not a Bible verse that specifically tells us how to do this— if there was, I would have quoted it. This is purely a preacher’s wisdom issue. You can choose the best setup for your pulpit notes, but be aware that it may take several times of trying different formats. I encourage you to try something three or four times before you ditch it.

Now for the most important part: No one cares how pretty your notes are or how well you formatted your work. All they care is that you show them Christ through the text you are preaching and the unique perspective that you bring. Do not ever let your notes get in the way of the text doing the deeper work on your heart. If you allow the passage to pierce your heart, it will be a mighty sword in the pulpit.

This article originally appeared here.

5 Things Young Adults Need from Church

Esther Laurie

October 7, 2022

Everyone seems to be talking about millennials, from how they vote to their work and their relationships. It’s a complex generation, and as they enter adulthood, many church leaders are considering how best to minister to young adults, and what they need from church.

I led a young adults ministry at my church. I was told once our group was a chubby youth group – a group of people a little too old and a little too awkward to be meeting together like a high school youth group that never graduated. I’ve answered phone calls and emails where people ask me if their soul mate would be at the group.

It’s a tricky age group. They’ve (typically) already graduated from college, but there are some who are taking a gap year (or five). Some are in steady careers while others are still figuring out what they what to do. Some know who they are and what they believe, while others are far from it.

I understand it’s a difficult group for the church to reach. They’re not in college, but they’re usually not yet married. They could find community through service, and many do, but many want and need to learn with like-minded people in a similar season of life. They don’t want to be the only single person in a 20-somethings small group. It’s not their style to find connection at a women’s Bible study where you sit in a circle with nametags and share on cue, or get up crazy early on Tuesdays to eat donuts and drink coffee with older men.

It’s a socially diverse group. There are people who want leadership opportunities, mentorship, coaching, community, Bible study and growth. And there are people who just want to belong with a group of people. Both are things they need from church.

Many churches see and appreciate the diversity and potential of this group by offering ministries, serving opportunities, internships and leadership experience. Other churches don’t have the capacity or resources to meet their needs through a specific ministry. Some churches have a ministry for young adults, but don’t have the vision to prioritize it.

Core things young adults need from church:

1. Love and Value

One of the ways we can love and serve young adults is by reflecting back to them their strengths, uniqueness and potential. We can show them we care and they matter without catering to comfort. Let’s move them toward the Church through love.

Pastor John Ortberg wrote, “The yearning to attach and connect, to love and be loved, is the fiercest longing of the soul. Our need for community with people and the God who made us is to the human spirit what food and air and water are to the human body.”

He goes on to write, “Neal Plantinga notes that the Hebrew prophets had a word for just this kind of connectedness of all things: shalom—’the webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight.'”

Youth ministry is sexy. We can get many cool people to help with the youth, but what about the slightly less sexy young adults ministry? Can we find quality people to invest in them? Not someone who just wants to hear themselves talk, teach and offer their ‘vast wisdom,’ but someone real and genuine. Let’s take it a step further and offer training for these leaders and find equipped people. Don’t give young adults your leftovers.

If your leaders have to scrap together resources and people, your young adults will know they’re not a priority. I’m not saying everyone should pump money into a young adults ministry. I’m saying show up, let yourself be known and know others. Young adults will respond when they know they matter and know you care. That’s why they’ll show up.

Thanksgiving Bingo: Free Download for Holiday Fun With Kids

ChildrensMinistry.com

October 6, 2022

Thanksgiving bingo is a fun, creative way to spark gratitude in kids. From preteens to senior high youth, group members will enjoy this free activity.

Play Thanksgiving bingo during a regular youth meeting, after a youth worship service, or at a special event. Then tie in a discussion about what the Bible says about thankfulness.

Enjoy playing Thanksgiving bingo with your kids this fall!

You’ll need:

paper
pencils
scissors
a bowl
Bingo game boards (Download free gameboards here.)

Game: Thanksgiving Bingo + Free Download!

Say: God gives us so many reasons to be thankful. What exactly are we thankful for? Let’s think of specifics today. What helps you feel loved, valued, and cared for?

