Newsletters
Home Blog Page 836

The World Attracted to the Church

By
Nicholas Batzig
-
Father’s Day program ideas for church

Martyn Lloyd-Jones once notably explained, “When the church is absolutely different from the world, she invariably attracts it. It is then that the world is made to listen to her message, though it may hate it at first.” Nothing is more important for Christian leaders to come to terms with in our day than this truth. History teaches us that when the church has sought to be most like the world, it, in fact, had the least impact on the world. As Sinclair Ferguson has observed, “If all the Christian church has to offer is a different version of what the world has to offer, then the Christian church––as it has done in the Western world in the last fifty years––falls into decrepitude.”1 Nevertheless, the question remains, “In what ways should the Christian church be different from the world?” Certainly no biblically faithful, gospel-focused church would ever insist on putting up unbiblical standards of separation in order to distinguish the church from the world.

What, then, distinguishes the Christian church from the world? Consider the following:

1. An abiding commitment to the Word of God.

The revelation of God in Scripture gives shape to everything that believers are to be and to do in the local church. God’s written word is our only rule of faith and practice. If we loosen our hold on the teaching of Scripture, anything and everything else will creep into our lives and assemblies. This means that the church is to be marked chiefly by a commitment to the sound teaching and preaching of Scripture. If there is anything that our churches are to be known for in the world it is this––that God’s people hold fast to the word of truth. After all, the church is “the pillar and ground of truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). Whenever Israel experienced reformation in the days of the kings, it was when God’s word was rediscovered and read among the people of God (2 Chronicles 29:1–31:21; 34:8–35:19). When the Apostle Paul wrote to the fledgling church in Thessalonica––in order to encourage them to continue to the faith–he took special note of the fact that God’s word was evident in their congregation. He said, “For…the word of the Lord sounded forth from you” (1 Thess. 1:8). When Jesus commended the church in Ephesus, He said, “you…have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false” (Rev. 2:2). Nothing is more essential to church being distinct from the word than that the church holds fast to the whole counsel of God–in our personal lives, worship, and witness.

In his book We Become What We Worship, G.K. Beale explains how this ought to work itself out from the church into the life of believers. He writes,

“Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:5, “Bring every thought captive to the obedience [thinking] of Jesus Christ.” What part of our lives is unrelated to Christ? A friendship or dating relationship? Our marriage? Our relationship to our children? As families, are there regular times that we gather together to hear God’s Word and to pray together? Do we meet together with fellow Christians at weekly worship and sincerely participate? Negative answers to these questions can be indicators of whether or not we have an idolatrous stance.”2

Of course, the church’s commitment to Scripture must be in proportion to the truth of the gospel. Many, under pretense of principled zeal, have embraced a pharisaic reading of God’s word. All of God’s word leads to the Lord Jesus Christ and the grace of God in the gospel of Christ (John 5:46-47; Luke 24:27, 32, 45–47).

2. An increasing conformity to the image of Christ.

The gospel produces conformity to the image of Christ. As the Apostle Paul puts it, “we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18). This means that the church is to reflect the holiness, character, and beauty of Christlikeness. Sadly, many who affirm this principle have truncated views of Christ. Some mistakenly reduce Jesus down to a soft, tolerant, community organizer. Others erroneously represent Jesus as a hard, intolerant law-enforcement officer. Biblical revelation teaches that Jesus is himself holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. At the same time, the gospels reveal that Jesus is gentle and lowly, full of love and compassion for sinners–one who ate and drank with tax collectors and sinners. He never abandoned a zeal for holiness in the name of mission. Neither did he set aside His meek and gentle character under a pretense for holiness. In the same way ‪the church is to be increasingly marked by holiness and compassion, not by compromise and harshness. If the church faithfully lives out the Christian life in the word, it’s leaders and members will pursue holiness and resist compromise while expressing compassion without exhibiting harshness.‬

Parenting Means Wrestling Demons

By
Jonathan Parnell
-
Father’s Day program ideas for church

I nudged the door open with my shoulder, hands holding carryout (again). I made my way through the dark living room and set dinner on the table. I could hear the kids playing in the basement as I peeked into the bedroom to find my wife lying there, doubled over with nausea. She felt too sick to think about eating, not to mention preparing food for the rest of us, and so for the fourth time in as many nights, dad was dishing dinner for the fam.

This is how it goes in wartime, and for a few months now at our house, we’ve been in the battle zone. My wife is pregnant with our fifth child.

As many mothers could attest, sometimes it’s not so much morning-sickness as just plain sickness. She hasn’t felt well since the newest member of our family came into existence at the end of last year. But it’s OK—we get it. It comes with the territory. Nausea, in fact, is just one piece of the larger struggle. We’ve learned by now that wrestling demons isn’t supposed to be easy.

Satan Hates the Little Children of the World

In his book Adopted for Life, Russell Moore says that Satan hates children and always has. History would say the same. In Scripture alone, we see the slaughter of the infants in Pharaoh’s Egypt and Herod’s Bethlehem. Every time the demonic powers forcefully oppose Jesus, “babies are caught in the crossfire.” Moore explains,

Whether through political machinations such as those of Pharaoh and Herod, through military conquests in which bloodthirsty armies rip babies from pregnant mothers’ wombs (Amos 1:13), or through the more “routine” seeming family disintegration and family chaos, children are always hurt. Human history is riddled with their corpses. (63)

Whether we look back over the pages of world history, or just around us today, the point bears true. Children are so often caught in the crossfire, so often hurt, so often the victims of a larger conflict in which they have no say, no influence, no responsibility. It happened back when primitive peoples thought slaying their children would appease the gods, and when war meant burning homes and sacking villages. And it happens still today when deranged citizens carry guns into elementary schools, and when abortion clinics welcome terrified teenagers with open arms, or when Boko Haram pillages another Nigerian village, or a young couple decides Down syndrome will disrupt their life plans. Moore writes,

The demonic powers hate babies because they hate Jesus. When they destroy “the least of these” (Matthew 25:40, Matthew 25.45″ data-version=”esv” data-purpose=”bible-reference”>45), the most vulnerable among us, they’re destroying a picture of Jesus himself. (63–64)

There is a war on children, and we are all, in one way or another, playing some role in it. Every time we move forward as faithful parents (or care for kids in any capacity, including advocating for the voiceless not yet born and volunteering for nursery duty on Sundays), we are wrestling demons—because there is little the demons hate more than little children.

The Shift in Perspective

This calls for a shift in our perspective as parents. If we go into the work of parenting with a Precious Moments romanticism, it won’t be long before despair sets in. It’s just too hard if we think it’s going to be easy. It’s essential to know, especially when the going gets tough, that we are fighting hell.

It’s essential to know, especially when the going gets tough, that we are fighting hell.

When we begin to see our parenting through the lens of spiritual warfare, it reconfigures our work in at least five important ways.

Is Your Leadership Conflict Healthy?

By
Scott Williams
-
Father’s Day program ideas for church

Sometimes leaders avoid conflict; they run from it, they don’t value it, and they lose the benefit it brings to organizations and teams.

Some leaders prefer not to be challenged, not to be questioned, and for conflict to be absent in their culture. This mentality generally results when a manager is at the helm or the dictator mindset has taken root.

Conflict can be great, disagreements can be awesome, and healthy conflict can be the secret sauce to a successful organization.

The most important aspect of utilizing conflict is creating a culture where conflict is valued, and, at the end of the day, everyone walks out the door as a unified team.

If your organization is without healthy conflict, your organization is not at its best.

Great leaders value and use conflict to the advantage of the organization. Managers and timid leaders avoid conflict, therefore avoiding their organization reaching its maximum potential.

The more you embrace conflict, the less conflict you will actually have.

The more you avoid conflict the more behind the scenes, back-biting, timid, passive-aggressive, underground, negative, dictatorship conflict you will have … the conflict will exist, simply in an unhealthy manner.

Conflict is great; a culture of healthy conflict is greater.

What do you think?  

James MacDonald Puts Streaming Service on Hold to Return to Pulpit

By
Megan Briggs
-
Father’s Day program ideas for church

“Disqualified” pastor James MacDonald has taken to preaching again, this time at a church in California. Speaking at Calvary Chapel South Bay in Gardena, California, MacDonald described the separation from his Harvest Bible Chapel in Chicago, Illinois as a “crucible of suffering.”

“There were quite a few weeks over the last 13 or 14 months where I didn’t know if I would preach again or I didn’t know if I even wanted to,” MacDonald told the congregation of Calvary Chapel South Bay on March 15, 2020. 

Calvary Chapel South Bay Given Vague Harvest Explanation

Pastor Jeff Gill announced that MacDonald would be starting an eight-week series on Romans chapter eight starting next Sunday evening. MacDonald, who had already preached at the church on March 5, 2020 during a Thursday night gathering, explained the situation of not being at the church he started in vague terms. He referred to a “time of separation” from Harvest, the church he and his wife, Cathy, “gave” their whole lives to, as being something that God allowed to happen.

While MacDonald explained that the separation had caused him to take an unplanned break from preaching for the last “13 or 14 months,” he believes “God began to stir within us a hope and an expectation that he had something for us still to do.” Only alluding to the trouble that caused the elders of Harvest Bible Chapel to disqualify him, MacDonald said he believes God has forgiven him. “My failures were not as such in relational matters that he couldn’t forgive those things.”

