Most guests entering our churches receive a cordial hand shake and a “glad you are with us today.” While this initial contact with guests is important, Debbie Rendell of St. Petersburg, Fla., says churches must go deeper. The president of Integrating Focus says a congregation that wants to promote fellowship…
Aubrey Malphurs, in his book, Strategy 2000: Churches Making Disciples for the Next Millennium, discusses eight areas of what makes a genuine disciple. This list or any list depicting lifestyle and behaviors is an outward response of an inward commitment to Jesus as Lord. This is not a legalistic exercise…
First time guests won’t become second time guests unless we make a good impression. Consider these suggestions working with your guests: Call them “guests” not “visitors.” The term visitor denotes that they are just passing through and will probably not be back. Do you have a visitor’s bedroom or a…
Church health is a popular topic these days. The idea is that if a church is healthy it will grow and fulfill it’s mission. If it is sick it will not be able to accomplish much. A church’s overall health is a key to growth and effectiveness. Healthy churches need…
The Super Bowl is not in the books yet but it has generated lots of excitement and hopefully it will be a great game to watch. Many of you are acquainted with football great Jerry Rice but here is an interesting side note to his story. Jerry Rice was the…
One of the most obvious evidences of our walk with Christ is joy. The word joy appears 218 times in the Bible. Deep joy should be a constant quality in the life of a follower of Christ. Happiness is more dependent on your circumstances. Things go well at work or…
I read an interesting article last week by Bob Allen called, “Can Sunday School be saved?” The title of the article caught my attention for two reasons. One, I have been greatly impacted by Godly Sunday School teachers who loved me and made a huge difference in my life and two, if…
Youth specialist Joe Ball shares with Mike James how we as leaders and parents can be more effective in impacting our students to become disciples. We must reach this generation for Christ!
Here are a few thoughts on how discipleship is changing in the way churches approach it. Then Church Training (Discipleship Training) now “Disciple Making.” Then Sunday Night 6PM now Anytime. Then At Church now Anywhere. Then Curriculum Driven now Highly Relational. Then Large Group (over 10) now Small Group…
A new year is a good time to take a spiritual inventory. One great place to start is making sure you know what your spiritual gifts are. Ken Hemphill defines a spiritual gift as…“an individual manifestation of grace from the Father that enables you to serve Him and thus play…
Two encounters are critical. First, the leader encounters God in His Word and is changed. Second, the leader guides the group to have a life-changing encounter.
In John 13:34-35, three times Jesus said, “Love one another.” Your group is the ideal place to practice and launch the kind of love for one another that shows the world that we are His disciples.