Renewing Purpose 4 Resolving Doubts. Renewing Purpose. Reasons for God

60+ Innovative Church Growth Strategies

Who doesn’t want to be part of an exciting, growing, and large church?

The greater the desire for a bigger and better church, the more important church growth strategies are.

The motivation from this post came as I read through 2 Corinthians, looking for how Paul pastored this church. His methodology is so different from my own. It is sharply distinctive from what I often see promoted as the best way forward for the church. By pulling these ‘strategies’ together into one list I hope to remind us about the nature of Paul’s approach to ministry. My hope is that this knowledge changes how we act and relate to one another in churches today.

60+ Ways To Love Your Friends on Facebook

How do we love our friends on Facebook? It is a new tool, so I’m not sure we have the answers we need to this important question. But with over a billion users, when Christians participate on Facebook, they should do so in a way that honors God and serves their friends. Why? Because we are called to be salt and light wherever we are (see Matthew 5:13-16).

It is time to be creative, intentional, and prayerful in how we use this website.

So here are 60+ suggestions for how to love your friends on Facebook:

What the Apostle Paul Can Teach Us About Evangelism

The Apostle Paul led an amazing life. It seems that everything he did somehow advanced the gospel. Even when he persecuted the church, dragging men and women into prison, and oversaw the martyrdom of Stephen, we learn that “those who were scattered went about preaching the word” (Acts 8:4)!

Today, however, I want to look at how the Apostle Paul intentionally spread the good news about Jesus. In particular, I want to give specific attention to the time he was on trial before Festus the Governor of Judea, King Herod Agrippa II, and Bernice the sister of King Agrippa. Also present for this speech were the military tribunes and the prominent city leaders.

Five Ways To Answer A Question

Christians seem to have a poor reputation for answering questions.

Would you like to know why people don’t listen to our answers? And do you want some ideas for changing this situation? Then this post is for you!

Let’s start by understanding the problem a little better. There are at least three reasons why people are not always interested in our answers:

For one, sometimes we are offering an answer when no one asked us a question.
Two, sometimes we seem to have only one way of answering questions: by giving a lecture. People start to doze off, frustrated that their mild curiosity has been taken advantage of and that they are now subject to a rambling theological discourse and a full-bore presentation of, say, the gospel message. It is like asking to see a movie trailer and being shown the extended Director’s Cut version.
Finally, the mismatch between our lives and words – this is called hypocrisy – means that others don’t really care what we think. They see our lives, they are unimpressed, and they decide they aren’t interested in what we have to say.

So today let’s break out of the box and look at five different ways to answer a question!

How Should the Church Respond to Doubt?

Whatever their worldview, everyone has doubts. Christians are no different.

Given this pervasive experience, every local church needs to acknowledge the reality of doubt. In preparing to respond to doubt, the church has a responsibility to anchor its approach in solidly Biblical principles. As we’ll see, however, this requires us to develop a wise and contextual understanding for the particular doubts and cultural norms of our friends and neighbors.

A Collision with God – A Sermon on Mark 10:35-45

“A Collision with God” is a sermon on Mark 10:35-45, given on June 24th, 2012, at a regional worship gathering for Church of the Cross in Boston, MA.

You are welcome to give this sermon in other contexts (for instance, at a church service), but please do not reproduce the written text elsewhere.

Passage: Mark 10:35-45 (read at Bible Gateway – link opens in new window)

Let’s start our time together with some honesty. Who do you relate to best?

James and John, the other disciples, or Jesus?

“That’ll Teach ‘Em!” Thoughts on Revenge and Forgiveness

When we are hurt by someone, one of the most fundamental temptations is to react with anger and a determination to strike back. Whether they have been insensitive, mean, violent, or disrespectful, we want to teach them a lesson. One that make our message quite clear: what you did was wrong, and BAM!, that’s what it felt like, so stop. We justify lashing out, saying to ourselves, “that’ll teach ’em!”