Further, he implied that the sudden change he and Cathy experienced was perhaps apropos, given “My whole ministry has had a theme of change and how God changes people.” 

MacDonald also told the group, “Christians are not always that loving and not always as kind as the Lord would have us be. And somehow we who know the Lord best and love him most are not always changed as we should be.” MacDonald then tied that thought to the sermon series on Romans 8, explaining it was ideal for those who try to change but often find themselves making little progress. The series will delve into the question “How does God actually change people?” 

Concluding his brief speech, MacDonald thanked Pastor Gill for welcoming him and Cathy. Gill then announced that he would be “sitting and getting fed” during these eight weeks MacDonald is scheduled to preach. 

At the beginning of the Thursday evening sermon MacDonald preached about a week and a half before this announcement, he spent a little more time explaining how he and his family had come into contact with Gill:

I’m not assuming for a second that any of you know us or know who we are, but we have been serving the Lord at a church that we were blessed to start over 30 years ago in Chicago–up until recently, about a year ago. And the Lord has seen fit to allow us to go through a season of suffering and separation from the church that we gave our lives to and it’s been a valley….Our son actually moved out to this area and on a Sunday morning we were privileged to be here and to worship with the church family here, and I would typically always go up and meet the pastor afterwards, but in this instance I just didn’t. 

MacDonald went on to explain that he had known of Gill through mutual friends and even had his phone number, so he sent a text to the pastor. The two met shortly thereafter at the church. MacDonald said speaking to (and crying in front of) Gill made him feel “really pastored.” Then Gill invited him to preach. “After preaching four or five times a week with never more than two or three weeks off for 30 years, this is the first time I’ve been up in front of anyone for 13 months,” MacDonald told the group, which started clapping.

MacDonald said he and Cathy are very “appreciative” of being a part of Calvary Chapel South Bay “during this season of our life.” MacDonald went on, “one of the things I appreciate about Calvary Chapels, and this Calvary Chapel in particular, is the attention and respect they show for God’s word.”

Home Church Network on Hold

Earlier this year, MacDonald announced he was launching a “home church network” ministry that would have provided content that a home church group could stream for their services. In an announcement about the initiative, MacDonald said that “large churches present complicating logistics and often negatively affect Christian relationships. For that reason, we feel led by the Lord to offer an alternative for those who need it.”

Now, however, MacDonald’s preaching at Calvary Chapel South Bay is putting that plan on an indefinite hold. The website for the network states, “As the Lord has recently opened a door for Pastor James to return to pulpit ministry, the Home Church Network will continue a pilot season through spring, then re-evaluate regarding future training events and plans for fall.” Considering that churches around the country (and world) are having to switch to online services due to the coronavirus, the timing seems somewhat ironic.

Calvary Chapel South Bay did meet in person on March 15th, but it remains to be seen if MacDonald will be able to preach in person or not in the coming weeks.

Condoleezza Rice: 9/11 Shows Us How to Respond to This Crisis with Faith

By
Jessica Lea
-
Father’s Day program ideas for church

Former National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice recently sat down for an interview with John Ortberg, the senior pastor of Menlo Church in California. In the interview, Rice shared her thoughts on the coronavirus outbreak based on the life lessons she has learned, particularly from her encounters with racism as a child and her time as a national leader during 9/11. These and other experiences have shaped her understanding of how to navigate fearful circumstances with faith.

Church Guide to Coronavirus 1

“I’ve always tried to acknowledge my fear and anxiety,” observed Rice. “I think if you push it down, it just festers. And if you call it by name, then I think you can work on it, and you can work on it with the Lord because you’ve called it by name.”

What Condoleezza Rice Has Learned About Faith and Fear

Condoleezza Rice grew up as the daughter of a minister in Birmingham, Alabama, which was “the most segregated city in America at the time.” Faith was very much a part of her family heritage. “I had always been in church from a little, little girl,” she said. Despite growing up in the Jim Crow era, Rice was part of a loving community that “felt like a little safe cocoon”—at least, it did until 1962 and 1963 when “suddenly Birmingham was Bombingham.”

On September 15, 1963, the 16th Street Baptist Church was bombed, killing four little girls and injuring at least 14 other people. Everyone in Rice’s community had known at least one of the girls who were killed. There was a lot of fear at the time. They could not trust the police, said Rice, because the police were just as likely as not to be setting off bombs targeting black people. White knight riders with the Ku Klux Klan would come through their community, so Rice’s father and his friends ended up forming a militia of sorts to protect people from the KKK.

“All we could do in those days was to pray,” said Rice, “and I have to say, it was sufficient. It was sufficient to calming my parents. It was sufficient to calming me and my friends. In those days, you could start off school with prayer, and we started off every class every day with prayer.”

Then President Kennedy was assassinated, as were Robert Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., later on. “It just seemed to keep coming,” she said. But in spite of all of that, Rice’s parents remained secure in their faith in God and helped to pass that trust on to her.

Rice said she has a family heritage of valuing the “life of the mind” and of knowing the importance of understanding the Scriptures in-depth. She credits her father as being partly responsible for the fact she never had a faith crisis as she grew increasingly educated. “From the very beginning,” she said, “he let me ask questions. From the very beginning, he would acknowledge that there were hard things about our faith, that it wasn’t what I call ‘fast food faith.’ You really had to struggle with it.” Sometimes Christians think that having faith in God means never asking difficult questions, but Rice disagrees. It’s all right to wrestle before God with painful experiences.

Condoleezza Rice on 9/11 and the Coronavirus

On a personal level, Rice’s most difficult times in life have been the deaths of her parents. Professionally, her most challenging experience was 9/11. She dealt with a lot of fear, anxiety, remorse, and regret in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. Said Rice, “If you’re the National Security Advisor on the day that thousands of people die, you know intellectually that you did everything you knew to do, but by definition, you didn’t do enough. And you never ever quite let go of that.” Even though Rice still struggles with feeling like she failed because of 9/11, she has experienced healing over time as she has prayed about and processed what happened and as she has received grace from other people. 

Ortberg pointed out that the coronavirus outbreak has caused the United States to face what is arguably its weightiest moment since 9/11. He asked Rice what advice she has regarding how people should pray and think about the challenges caused by the virus. 

A crisis, responded Rice, can either cause us to focus on ourselves or prompt us to focus on how much we need one another. “We are among the most individualistic people in the world,” she said, but “We also can be very communitarian when things are at their worst.” She observed that while the Chinese have “flattened the curve” of the virus, they have done so through authoritarianism. In contrast, she said, “We’ve got to depend on 300 million Americans to do the right thing. But that’s who we are. And we’re seeing across the country people trying to do the right thing.”

So her advice is, first, that people should do the right thing for themselves as individuals as a way of helping their communities. Second, she encouraged people to reach out to others and to help the most vulnerable. This could look like calling shut ins or like comforting kids, who are probably scared right now. We should remember to be thankful to our healthcare workers and first responders, who are exhausted. We can also pray that God would help us know how we can help others.

The Back Side of the Preaching Ministry

By
Barry York
-
Father’s Day program ideas for church

In teaching homiletics, I regularly encounter young men eager yet nervous about preaching. The call to proclaim the gospel is earnest in their hearts, though the reality of standing in front of a congregation of God’s people is intimidating. Often in beginning classroom discussions about preaching, these men in training equate preaching solely with the public proclamation of God’s Word to the congregation each Lord’s Day. Their focus in preaching is almost exclusively on being up front in a pulpit at church. Certainly delivering public messages is what they are in the class to learn. Yet these conversations lead us to discuss the other side of the preaching ministry.

For there is also what we might call the “back side” that cannot be neglected in considering the preaching ministry.

This other side helps give the public proclamation of the Word more unction, love, and focus. What is this back side?We hear of it in the Apostle Paul as he reminds the elders at Ephesus of his ministry in their midst for the three years that he was with them.

Clearly Paul had proclaimed God’s Word to the Ephesians in power. His enemies said that “Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people” from their idols (Acts 19:26). He told the elders that he “did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public” (Acts 20:20), and “did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God” (v. 27). His public, upfront ministry of preaching was bold, strong, and effectual.

Yet Paul also speaks of how this ministry of the Word was characterized by the “back side” of private instruction. He not only taught them in public, but “from house to house” (v. 20). Paul spoke of being “among (them) proclaiming the kingdom of God” (v. 25), and that for those three years he “did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears” (v. 32). He spent time helping the weak among them (v. 34). From the sounds of the description of his own ministry, one gets the sense that Paul considered the back side with the people of Ephesus as essential to being up in front of them.

For is this not the way of the true shepherd? Yes, he does stand in front and feed the sheep of Christ from the green pastures of His Word. But he also comes down from the pulpit and lives with and among the sheep, personally coming alongside, instructing, encouraging, admonishing, and weeping over those given to his charge. This back side work of the preacher does not supplant but rather supports and empowers the front side of his ministry.

So I remind preachers in training to not limit in their minds this holistic sense of preaching. Sermons spoken earnestly in living rooms, while lacking the form and fuller substance of corporate messages, can still be like John the Baptist in paving the way for sermons from the pulpit. To encourage this lesson in these budding preachers, I give them a simple assignment. Before they preach their message in public, I have them share it in part with at least one person in private. For part of learning to preach to congregations is learning how to instruct congregants.

This article about the preaching ministry originally appeared here.

3 Ways to Ask People to Serve or Give

By
Josh Reich
-
Father’s Day program ideas for church

There are important ways to ask people to serve; if you don’t ask, they won’t serve.

