Blog
Blog
5 Reliable Steps to Powerful Church-Community Partnerships
The work of mission “out there” is largely owned and operated by organizations. While there are a small but growing number of pioneering organizations exploring more collaborative ways to partner with the local church, most organizations still want...
God Will Prepare You (A Biblical Encouragement for Pastors)
Have you ever questioned your ministry ability? Moses, one of Israel’s greatest leaders, did. The Lord of all creation selected and sent Moses on a mission to go to God’s people and communicate his message. But the prophet was not a ready and...
The Blueprints of Sermon Design (Part 1)
What blueprint shall we use to design and structure our sermons? Though many design models exist, I recommend structuring your sermon using a broad framework of a story. Storytelling is one of the oldest forms of communication known to man. Often...
Steps for Planning Effective Scripture Readings
The congregation is both active and passive in worship. In one real sense, they are receiving what has been prepared by the ministers for that particular week. Presentation is, therefore, no trivial matter. Our desire is for believers to hear his...
Saving Marriages Before (and After) They Start - An Interview with Psychologists and Authors Drs. Les & Leslie Parrott
Churchsource: Does this new generation still believe in marriage? Les: Here’s what we know for sure: 87% of young adults plan on being married eventually. Leslie: And, perhaps more striking – in the face of a staggering divorce rate that most young...
A Sermon for Busy Pastors: The Forgotten Participant in the Christmas Story
May this sermon help you improve the quality, freshness, and variety of your pulpit ministry, and better meet the spiritual needs of those in your congregation. Sermon Title: Personalities of Bethlehem – Joseph Text: “And they went with haste, and...
See How Jesus Clarifies His Posture toward the Torah
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means...
How to Make a Small Group that Actually Works
Small groups cannot do everything , but they can do a few things really well. Don’t just put some chairs in a circle and invite people over. A small group ministry should directly align with the larger ministry of the church. If spiritual formation...
The Failsafe Way to Plan Your Week for Maximum Effectiveness
Step 1: Pray and Review Pray . We have an amazing privilege as Christians to integrate our planning with prayer. Prayer is essential for our planning, because God is the one who ultimately makes our plans effective. (See Proverbs 16:3). Begin your...
The Key Way to Implement Change in our Churches
Is your church in need a boost? Does your organization seem to run on routine? If so, leadership may be lacking a little thing called ambition. Though often overlooked, ambition is a quality that can get an organization off of its feet and bring it...
How to Recruit Volunteers for Your Ministry: 3 Deceptively Simple Secrets
Does your church dream of launching more ministries? You will need more volunteers. Does the pastor dream of having a more effective ministry? You need more volunteers. Does the board dream of growing as an organization? You need more volunteers....
Should I Continue or Quit? 3 Principles for Deciding Your Next Steps
Should I continue or quit? Have you ever faced this question? I have. Quitting is not the worst thing a leader can do. There are times when a fisherman’s line gets so tangled he needs to cut his losses for the sake of survival. At other times a...
The 10 Commandments of Using Social Media
You love technology and all it offers. But you also hate it. In a nutshell, social media makes everything so much about us . We’re sucked into measuring our lives by how many followers we have and who they are. We want to believe we’re not the sum...
Guidelines for Making Disciples (Hint: You Can’t Microwave Them)
We live in a world where everyone is in a hurry, and you can either make a conscious effort to go against the grain or you will be swept away with the tide. Carrie Fisher fairly summed up our societal values when she observed, “Instant...
Are You a Peacemaker or a Pain-Avoider?
“AVOID conflict” was my middle name. I thought I was a real peacemaker—what I really was, however, was a pain-avoider. I would often hear, “John, you don’t like confrontation, do you?” While I would smile politely on the outside and mumble...
The Start of Hope
Great comeback stories give us hope. We can all relate to the experience of spending time in difficult places where we wondered if we were ever going to make it back. We’ve all been in seasons when we’ve longed for something better than what we’re...
Free Resources
Using How (not) to Save the World with your church or small group?
Here are some tools to help:
The Small Group Tool Kit includes two mobile-friendly invitation cards, reflection cards to enhance your small group experience, and a worship song playlist curated by Hosanna Wong that can beplayed during small group meetings or personal Bible study time.
The Church Tool Kit includes a downloadable poster, bulletininsert, invitation card, and Power Point slide.
Is your church talking about anxiety, depression and mental health issues? You should be.
Shawn Johnson, lead pastor of Red Rocks Church, gives a
searingly honest portrait of anxiety and depression and shows readers how to fight back and live free. He also has put together three free tools pastors can use to help their congregation have a productive conversation around mental health, including a discussion guide, sermon notes and key Scripture verses.