5 surprising lessons from revitalizing a dying congregation
Church revitalization is hard work, and many of the lessons I’ve learned have been not just unexpected, but difficult and painful.
Church revitalization is hard work, and many of the lessons I’ve learned have been not just unexpected, but difficult and painful.
Addictions do not die in one decisive action. They die over a long period of time.
In the good times, we don’t need covenants, because we can get by on feelings alone. But covenant communities hold us up when we’re faltering.
Seminary can by no means teach everything you need to know, but it puts strong tools in your box to set you up for a lifetime of matriculating in the school of Christ.
By including the Old Testament in our teaching, we actively find ways to connect the ancient roots of our faith to the stories about Jesus, bringing together one coherent, metanarrative.
The sermon is wisdom from the Father, inviting us through faith to re-orient our values, vision, and habits from the ways of external righteousness to whole-heartedness toward God.
Christianity does not begin by telling us to love other people. It begins with the great biblical doctrines of God, man, Christ, and the gospel.
The people of your city are not prospective church attendees, they are sheep without a shepherd.
I would argue that the number of people who come to Christ and join your church should be of great concern. I believe you should care how many people are on your membership list — down to the very last one.
A Christian college should mobilize its curriculum, faculty, and programming to help students develop the skill of thinking critically according to God’s revelation.
God intends a certain order in the husband-wife relationship. The order of creation establishes the husband as leader in the first marriage and in all marriages to follow.
We have not obeyed the calling to evangelize until we talk specifically about the person and work of Jesus Christ and the necessity to believe in him.
Whether you have been a Christian for a few months or a few years, Jesus Christ calls you, through his Word, to practice evangelism for his glory, your neighbor’s salvation, and your joy.
Thomas R. Schreiner, James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, sat down with Andrew Smith to talk about the scholar’s new commentary on 1 Corinthians.
If we’re to endure faithfully in pastoral ministry, we need to remember that we’re leading the church in a time of tension — between the already and the not-yet.
If you can answer in the affirmative to all four of these questions, there is a good possibility you have found your next church.