I meet a lot of people in their 20’s and 30’s who are really smart. The reason I know they are smart is because they tell me. Typically, in your 20’s, you are always the smartest person in the room, especially as it relates to churches. I get it. I was the same way. I’ve had to since apologize to some people I worked under for my arrogance.

If you are in your 20’s and 30’s, there is also a sense of people should just hand things to you.

I remember a couple of years ago being asked by some people at Revolution why we weren’t supporting a church plant in Tucson (sadly, this church plant no longer exists). My response was, “they never asked.” Now, the people asking knew the planter and asked why we didn’t just give money to them without them asking.

Answer: leaders cast a vision. Leaders make the ask. Leaders make it known what is needed. Leaders sit across the table from influencers, givers, and others leaders, cast a vision and say, “I want you to be involved and here’s how _____.”

Leaders do not wait for someone to give them something.

If you are a church planter or pastor and don’t have the volunteers you need, the money you need, the people you need. You have either not asked or you are not casting a compelling vision for people to join.

Don’t miss this: People are not looking for something else to give to or something else to do. 

They are looking for something worth their time, money and effort.

This is hard to do and this one reason is why so few dreamers ever reach their full potential.

Here are 3 ways to ask people to serve or give:

  1. Don’t say no for someone. You have a need and you know the perfect person to fill that need, except they are really busy. Many pastors will not ask that person, they will ask someone less qualified. Don’t. Don’t say no for someone. Let them say no for themselves. They might be too busy. They might cut something out of their life to do what you ask them to do.
  2. Know what you are asking for. If you are asking them to give to something, know how much you are asking for. If it is serving, know for how long and how much time it will take. The more specific you are in what you are asking for, the higher the chance they will say yes.
  3. Know why you are asking. This is where many leaders miss the boat. They know “what” and “how” for their church plant, team, ministry, etc. but they don’t know why. Why should this person do this? What will it gain? Why is it worth their time or money? I once talked to a campus minister and all he told me in our hour meeting was what he would do on campus. I already knew that. I wanted to know why, I wanted to hear his heart, I wanted to hear his passion and why it drove him to give his life to it.

This article about how to ask people to give or serve originally appeared here.

Kindness Is a Verb

By
Sarah Frazer
-
Father’s Day program ideas for church

Most of us are familiar with the Fruit of the Spirit such as kindness, but can we explain how these fruits are born in the life of a believer? What do each of these fruits look like in real life? How can we promote their growth and flourishing in our lives? Let’s explore the work of the Spirit in our lives and how he produces these fruits in us. We are known by our fruit, so let’s begin by examining our lives. 

My son looked at me with sadness in his eyes, “I just wanted to be funny….” I sighed at his plight. Instead of being the “funny” one at school, he often finds himself laughed at (not with), and it hurts my mom-heart to see him upset. Understanding his deep need for recognition and approval I told him, “Son, you can be good at other things. In fact, you are one of the kindest people I know. Just be kind and see what happens.”

As I talked to him through the rearview mirror in the car, I saw him smile. God has designed him to be one of the best examples of being kind I know. Truly he cares for everyone – no matter the cliques. If my son has something, he gives it away. If someone is upset, he is compassionate. There is a tender heart inside this little boy. At the end of the day, they will remember his kindness, not his silly shenanigans. More importantly, his kindness is a reminder of the loving kindness of our Heavenly Father.

In Psalm 33:22 it says, “Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee” (KJV). The word for “mercy” can also be translated “kindness.” The Hebrew word is: checed, which means his “covenant-keeping love.” It is a love and kindness based on his covenant, or his promises, to us – not based on anything we deserve. The very love that drives him to keep his promises is the love in which he shows his kindness to us.

The kindness of God is far reaching and long lasting, Isaiah 54:8 says it is “everlasting.” The comfort this truth offers is immeasurable. Do we believe God loves us? Yes. But do we believe he is kind? Loving a person means we want them to be the best they can be. Being kind is how we reveal our love for one another.

Being kind implies action. Out of love, God moves toward us with kindness. When we study Scripture, we see God’s kindness is always connected to his actions. God came to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. God set up the great rescue plan to save the entire world from sin. Jesus came as a man to die on the cross for our sin.

We can still see how God is kind today. Over and over again, God demonstrates his kindness to us through the circumstances he allows in our lives. When my daughter’s diagnosis is still unknown, God is still kind, because according to Romans 8:28, he is working everything – even the hard things – for our good. If we do not see the good, it doesn’t mean God has left us. The promises of Scripture are true. Let’s believe with our heads what our hearts have forgotten.

God’s kindness, the everlasting, covenant-keeping love he bestows on us, is the fuel for our own kindness to others. God does not ask us to do or be something he is not. Our kindness matters because we are God’s lights here on earth, made in his image. How will a world living in darkness see the light of God’s covenant-keeping love and everlasting kindness if we hide it away? Let’s be people bearing the fruit of kindness if for no other reason than it was first bestowed on us.

Galatians 5:22 says kindness is a fruit we are to cultivate and grow in our lives. Kindness can’t just happen to us; we must seek after it and trust the Spirit’s empowerment. If we are to develop this fruit in our lives, we must look for ways to show it.

  • Is there a sick neighbor or church member you can make a meal for?
  • Does a college student need a small note of encouragement?
  • Do you have a friend struggling to find God in her season of life right now?
  • How does your family need to see God’s kindness today?

As we strive to develop the fruit of kindness, we must open our eyes to a world in need of God’s love. The best thing about being kind is we don’t have to wait until the feelings come; we can choose to be kind even when our hearts fail to “feel” it. Being kind is a choice and action not dependent on our feelings.

My son would like to be known and seen (and probably remembered) by his classmates. Instead of them remembering his silly antics, they will remember his kindness. The time he held the door open for them or the time he offered a hand to an enemy on the playground. The acts of being kind we show to others will far outlast anything we try to build.

We can change people’s lives with the simple fruit of kindness. “Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor” (Prov. 21:21, ESV). Do you want to make a difference in the world? Do you long to leave a mark long after you have gone from this earth? Be kind.

This article originally appeared here.

UPDATE: Liberty Changes Tune, Moves to Online Classes

By
Stephanie Martin
-
Father’s Day program ideas for church

UPDATE: After publishing this article, ChurchLeaders learned that Liberty University has changed their intended course of action which required students to return to campus on March 23rd after spring break. According to school’s website, “Liberty University announced that in light of Virginia Governor Ralph Northam’s emergency ban on public gatherings of 100 people, it will transition most of its residential classes to an online digital format starting Monday, March 23.”

Liberty President Jerry Falwell, Jr. wrote:

We originally believed it was safest to return our students following their spring break instead of having them return following greater exposure opportunities from leaving them in different parts of the country for longer periods. But, the Governor’s recent decision to limit certain gatherings has left us no practical choice because we have so many classes of more than 100 students. We want to provide for the continuity of our students’ education while doing what makes sense to help slow the spread of the coronavirus to our university family and local community.

Church Guide to Coronavirus 1

Additionally, Falwell encouraged students and faculty to pray for the elderly and other people who are high risk.

The school’s announcement came shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump, who many have accused of downplaying the threat of the virus before this point, gave a briefing outlining new, stricter guidelines designed to quell the spread of the virus. Among those guidelines are the recommendation to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people, limit “discretionary travel,” and avoid eating at bars, restaurants and food courts.

Though schools, churches, and companies throughout America are moving online due to the coronavirus pandemic, Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, plans to resume in-person classes when students return from spring break March 23. Jerry Falwell Jr., president of the 16,000-student evangelical school, is facing pushback for the decision—especially now that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended no gatherings of 50 or more people take place for the next eight weeks.

Many students say the decision endangers their health, their families, and the local community. Almost 11,000 people have signed an online petition asking Falwell to extend spring break and then switch to virtual learning.

Getting Political With the Pandemic

On Fox & Friends March 13, Falwell said, “It’s just strange to me how so many are overreacting. It makes you wonder if there’s a political reason for that. Impeachment didn’t work, and the Mueller report didn’t work, and Article 25 didn’t work. And so maybe now this is their next attempt to get Trump.” Also on Friday, Falwell tweeted: “Could COVID-19 be the ‘Christmas Gift’ North Korea’s leadership promised America back in December?”

In a series of tweets yesterday, Falwell elaborated on Liberty’s plans, saying the school is arranging “special accommodations” for at-risk students and staff. Classes will be held in larger areas and even outside, mealtimes will be staggered to reduce crowds, and the weekly convocation will be livestreamed. Falwell wants Liberty to “become the model for others to follow in the future.”

Further explaining his reasoning, Falwell says, “I don’t want to become one of these college presidents who are pushing this problem off on someone else by sending 20 year olds with near zero mortality risk to sit at home for the rest of the semester, often with grandparents in the house who truly are at risk.”

When a parent of three Liberty students said that decision is “crazy, irresponsible, and seems like a money grab,” Falwell replied by calling him a “dummy.”

Student: ‘We’re supposed to be taking preventative action’

The anonymous Liberty student who began the petition for online classes reports having a medical condition and wanting to protect vulnerable people. In a statement, the person expresses hope “that maybe if the students banded together we could express that this is way more than a political issue.”

Elizabeth Lake, a senior at Liberty, tells the Washington Post, “We’re supposed to be taking preventative action, and [Falwell’s] not doing that because of his political views. Students are going to be coming back from spring break from all over, and who knows if they’re going to bring this back with them. He’s not taking into consideration all of the Liberty students and the people who live in Lynchburg.”

