Congregation
Rick Warren talks about preaching for "life change." Others speak of "transformational" preaching. The goal of every preacher I know is to bring an effective message, engaging the worshippers and leading them to a new encounter with God. It's the "how-to" part
Congregation
I was out-of-town for the weekend and attended an Episcopal church today. The church is much larger than mine, but had a similar gothic design so I felt at home in the sanctuary. I love the Episcopal liturgy, but was concerned I might not be familiar with what this church
Congregation
"I imagine our congregations becoming smaller, not bigger, yet teeming with the life of his body. And I hope there are more of them, so many of them in fact, that they become the alternative to the Starbucks of our day. I hope our churches become known for servanthood
Community
Believe it or not, VBS planning time is just around the corner and I wanted to share this experience with you. In June, 2004, about 60 kids and leaders attended our community-wide VBS. Four churches in our small town were involved -- Methodist, Baptist (that's us), Presbyterian, and
Community
(This is a great story I used as introduction to a DMin paper I wrote last year. Hope you enjoy it. -- Chuck) As Europe emerged from the Dark Ages, China was the undisputed master of the eastern world. Chinese culture was centuries ahead of European culture. While the library
Congregation
We host a Boys and Girls Club downstairs in our old fellowship hall. About 40 kids attend the club each afternoon, Monday through Friday. We started the club about a year ago, and it has grown steadily and is now seen as a community asset. Hosting this club was a
Congregation
Our church was founded July 28, 1857. This year, 2007, we are celebrating our 150th anniversary with a series of events on the last Sunday of each month from January through July. To kick off our anniversary year, this morning I preached from Isaiah 43:1-7. Through Isaiah, God says
Congregation
Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." -- Matthew 9:37-38 NIV It occurred to me the other day that the difference in the church
Missional life
In a recent post, Earl Creps, professor at AGTS, said he was throwing out all his files of sermon illustrations. Creps said we used to think of information (including sermon illustrations) as commodities -- they were scarce, hard to find, and needed to be saved. Now, however, Earl suggests we
Community
I read a blog recently that was pessimistic about the small church. Let me rephrase that -- the blogger said, "There is no hope for the small church." He cited the following reasons: * He had read Good to Great by Jim Collins, and had applied Collins' business
Congregation
The big buzz out there in the "church" conversation is the debate over attractional vs. missional church models. We know what attractional churches are because that's what most of us have wanted our churches to be. The whole attractional thing probably started in the 1950s when
Missional life
I just finished reading Jesus and Community by Gerhard Lohfink. Professor Lohfink reminded me of what Christmas is about, although that wasn't his intent. Speaking of conditions in Jesus' day, he says, "The world has structured itself in such a way that God no longer figures