Read 1 Thessalonians 5:18. Have kids name general ideas, such as parents, friends, talents, nature, and so on. Write each on a slip of paper, and have kids fill their game boards. Then have kids cut paper pieces to use to cover their bingo board squares.

Randomly call the words. As you call each thing, let one player explain thankfulness for that word. When someone covers four in a row, the player shouts “Thankful!”

Reread 1 Thessalonians 5:18. Ask:

What was it like to hear things others are thankful for?
How can you put the Bible verse into practice this week?
Why do you trust God to give you everything you really need?

Close by sharing more Bible verses about gratitude. Examples include:

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. Psalm 107:1
Jesus heals 10 lepers, yet only one returns to say thank you. Luke 17:11-19
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:15-17

Check out all these great ideas for Thanksgiving.

This article about Thanksgiving bingo originally appeared here.

Love Is Oxygen for the Soul

Love is powerful. Love is contagious. Love is Jesus.

7 Attributes of a Great Worship Leader

1. Humble

2. Strategic

3. Cooperative

4. Faithful

Tending Small Group Ministry – the Soil of the Church

1. Small Group Ministry: Staying Small While Growing Big

2. Small Group Ministry: Nurture the Soil of the Church

6 Suggestions for Strong Sermon Closings

1. Close with a story.

2. Close with an action.

3. Close with an appeal.

4. Close with prayer.

5. Close with a refrain.

6. Close with Scripture.

7 Skills for Effective Church Administration:

1. Networking

2. Connecting

3. Visioneering

4. Pioneering

5. Delegating

6. Confronting

7. Following

10 Powerful Prayers for Pastors

Dear Lord, grow my love for you so I will trust in You when I can’t see the path ahead clearly. Help me to trust in You, more than I trust in my abilities.

Dear Lord, help me not to say yes when no is the right answer. Help me balance my time to be most effective and to accomplish Your will more than the will of others.

Dear Lord, never allow my plan to get ahead of—or in the place of—Your plan. Remind me frequently that Your way is best and I will always be most successful when I wait for You.

Dear Lord, allow me to forgive easily, hold no grudges or bitterness, and live in and extend to others the grace You have provided to me. Never let me get so proud or arrogant that I forget I am nothing apart from Your hand upon my life.

Dear Lord, provide me with courage and conviction to face my fears and critics and lead people to bigger realities of Your will than today. Give me the courage of Gideon, the steadfastness of Nehemiah, and the boldness of Daniel.

Dear Lord, grant me wisdom to make decisions big and small and conviction to follow You when it contradicts my desires or the demands of others. Give me discernment and surround me with wise people who follow You and can speak into my life.

Dear Lord, help me guard my heart, overcome temptation, and keep my character and reputation above reproach. Build around me people who believe in me, know me and are willing to speak hard truths into my life.

Dear Lord, give me patience with people, the pace of progress and with things I can’t understand. Assure me continually that Your plan is always worth waiting for and will be better than anything I can produce on my own.

Dear Lord, help me communicate with clarity, consistency and competence. Guard my tongue and keep me from reckless words. Make me an encourager and a builder of people with the things I say.

Dear Lord, help me to love people and use my influence for the good of others. Allow me to see my life’s mission as bigger than today. Help me leave a legacy, which brings glory to You.

Baby Dedication Refused by Pastor

Ye Discusses Wearing ‘White Lives Matter’ Shirt

CaraFem: Anti-Abortion Protesters Charged With Blocking Access

Charges Against Protesters Spark Reactions

False Profession of Faith

Lack of Understanding

Hypocrisy

The Pull of the World

Shallow Knowledge of the Bible

Each preacher is different.

The Length of Your Sermon Outline Has to be Right for Your Personality

How Does a Preacher Decide Which Type of Sermon Outline to Use?

This May Take Time to Figure Out

Core things young adults need from church:

1. Love and Value

You’ll need:

Game: Thanksgiving Bingo + Free Download!

New Articles

New Podcasts