Freshman Joe Keller says although he “can probably beat” the coronavirus, older professors are at risk, and crowded dorms pose infection risks.

Freshman Alexis Valle says she signed the petition because she has at-risk family members around Lynchburg. “If we can at least show [Falwell] how we feel, then…maybe he’ll change his mind and decide this is a lot worse than what he’s making it out to be.”

Team Finds Dead Sea Scroll Fragments at Bible Museum to Be Fake

By
Jessica Lea
-
Father’s Day program ideas for church

A team of independent investigators has found that the 16 alleged Dead Sea Scroll fragments at the Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C. are forgeries. On March 13, Art Fraud Insights released a report over 200 pages long that it completed at the request of the Bible museum. The report detailed the inconsistencies found by the Art Fraud Insights team, which was headed by company founder and director Colette Loll.

“After an exhaustive review of all the imaging and scientific analysis results, it is the unanimous conclusion of the Advisory Team that none of the textual fragments in the Museum of the Bible’s Dead Sea Scroll collection are authentic,” said Loll in her executive summary of the report. “Moreover, each exhibits characteristics that suggest they are deliberate forgeries created in the twentieth century with the intent to mimic authentic Dead Sea Scroll fragments.”

Bible Museum Unwittingly Purchases Forgeries

The Museum of the Bible opened to the public in 2017 in Washington D.C. and describes itself as “an innovative, global, educational institution whose purpose is to invite all people to engage with the Bible.” 

Hobby Lobby president Steve Green founded the museum and is also one of its main funders. Between 2009 and 2014, reports National Geographic, Green purchased many biblical artifacts and manuscripts, including 16 out of an estimated 70 alleged Dead Sea Scroll fragments that appeared on the antiquities market after 2002. The forgeries initially fooled biblical scholars, some of whom published a book on some of the fragments the museum bought. However, beginning in 2016, certain experts began to express doubt about the authenticity of the fragments, which had not been subjected to a detailed evaluation at that point. 

In April 2017, the museum requested that experts in Germany test five of the 16 fragments. Those experts concluded that the five fragments showed enough inconsistencies to call their authenticity into question, and the museum pulled them from display in October 2018. The museum then sought help from Loll’s company in order to determine whether or not any of the fragments were authentic.

“To that end,” wrote Loll in her executive summary about her team’s findings, “comprehensive imaging and scientific analysis were conducted on the collection between May and October 2019.” Loll’s team was comprised of scientists, conservators and imaging experts, and she said, “We now know that there was much to be gained by studying the fragments under different wavelengths of light, under high magnification, identifying the materials from which they were made, and analyzing the materials deposited on their surfaces.” 

Among the inconsistencies Loll’s team discovered was that the fragments were made of leather instead of the “tanned and untanned parchment” of the original scrolls. The team found evidence that modern writing had been applied to the fragments and that the forgers had applied animal glue to their surfaces to “simulate the gelatinization” of the originals. Loll noted, “In all of the fragments that contained writing, we observed examples where modern ink was applied atop preexisting surface deposits and across cracks and areas of delamination already present on the repurposed material.” She described additional techniques the forgers used to create the fragments and said, “It is our opinion that all of these methods were utilized with an express intent to deceive.” 

Even though Green purchased the fragments from four different people, the fact they have similar characteristics, says National Geographic, “strongly suggests that the forged fragments share a common source. However, the identity of the forger or forgers remains unknown.” The findings of Loll’s team do not mean that the people who sold the fragments to Green necessarily knew they were fakes, and the report does not call into question the genuineness of the original Dead Sea Scroll fragments.

Loll concluded her summary of the team’s findings by noting that one result of the project was that she and her team have developed a new procedure for determining whether or not ancient texts are authentic. “The extensive research sponsored by the Museum of the Bible,” she said, “has resulted in the creation of a rigorous and reproducible protocol for the scientific interrogation of questioned ancient textual artifacts.”

Bible Museum Navigates Other Challenges

The Museum of the Bible has had other difficulties with its artifacts in the past. In 2017, the Green family was fined for buying stolen artifacts from Iraq. In 2018, it was discovered the museum had a stolen medieval manuscript in its possession, and in October 2019, the Bible museum again landed in hot water for unwittingly having 11 stolen biblical artifacts. 

Loll emphasized, however, that when the museum requested her to conduct a study, they gave her the full independence she asked for, including allowing her to publicly publish the results. She said, “I’ve never worked with a museum that was so up-front.” The Bible museum’s leadership told National Geographic they hoped their experience would be helpful to Dead Sea Scroll scholars, and they are also re-evaluating the origin of everything in their collection. 

Despite the fact he believes the museum has made some grave mistakes in the past, Semitic text specialist Christopher Rollston says its leaders have shown integrity in how they have tried to fix those mistakes. “If there’s any theme that’s present in the Bible, it’s the theme of forgiveness and the possibility of redemption, after someone finally comes clean,” said Rollston. “There’s true penitence there.”

Faith Leaders Attempt to Dispel Fear During Online Services

By
Megan Briggs
-
Father’s Day program ideas for church

As more and more churches turned to online services in the wake of directions coming from local governments and federal organizations to suspend meetings of people in groups of 50 or more, pastors are being called upon to disseminate information even as they encourage their congregations’ spirits. There are so many practical considerations to note as churches, schools, and businesses close their facilities for a season due to the threat of Covid-19. It is in times like these that the church shines, faith leaders believe. Whether it’s preaching a message intending to help believers practice faith over fear, organizing meals for the elderly or children who are missing school lunches, or inviting medical experts to communicate facts, these leaders are serving their flocks.

Church Guide to Coronavirus 1

Greg Laurie / Harvest Christian Fellowship

Greg Laurie of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California called on the church to pray during the sermon he preached for the online services. “This is the church’s secret weapon that is rarely employed, and I say let’s detonate it now: Prayer. Prayer. And there’s power in unified prayer. We miss that sometimes…Jesus said if any two of you agree together as touching anything on earth, it will be done of our Father in heaven.”

Last week, Laurie warned that the fear over the coronavirus is a greater risk than the virus itself and encouraged believers to lean on their faith over fear. During Laurie’s message on Sunday, he emphasized the need for Christians to come together to fight the virus “because it knows no boundaries.”

Rick Warren / Saddleback Church

Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church headquartered in Lake Forest, California explained to those watching that although the church was going to be streaming online services for the near future, small group meetings are still happening. Saddleback is known for being a champion of the small group model; Warren stated that all 8,000 of the church’s groups had been instructed to meet and watch the service together. “Saddleback Church is going to be much better suited to weather the storm of this coronavirus outbreak than a lot of other churches because we have members that have been a part of weekly small groups and studies for literally decades. In fact, we have more people attend small group studies every week than attend out typical weekend services. About 30,000 people show up on a weekend, but about 40,000 attend one of our 8,000+ small groups.”

Warren shared that Bob Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control, had contacted him regarding how the global network of Saddleback Churches could help respond to the pandemic. Warren’s message focused on helping listeners “replace fear with facts and faith.”

Jack Graham / Prestonwood Baptist Church

Pastor Jack Graham of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas announced all services were moving to online services starting this most recent weekend. Graham invited Dr. Ken Cooper to speak on Sunday and address the congregation. The church is also taking initiative to help children who may be without meals during this time due to school closures. “One tangible way we will be sharing hope is by serving children who are missing free meals due to school closings. We will provide more information about this initiative in the coming days,” an update on the church’s website states.

Graham also encouraged congregants to invite their neighbors over as they watched the service in their homes. “What an incredible opportunity this is for us to shine out light–to be a good neighbor.”

Miles McPherson / Rock Church

Pastor Miles McPherson of Rock Church in San Diego, California had a panel of officials join him for the Sunday online service. After a brief lesson from Scripture, McPherson spoke to public health officer Dr. Wilma Wooten, Mayor Bill Wells of El Cajon, and Mayor Kevin Faulconer of San Diego.

The panel discussed facts surrounding the virus in an attempt to dispel fears. Dr. Wooten told McPherson that people who do not display symptoms for the virus are not in danger of infecting other people. However, Dr. Wooten reiterated that as this is a new virus that is still being researched and medical experts are still determining how it is spread. “This is a new virus and research is still going on,” Dr. Wooten said. Additionally, Dr. Wooten said medical experts don’t really know what the virus looks like in children and whether or not they can transmit the virus to others while not showing symptoms.

Mayor Faulconer discussed the measures the city of San Diego is taking to help hourly wage workers who may be missing out on wages. Mayor Wells explained the reasoning behind the directives for people to practice social distancing is to “try to at least suppress the number of people getting sick all at the same time” so as not to overwhelm the health care system. Dr. Wooten echoed Mayor Wells’ statement, explaining that the measures being taken now are a way to “kick the can down the road” so that the majority of people exposed to the virus will happen once vaccines and antiviral medications become available.

Louie Giglio / Passion City Church

Pastor Louie Giglio of Passion City Church in Atlanta, Georgia addressed the unique experience of leading online services in an almost-empty building. Giglio shared the building may be empty, but “the church is very much alive today because the church never was buildings.” Instead, the “church is us. It’s you and me, the people who are alive in Jesus Christ.”

Giglio also assured those watching the service that God is still in control of this situation, even as we wade into unprecedented waters with the coronavirus and the measures that need to be taken to mitigate the risk it presents. “God has never been without a plan. He has never been without purpose. And he always has been sovereign….I believe in some way he is going to use the spread of this virus and he is going to turn the story around for good.”

Church Guide to Coronavirus 1

Why David’s Census Was Wrong

By
Barry York
-
Father’s Day program ideas for church

Why was David’s census wrong? Beginning this month, invitations to complete the 2020 U.S. census will start arriving at people’s homes. This every decade census comes to us as mandated by the Constitution. Article 1, Section 2 states, “The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of 10 years, in such manner as they shall by Law direct.” As the census is used by the government to determine population changes, demographics, congressional districts, federal funding, etc., it is a powerful tool in their hands.

Hearing of the U.S. census reminds us of those censuses done in the Bible. Jesus was born in Bethlehem because Caesar’s registration, or census, caused Joseph and Mary to travel there in order to be counted (Luke 2:1). The Book of Numbers has its title due to listing the results of a census God mandated (Num. 1:2). But perhaps the most intriguing census is the one that David took as recorded in 2 Samuel 24. For we know at the time that David took this census “the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel” (2 Sam. 24:1). Why did the anger of the Lord burn against Israel? Why did the Lord incite David to take the census, and express anger at him afterwards for doing so?

Matthew Henry cites five possible reasons that David’s census was wrong:

1) He was using it to number men under twenty years of age for army service, which was forbidden in God’s law; 2) The census had no direct order from God; 3) David was going to use the results to tax the people more than the law allowed; 4) David was not trusting the promises of God to Abraham to make the people innumerable; and 5) David was exhibiting the pride of his heart in putting confidence in the number and power of his army rather than in God. Though they are all plausible, and Henry believed the last one was the true reason, there is a problem with each of these proposals. No clear evidence in the text exists for any of them.

However, what is very clear in the text is that the census was wrong. All the characters knew it. Joab knew it was wrong and tried to prevent the king from doing it (2 Sam. 24:3). In the corresponding account in the Chronicles, we are told that “Satan moved David to number Israel” (1 Chron. 21:1). Afterwards, David confessed that it was wrong (vs. 10), saying he “sinned greatly,” “committed iniquity,” and had acted “very foolishly.” So how did all the characters in the story so clearly know it was wrong?

Perhaps an earlier account in David’s life holds the key. Recall that Uzzah was struck dead when the ark, being transported back to Israel from Philistia, toppled off an ox cart and he reached out his hand to balance it. David became angry because of the Lord’s outburst against Uzzah, and named that place accordingly that day, calling it Perez-uzzah. David was afraid of the Lord that day; and he said, “How can the ark of the LORD come to me?” It stayed there three months until someone did some Bible study and remembered what Exodus 25:14 says. “You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry the ark with them.” When they realized they had broken  God’s Law and corrected themselves, the ark was moved without incident.

Returning to David’s census, perhaps the same book holds the key? For look at what Exodus 30:11-12 says.

The LORD also spoke to Moses, saying, “When you take a census of the sons of Israel to number them, then each one of them shall give a ransom for himself to the LORD, when you number them, so that there will be no plague among them when you number them.”

Remember what happened after David took the census and the prophet Gad comes to rebuke him? David was given three options as a punishment, namely, seven years of famine, three months of enemies attacking them, or three days of a plague. David chooses the last option, saying he would rather “fall into the hand of the Lord” (2 Sam. 24:14). 70,000 people die in Israel from the plague before David sees the angel with his sword drawn over Jerusalem and he confesses his sin.

So it seems evident that God’s anger and plague came because the ransom money that was to be taken at this time of a census was not collected. Yet why did this anger God so?

The ransom money was to support the tabernacle and temple service as a memory of the Lord’s atonement. “You shall take the atonement money from the sons of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may be a memorial for the sons of Israel before the LORD, to make atonement for yourselves” (Ex. 30:16). In all that Israel did, they were never to forget they had been redeemed by the Lord and each soul was counted as belonging to Him. For we know that ransom money cannot actually pay the price for a soul. Psalm 49:7-8 says, “No man can by any means redeem his brother or give to God a ransom for him—for the redemption of his soul is costly, and he should cease trying forever.”  Micah put it rhetorically this way, “Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” (Mic. 6:7).

David’s census without the ransom price reminder that their lives were pledged to God, was usurping in the people’s minds God’s lawful place as their protector and true king. He was seeking ultimate allegiance to himself, his kingdom, and his power. David eventually saw how evil this usurpation was in the eyes of the Lord. Disobeying God’s Law regarding the ransom money of the census, and the message it conveyed, is what angered the Lord so.

For what turned the plague away also testifies to this truth. God commanded David to erect an altar on the site, which was at the threshing floor of Araunah. David did so, paying the price for the threshing floor and offering sacrifices that halted the plague. This site became the place where the temple was later built in the days of Solomon. The sacrifices offered there through the ages became emblematic of the blood of the true Lamb of God shed at Calvary, who purchased His elect unto salvation.

So when the census takers come knocking, and politicians start making promises from the results, remember David’s census. Pause. Then thank the Lord that you are part of a far better census, with your name written in the Lamb’s book of life as a citizen of heaven redeemed by His blood and child of the true King (Rev. 21:27).

This article about David’s census originally appeared here.

Church and Families: The Latest Statistics on Attendance

By
Dale Hudson
-
Father’s Day program ideas for church

One of the biggest areas of concern right now is the frequency of church attendance for families.

As I talk and interact with children’s ministry leaders across they country, they echo this.  A few weeks ago, I met with over 20 children’s pastors who serve at some of the largest churches in the country.  Frequency of church attendance was one of the main topics that was discussed.

Church Attendance for Families: How Often They Attend

Families that used to attend 3 out of 4 weeks now attend twice a month.  Families that used to attend twice a month now attend once a month or even less.

A recent study by Barna, gives us valuable insight into families’ church attendance patterns and their attitude toward church in general.  Barna identifies two groups.

The “practicing Christians” group numbers 63.5 million and are people who are the most committed to their faith.  This group attends church a minimum of once a month and say their faith is very important to them.

This proclamation is challenging.  When the most committed people are the ones who come at least once a month, we have a lot of work to do.  This confirms our theories that families are attending less often for sure.

Church Attendance for Families: Who Attends More

And yet, there is a core group that attends almost every weekend.  In my opinion, this is the group of people who are serving in weekly roles.  And in many cases, they have developed deep relational connections with the people they serve with and have found their niche.’

The other category is what Barna calls the “churched adults.”  This group numbers 124.4 million and attend church at least once in a six month period.  This is the group that we affectionately call the “CEO’s.”  Christmas and Easter only.  Easter and Christmas are normally a high attendance times for most churches.  On these weekends, everyone shows up at the same time, hence the higher attendance.

Another trend Barna highlights is church hopping.  He says this has become the norm.  27% of practicing Christians church hop.  I believe this is especially true in multi-site churches.  Sometimes people will drive to hear the pastor speaking “live” and other weekends they will attend a campus that has the pastor on video.  Or perhaps they are running late on a Sunday and decide to go to a closer campus rather than the one they usually attend.

Church Attendance for Families: Are They Bored With Church?

Another big question to ask is this.  Are kids and families growing tired of church?  Barna’s data shows that 57% of churched adults and 45% of practicing Christians say they know people who are tied of the same old church services.  Many feel that church is becoming irrelevant to their personal lives.

While a large percentage of families say their church experience is positive, 40% of churched adults say they leave disappointed at least half the time.

How else do families view the church?

  • 66% of practicing Christian families say the church has a positive impact in the community.
  • 27% of non-Christian families say the church has no significant impact in the community or even say the church has a negative impact in the community.
  • 10% of all families, no matter their age, race or denomination, believe church is irrelevant.
  • The percentage of practicing Christian Millennials who agree the church is irrelevant today is the same as non-Christians who hold this view at 25%.

We can’t afford to bury our heads in the sand and pretend nothing is wrong.  Yes, many Christian families still enjoy gathering with other believers.  But for Gen Z’ers and Millennials,  many of them say they are “tired” of church as they have known it growing up.

Church Attendance and Families: How to Minister to Today’s Families

As we ponder these findings, let’s talk about how we can still make a difference in the lives of today’s families.

It starts by getting it on our radar.  How can we impact the young parents in our ministry?  We must make impacting young parents a top priority.  There are lots of different ways you can do this.  One of the most effective times I have seen to impact young parents is at Parent & Child Dedication.

Parents’ hearts are tender as they prepare to have their child dedicated.  Attach a class that parents go through before they dedicate their children. (I have an entire class resource at this link that hundreds of churches are using and are seeing significant impact on families.)  You can see more at this link.   Make the class 20% about what the meaning of the dedication is and then use the other 80% of the time encouraging parents about raising their kids to love Jesus.  You can cover key areas and topics like…

  • How to pray with and for your child.
  • Reading the Bible and devotion books with your child at bedtime.
  • Making Jesus the center of your family.
  • Make church a top priority.  We are raising a generation of children who will be Biblically illiterate if they continue to only attend church once a month or even less.  They will grow up not knowing how to defend their faith or even articulate key doctrines found in the Bible.  Think about this – what if a child only attended school 1 week a month?  They would miss so much important teaching, wouldn’t they?  They would have a hard time making good grades.   The comparison can be made with how often kids attend church as well.  If they are missing 50-75% of the teaching, they will have a shallow faith that may not stand when tested.
  • Resist the urge to overly involve your child in sports that will take them away from church on Sunday.  Remind when we don’t do this, we confuse our children and send a message that says church is optional and is something you only do at the holidays or if there’s nothing else scheduled.
  • Encourage parents to take the long look.  Decide now what kind of person they want their child to be when they leave home.  What do they want their child to know about God?  What truths from the Bible do they want their child to follow?  What kind of character do they want their child to have?  Lay out a plan to begin teaching and emphasizing those things now.
  • Help parents see what really matters.  Athletic success is a good thing.  Academic success is another good thing.  Social success.  Financial success.  All of these are good things, but the most important success is spiritual success.  It should the number one goal for parents to have for their children.
  • Get families involved in serving.  As I mentioned earlier,  families who serve are the people who are at church more often.  Create a culture of serving in your church.  Emphasize it.  Honor it.  Cast vision for it.  Make it a requirement to serve if you are going to join the church.  The more people you can get serving, the better attendance you will have.  In this new paradigm, growth doesn’t come from attendance.  It comes from engaging people to serve.  When you make this shift it helps close the back door.
  • Create environments that have kids dragging their parents to church.  Kids who love coming to church translates into families who faithfully attend church.  In today’s culture, many times parents take their cues from their children when it comes to attending church.  On more than one occasion I have heard parents say, “Yeah, I was going to stay home today and just watch the service online, but my son wanted to go to the church…so here we are.”  Remember the key to the heart of a parent is their child.  Give kids a great experience at your church and make sure they are saying “yes” to the most asked question by parents – “Did you have fun today?”
  • Help families get connected to a small group of people who knows them and misses them when they are not present.  For kids, it may be a small group with a caring leader, who sends a child a “miss you” card when they are absent.  A leader who prays for them each week.  Whatever format you use or whatever you call it (small groups, Sunday School, breakout groups, etc.), make sure children are part of a group (to clarify – a group of 6-8 kids – not a group of 20 kids – that’s why ratios are so important).  For parents, the same can be said.  They need to be tied to a small group, Sunday School group, life group, home group, etc.  Small groups deepen relationships and people who have close relationships at church will attend more often.

All of these things can help kids and parents attend more frequently.  Of course, one factor I did not touch on was kids whose parents are divorced.  This can often cut their church attendance in half as they are in a different home twice a month and that home may not be go to church as often as the other home.

Think about all the good things that happens in a family when they attend church on a regular basis. It’s not about what we want FROM families, it must be about what we want FOR families.  We know the spiritual growth that comes from consistent church attendance.  We know the relationships that can be formed.  We know the blessings that will come with faithful church attendance.  We know it honors God.  It honors His Word as He tells us in Hebrews to “not forsake the gathering together with other believers.”
Let’s be a cheerleader for the families in our ministries.  Let’s share with them the blessings they will receive when they attend faithfully.  Let’s make our ministries so irresistible that kids can’t wait for the weekend to come so they can attend church.  Let’s make our ministries so impacting that families lives are changed.  Let’s help families develop a love for God’s house.  Let’s help families put church at the top of their weekend activities.

When we do these things, we will begin to see a turnaround as families begin to attend more frequently.

Your turn.  How often do families attend your church?  What are some ideas or insight you have to encourage families to be more consistent in their attendance?

This article about church attendance and families originally appeared here.

Practical and Simple Tips to Aid Intergenerational Worship

By
Christina Embree
-
Father’s Day program ideas for church

I’ve fielded several questions this week on the practicality of intergenerational worship — having all ages in corporate worship together. While some of the questions pertained to older generations participating in church, most of them were focused on the challenge of having children in the church service.  But after conversing for a bit, the basic need wasn’t to be convinced that children should be there at some point (that reconciled fairly quickly after some theological, developmental, and sociological evidences of the benefits of intergenerational worship); the bigger felt need was just for some practical and simple ways to make it possible for children to be integrated into the service.

Our traditional service structures often make it difficult to extend the hand of welcome to the next generation and it can be difficult to maneuver within those confines and find ways of incorporating all generations.

With that in mind, here are some practical tips and tools for Intergenerational Worship Services that might be useful for your faith community.

I’ve shared these in the past and have had a lot of great feedback from multiple churches and denominations. I’d love to hear what your church is doing to make room for all ages to find a space to worship together.

1. Kid’s Worship Team

This team doesn’t necessary lead “singing” but they worship through hospitality (holding doors, handing out bulletins, etc), prayer (they go forward during prayer time and pray for themselves and others) and generosity (they take up the communion and pray over it).

For our team, the kids followed a weekly schedule, just like the adult worship team, and if they missed their Sunday, they had to get someone to take their spot. They also had to go through a training on worship with me before they could serve.

2. Sermon Notes

There are a lot of great templates out there for sermon notes and for older kids, it’s a great way to keep them involved with the service.  In one church, if a child completed their sermon notes, they could get something out of a treasure box and the completed form was given back to their parents so the parents could have a follow-up conversation with their kids at home.

3. Call Out the Kids

Kids love to get attention and they love when they get to be drawn into “adult” things like the sermon. We often asked whoever was speaking to at some point in the sermon just say something like, “Hey kids, have you ever seen this?” or something else that would be appropriate to the text to help draw the kids into the story. It’s amazing how just that little comment really drew them in and helped redirect their attention to the service.

4. Interactive Teaching and Learning

Anything interactive is great!  One of the ways our current church engages the kids is if there is a topic that involves a story from the Bible, the pastor will have the kids help act out the story. Everyone loves it – it’s spontaneous so things definitely go wrong, but the whole congregation gets involved and no one forgets the Scripture we studied that week.

5. Busy Bags

Busy bags get a bad rap, mostly because people don’t understand the developmental science behind them. Have “busy bags” but explain to parents and other church members that these activities aren’t intended to distract the kids but rather to help the kids use all of their developing senses; studies show if their hands and eyes are busy, their ears will be listening.

Quiet activities like lacing cards, stickers scenes, foam craft kits, beads and pipe cleaners, small puzzles and coloring are all great ways to engage your kinesthetic and visual learners.

6. Pew Boxes or Worship Boxes

Similar to busy bags, these boxes can be placed underneath chairs or pews and filled with quiet activities and books for kids to use during worship services. I love the ones put together by Traci Smith and outlined here

6. Active Involvement

The difference between “having kids in Big Church” and welcoming kids into corporate worship lies basically in participation.  Are children being invited to actively participate or passively observe?  Inviting children and youth to be part of the order of worship has incredible sway in creating a sense of inclusion and welcome.

Children and youth can read Scripture, say the benediction, lead a song (doesn’t always have to have actions – it can just be a song that they like – my son loves, “No Longer Slaves” and can’t wait to lead it), and pray.   Being involved signals that we have a place in the congregation – we are a part of something bigger – and everyone needs to know that truth.

This article about intergenerational worship originally appeared here.

Tech Solutions Help Churches During Coronavirus Response

By
Ray Hollenbach
-
Father’s Day program ideas for church

All over the United States (no—the world!) churches are responding to the Coronavirus (COVID 19), and church tech is making coronavirus response unique. While community, love, and care for the vulnerable have always been a part of the church’s mission, the advent of digital technologies has given the church options like never before.

Here are a few areas in which church technology’s part in coronavirus response is making a real difference in 2020:

Communication

Through the use of texting apps and software, churches can now communicate last-minute changes in schedules, and reach most of their regular congregation. Times like these also highlight the need for every church to designate a communications director, whether staff or volunteer.

Church Services

Live streaming has changed how we reach people who cannot come to church (which, during the Coronavirus Pandemic might be all of us for a while!). Your church’s coronavirus response should include some form of live streaming, even if it’s just sent from an iPhone!

Church Guide to Coronavirus 1

Giving

Although worship services may be set aside for a short period of time, the work of the church never stops—which means that the financial support of faithful church members remains necessary—perhaps even more necessary than ever. Giving apps and software are well-established technologies that provide a channel for resources that was unimaginable just a few short years ago. Does your church offer online methods of giving?

ChMS

It’s easy to lose track of people in a crisis. While nothing replaces personal pastoral care and concern, the use of an administrative tool such as Church Management Software means that even if a church staff cannot meet in person, each member of the staff still has access to contact information and data regarding the special needs of every regular church member, or every visitor, for that matter.

The Real Story

There are plenty more applications—this list could be much longer. But in this pandemic the intersection of technology and ministry is especially helpful. The unique nature of your church’s response is the real story, and it’s waiting to be written, by you, one church at a time.

Why Jerry Falwell Jr. and Joel Osteen Are Wrong About Donald Trump

By
Carrie Kintz
-
Father’s Day program ideas for church

This election cycle is beyond the point of jumping the shark. For months, pundits and analysts were confident that Donald Trump was just a phase; that his brash attitude and extreme views would soon turn off the American public so enamored with him.

It turns out we are all wrong.

Many evangelical leaders including Russell Moore and Albert Mohler have expressed outrage and disappointment at the number of Christians who publically support Donald Trump. Moore went so far as to write a Washington Post op-ed about why this election cycle is causing him to no longer want to be identified as an evangelical.

All the more strange is the endorsement of Trump by Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University. Not only has Falwell endorsed Trump, but he’s said he has compared Trump to King David, a man after God’s own heart. Bible scholars feel free to weigh in here, but this seems like a bit of a stretch.

On the other end of the theological spectrum sits Joel Osteen, who told FoxNews radio that Donald Trump is a good man and an incredible communicator.

Both Osteen and Falwell have incredible influence in different parts of Christendom. Their words echo into churches as endorsements of a man whose moral character is dubious at best.

There is a vast difference between being a good person and being someone who understands the sin and depravity of his heart and repents. In the last few weeks, Trump told attendees at rallies that he’d like to punch protesters in the face, and has asked other participants to ‘knock the crap’ out of protesters nearby.

A new ad campaign highlights derogatory things Trump has said about women; things so offensive, we won’t print them here. He’s also said that he’s never asked for forgiveness from God, reasoning that he hasn’t made any mistakes, so he shouldn’t have to ask for forgiveness.

In Luke 6, Jesus said you can discern the state of someone’s heart by what they say. What Donald Trump stands for and promotes is not the will of God revealed in Scripture.

Endorsements like these from Falwell, Osteen, and even former candidate, Dr. Ben Carson, should trouble us. In light of the great responsibility that God places upon the shoulders of leaders – especially within the church, we should not take our endorsements of anyone, including political leaders, lightly. We live in times that call for great discernment and perseverance in prayer that God might have mercy on our nation and our political process. It is in these times that we must press into the Lord and trust Him, as David reminds us in Psalm 20:

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”

Connecting the Gap Between Community and Congregation

By
Mark Howell
-

If you’ve been along for any length of time, you know that I love a good diagram.  Give me a whiteboard or a flipchart…or the back of a napkin…and I am right at home.  And one of the diagrams I frequently draw to explain various aspects of small group strategy is Saddleback’s concentric circles (if you’re not familiar with them, you can check out my article right here).

Today, though, I want to take just a moment and tease out an important but often overlooked aspect of the circles.  I call it the gap between community and congregation.  Very, very important stuff.  And it has everything to do with whether your design has a chance of connecting beyond the usual suspects.  Let me start with a very brief overview.

Concentric Circle Overview

The outermost circle is commonly labeled community.  You can think of it as people who’ve never been to your church.  It’s normally drawn as a circle.  In the drawing to the left, I’ve simply labeled everything outside of the crowd circle as community.

Just inside it is the circle labeled crowd.  Think of the crowd as those folks who consider your church to be their church, but they don’t come very often and they’re not very involved.  With me so far?  Finally, for the purpose of this illustration, there are three inner circles that are labeled congregation, committed and core.

The Gap Between Community and Congregation

What I want you to see today (and think about from now on) is the gap between the community and the congregation.  Specifically, I want you to begin to recognize the size of the gap.

A few ideas should help you see it the way I do.  For example, churches whose average adult attendance isn’t significantly different than their Easter or Christmas Eve attendance have a smaller gap between community and congregation.  The crowd is smaller.  Contrast that with churches like Woodlands Church or Parkview and note that Easter attendance is almost double the average attendance and you have a large gap between community and congregation.

What is the significance?  Why does it matter from a small group ministry standpoint?  The size of the gap between community and congregation has a lot to do with the importance of paying attention to the difference between what will connect an insider and what might interest an outsider or a new attendee.  You need to see that their interests will be different.  You need to see that it will take different strategies and different topics to connect them.  What works for the congregation might not work for the crowd.  And depending on the kind of church you’re in…the size of the crowd might actually rival the size of the congregation.

Is It God-Centered to Praise People?

By
Desiring God
-
Father’s Day program ideas for church

by Sam Crabtree

Isn’t the commendation of people idolatrous? If we should make our boast in God alone, how dare we praise mere people? Have we gone off the deep end, away from God-centeredness and into the popular cultural psycho-jargon of self-esteem?

No.

If we aim to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things – including the commendation of people – then we are most definitely not speaking of their self-esteem. The jails are full of individuals who already have too much self-esteem. Just about all they think of is themselves. They, like we, are born that way: self-centered. Who has ever heard an infant in the nursery crying because some other child is wet or hungry?

We should not shrink from affirming people. To affirm people well is to affirm the work of God in them, and God is at work everywhere. Even the unbeliever is stamped in his image. If we seek for his work, we can find it. We shall find it. That’s why the subtitle of my book Practicing Affirmation is: The God-centered Praise of Those Who Are Not God.

Affirming well is both a science that can be studied, learned, and taught (hence books can be written about it), and it is an art. A good artist has a kind of eye. The good artist sees something, and then helps others see it. We can ask God for eyes that see.

If you think praising people is idolatrous, then fasten your seat-belt and put on your heresy crash helmet for this next assertion: God himself praises people. I can hear the objections: “What!? God praises people!? That’s totally upside down!” But God does indeed praise people.

The Lord affirms Noah as righteous in his generation (Genesis 7:1), to name a few.

Not only has God praised people in the past, but He will in the future. There is something defective about the person who does not want God to praise him. Every individual who has ever existed should desire to hear God one day say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

What keeps God’s praise of man from becoming man-centered idolatry? Answer: man’s immediate recognition that everything commendable in himself is owing to God, coupled with a humble, grateful, joyful desire to deflect that praise right back to God. When Paul boasts of his own work, saying, “I worked harder than any of them,” he immediately follows it up with “though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10).

Meanwhile, cautions are justifiable, for it is possible to praise people poorly, even wrongly – making much of shallow, passing qualities. Commending wrong behaviors. Flattering people with insincere exaggerations motivated by the desire to obtain wrong-headed favors.

So we are wise to commend that which is most commendable in people. What is it that makes something commendable? We will look at that in tomorrow’s post.

All’s Well That Ends Well: An Introduction to the Book of Revelation

By
Leland Ryken
-
Father’s Day program ideas for church

Every story must have a beginning. The story of the Bible, for example, begins by answering the question of origins. But we also need to know how a story ends; for this we turn to Revelation, the closing act of the biblical drama. In effect, the book of Revelation allows us to peek at the last chapter of human history to see ending of the Bible’s grand narrative.

In addition to this desire for narrative closure, we instinctively feel a need to know something about the future. Without a knowledge of how history will end, we would feel insecure and perplexed as we see human culture decline. The Book of Revelation tells us enough about the future that we can be confident of ultimate victory in Christ.

The Timing of the Book of Revelation

The author tells us that his visions concern “the events that will happen soon” (1:1 NLT). John wrote these words 2000 years ago, and there is good reason to believe that some of his prophecies were fulfilled already in the First Century A.D. Thus, we should not assume that everything in Revelation is simply futuristic. Surely, most of what John portrays has happened in some form throughout history, including in our own day. Yet this is not to deny that the events portrayed in Revelation are also recurring, ever-escalating, and heading towards a climax at the end of history.

It is a safe premise that the symbolic mode of Revelation makes it always relevant and perpetually up-to-date. To cite an obvious example, the visions of the cataclysmic decline of the elemental forces of nature look more familiar with every passing year as our planet’s ecological crisis grows. To believe that the predictions of Revelation will be ultimately fulfilled at a coming end of history should not prevent us from seeing how much of the book is happening right before our very eyes.

The Form of the Book of Revelation

Several important literary forms converge in Revelation. Most obviously, the book presents a series of visions. Instead of telling a single, linear story, these visions are arranged in the form of a pageant, with mysterious visions rapidly succeeding each other—and never in focus for very long.

Secondly, the individual units fall into place if we apply the usual grid of narrative questions, such as: (1) Where does the event happen? (2) Who are the agents? (3) What action occurs? (4) What is the outcome? Any passage in Revelation can be charted in terms of these basic questions.

The Book of Revelation falls into a type of writing known as apocalypse. While the ingredients of this genre do not provide an analytic grid (as narrative does), knowing the ingredients will help us know what we are looking at as we read. The ingredients of apocalyptic include:

  • Dualism (the world divided clearly into forces of good and evil)
  • Visionary mode
  • Futuristic orientation
  • Focus on the appearance and work of the Divine Messiah
  • Presence of angels and demons
  • Animals as characters and symbols
  • Numerology (use of numbers with symbolic meanings)
  • Cosmic forces (e.g. sea, land, and sky) as actors in the drama
  • Denunciation of the existing social order

The Most Important Thing to Know about the Book of Revelation

The basic medium of expression in the book of Revelation is symbolism. This means that instead of portraying characters and events directly and literally, John the Evangelist pictures them indirectly by means of symbols. Jesus is portrayed as a lamb and a lion and a warrior on a horse, for example. Churches are portrayed as lamps on lampstands, and so on.

To highlight the non-literal mode of Revelation, the author employs fantasy, which is always characteristic of apocalyptic writing. Only in the fantastic imagination do we find horses that are red (6:4) or a red dragon with seven heads (12:3). The right way to assimilate this kind of writing is to accept the strangeness of the world that is portrayed and abandon a literal way of thinking in favor of reading symbolically.

To say that the mode of Revelation is symbolic, however, is not to deny that the characters and events are real. What is at stake as we interpret the book is how the characters and events are portrayed. They are symbols that speak of realities—beings who really exist and events that do happen.

The Symbols of the Book of Revelation

The best rule of thumb for interpreting the symbols and visions of Revelation is to relate them to common teachings of the Bible and to obvious events in our own world. In particular, Jesus’ outline of coming events in his Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25) provides a blueprint for the visions of Revelation. Jesus outlined the following sequence of events that will happen at “the close of the age” (Matthew 24:3, ESV):

  1. Wars, earthquakes, famine, false teachers (24:5-8)
  2. Persecution of Christians (24:9-22)
  3. False Christs and false prophets (24:23-28)
  4. Natural disasters, the appearance of Christ, the harvesting of the elect (24:29-31)
  5. Final judgment (24:32-25:46)

We repeatedly cover this same material in the visions of Revelation.

A safe question to keep asking of a given vision is this: To what familiar doctrine or event in salvation history does this symbol refer? Examples in Revelation include the sovereignty of God, God’s judgment against evil, God’s salvation of believers, the existence of heaven and hell, the great battle between good and evil, etc. We do not need to look for mysterious and hidden levels of meaning. The very word apocalypse means “to unveil”; the purpose of the visions of Revelation is not to confuse us, but to confirm our understanding of the Bible, and to help us interpret events in the daily news.

Dominate With Small Groups in 2020

By
Allen White
-
Father’s Day program ideas for church

What are your church’s priorities? Do your priorities have anything to do with small groups in 2020? For many churches big priorities point to big events – weekend worship services, conferences, and outreach events. While all osf these things have their place, do they deserve all of the attention they get? Imagine if small groups and disciple-making were front and center for once instead of lingering on the backburner somewhere.

Jesus commanded us to “go and make disciples.” Disciples aren’t made overnight. Discipleship is not a process or a program. Making disciples requires a person. After all, disciples make disciples. If disciples could be mass produced then services and seminars would be adequate to do the job. Clearly, they don’t.

What if everything in your church revolved around small groups instead? When our church in California reached a place where 125% of our weekly worship attendance was connected into groups, priorities shifted for our staff. As far as discipleship went, the tail was no longer wagging the dog.

How can small groups rise to the top? First, you don’t have to tear everything else down to raise the value to groups and disciple-making. This is not a matter of demolishing a church’s ministry to rebuild it. No one can afford to do that. This is more the scenario of re-engineering the airplane while it’s flying. It requires more nuance. By recognizing the opportunities and creating the right alliances, your church could dominate with small groups in 2020.

Partner with Your Senior Pastor to Dominate With Small Groups in 2020.

Why are the senior pastors so invested in the weekend service? First, pastors put their hearts and souls into creating a sermon. If you’ve preached, you know that time and energy it takes. One pastor said that it was like having a term paper due every week.

Another reason pastors are invested in worship services is because a large portion of the church attend. It’s a good feeling to speak to a packed house. Over the years, I’ve spoken to as few as 11 people and as many as 5,000 in a single day. The bigger, the better, right?

Lastly, preaching a sermon produces immediate results. Pastors tell jokes, and they get a laugh. They hit a point hard, and they get a response. Some will shout, “Amen!” Others might become very quiet. Then, in many churches at the end of the service there is a response at the altar. While approval is not the goal, a response is certainly reassuring.

While there are other reasons for pastors to devote themselves to worship services, think about these three things: (1) pouring their hearts and souls into teaching, (2) reaching many people, and (3) receiving a response. Small groups can do this too and even at a larger scale. By putting the pastors teaching on video, an audience larger than the weekend service will be reached. All of the hard work of sermon prep doesn’t end up in a file folder, it lives on in living rooms and breakrooms and board rooms around town.

Getting the response is up to the small group pastor. Collect stories of what God is doing in groups. Let the pastor know the impact the video teaching in groups is making. If senior pastors could reach larger audiences every week wouldn’t they be interested. Your small groups will connect your congregation, but will also include many people from the community who have never darkened the door of your church. In fact, according to Rick Warren, there is a trend of people coming to a small group first, then attending a weekend service with their groups. By partnering with senior pastors, their goals will be reach and so will yours.

Create a Next Step for Every Church Event to Dominate With Small Groups in 2020.

Do marriage conferences improve marriages? They could. They also might accelerate conflict. Do sermons make disciples. I’ve already answered that here. Do men’s retreat make better men? They could, but as Randy Phillips, the former president of Promise Keepers says, “The failure of Promise Keepers was not offering a next step after the conferences.” Essentially Promise Keepers became promise breakers. While services and events are not the be-all end-all of life change, they can be a start. They can inspire commitment, but it’s not over and done. As Marcus Buckingham said, “The problem with people is they are just never done.”

Change is difficult. People fall into patterns of behavior that they’ve learned over the years. Marriages fall into patterns. Work relationships fall into patterns. We commonly refer to this as getting into a rut. It’s hard to get out. Change is difficult.

We know how to lose weight, but we don’t. We know how to get out of debt, but we’re still in debt. The list could go on, but we will stick with my problems for now. When I lose weight, it requires focused effort. I need accountability. I have to set a goal and make steps toward that goal. I could listen to someone talk about weight loss and be inspired. I could even watch exercise videos and still not lose a pound. Now before this gets silly, this is also true for every other change a person is trying to make.

Every change starts with a commitment. A conference, a retreat, or a worship service is a great place to make a commitment. But, commitments are forgotten without a next step and others to support you. If your church hosts a marriage conference, what’s the next step? Does the speaker have a book or curriculum? If not, what resources are available? Start groups during the conference. If your church has a men’s retreat, use the opportunity to form groups at the retreat before the guys come home. Have the study and the day and time of the first meeting in place before they resume their regular schedule. And, for the sermon, help your members take their weekend into their week by producing a sermon discussion guide or an alignment series.

Events can start something, but they cannot create lasting change. Small groups can complement events and give people what they need to achieve the growth they desire. Every event in your church should be a launching pad for small groups.

Make Small Groups in 2020 the Answer to Every Problem.

What is your senior pastor’s biggest concern for your church?

More Leaders? Small Groups are a leadership development engine.

Better Attendance? People in groups are more committed than people who are not in groups.

More Serving? People in groups serve more than people who aren’t in groups.

Better Giving? People in groups, on average, give 4% more of their income than people not in groups.

More Growth? People in groups are more focused on growth than people not in groups.

Better Outreach? People in groups reach others for Christ more often than people not in groups.

Your pastor’s major concerns are all addressed in small groups. These thoughts are not merely anecdotal. Look at the research by Ed Stetzer and Eric Geiger in Transformational Groups and Princeton professor Robert Wuthnow in Sharing the Journey. Research shows that people in groups are the most motivated and most active members of the church. (For a synopsis of this research: The Senior Pastors Guide to Groups). If you want more of “all of the above,” you need to connect more people into groups.

So, Why Aren’t Senior Pastors the Most Excited About Small Groups in 2020?

  1. They may not know the value of groups. The senior pastor role today is more like a CEO. There’s a lot on your pastor’s plate. That’s why you were hired to take care of groups and discipleship. Yet unless you engage your senior pastor, discipleship will continue to linger in obscurity in your church. Help your pastor see the benefits of groups. Zig Ziglar once said, “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.” Find every possible way to align groups with where your pastor is headed or what concerns your pastor the most.
  2. Most seminarians don’t learn about small groups. I earned a Master of Divinity in Christian Education and did not hear one lecture on small groups. If pastors’ degrees are in pastoral ministry, biblical studies, counseling, or theology, they didn’t learn about small groups either. You have to educate your pastor about small groups and the key role they should play in the church. Point to outstanding models of churches with groups like North Point Ministries, Saddleback Church, North Coast Church, and many others. Start a staff small group. Tell the stories of what God is doing in your groups.
  3. Senior pastors may be resistant to groups because their small group pastors have become adversarial. One small group pastor complained to me, “I just can’t get my pastor on board with small groups.” I told him that he didn’t need to get his pastor on board. It was the pastor’s boat! The small group pastor needed to get on board with where the senior pastor was headed and include groups with it. The senior pastor has the responsibility to hear from God and give direction to the church. Follow that direction and add groups to the strategy.

No one should feel more strongly about small groups in your church than you. You should be the most passionate person when it comes to groups. Don’t allow your passion to spill over into anger. But, have small groups on the brain! The answer to every question your senior pastor or your team asks should be, “Small Groups.” As you partner with your senior pastor and others, you can dominate with groups in 2020.

This article about small groups in 2020 originally appeared here.

1...835836837...1,186Page 836 of 1,186
855,266FansLike

New Articles

VBS recruitment

VBS Recruitment Sources for Successful Summertime Outreach

ChildrensMinistry.com -
VBS recruitment is top of mind for kidmin leaders every summer. Use these tips to find top-notch vacation Bible school helpers.
kindergarten Bible lessons

Kindergarten Bible Lessons Build an Early Faith Foundation

family church event ideas

Family Church Event Ideas for Summer (No Volunteers Required!)

Pentecost Sunday school lesson

Pentecost Sunday School Lesson About the Holy Spirit, Our Helper

New Podcasts

Joby Martin

Joby Martin: What Happens When Pastors Finally Understand Grace

Jessica Lea -
Joby Martin joins “The Stetzer ChurchLeaders Podcast” to discuss what happens when a church leader has truly been run over by the “grace train" and understands the profound love and grace of God.
Jennie Allen

Best of 2024—Jennie Allen: Why Church Leaders Need To Pay Attention...

Jon Acuff

Best of 2024: Jon Acuff—How To Pursue Success Without Destroying Your...

Libin Abraham

Libin Abraham on God’s Surprising Job Description for the Pastor

ChurchLeaders.com is dedicated to resourcing, informing, and connecting a community of church leaders for greater Kingdom impact worldwide.
Contact us: support@churchleaders.com

Company

Trending

Popular Categories

© ChurchLeaders