BROWSING TAG:

ministry

   

Entire books have been written on the subject of Guest Assimilation, so fully tackling such a huge issue in a short blog isn’t realistic. But most of us who lead local churches need to get the basics down so we can begin building our effort. Here’s four key rites of passage for the guest.

   

You see them everywhere. People with their heads down looking at their phone, sitting at coffee shops with their laptops, and scrolling through tablets to catch up on the latest news. So how do you become relevant in a noisy world? How do you speak to your community? How can you be heard amidst the many videos, memes, and personality quizzes? The key to promoting your church or ministry through social media is developing a strategy and consistently following the plan.

   

The Bible reflects the importance of sheep in biblical society. The relationship between the sheep and the shepherd was one of intimate knowledge – the shepherd’s duty to watch over and care for each sheep was directly tied to the success of the owner.

   

In this video, Dr. Jeff Magruder explains the importance of having an awareness of language, culture and other variables when presenting the gospel to non-Christians.

   

In Spring 2016, the history department hosted the seminar “Turning Points in 20th Century America.” Topics included legal issues, economics, marketing, history, music, church history, Christian film making and social activism. Tyrone Block, D.M.A., explains Shout Band in America’s Black Pentecostal Church during the 1900s.

   

For the past several years, I’ve been a part of a team that crisscrosses the nation to work with local churches–hundreds of them. At the same time, I spend a chunk of my summers poring over church attendance and ministry data, identifying metrics to measure health and real effectiveness, and looking for clues to what can drive the oft-elusive, but greatly-prioritized goal of growth.

   

Many preachers understand how to take off, but don’t know how to land. They can introduce a sermon, but they struggle with providing an effective conclusion. In this blog, I am describing three characteristics of an effective conclusion and offer some approaches that you can incorporate into your preaching.

   

“Spend however much you want! You have an unlimited budget.” If you’re a youth pastor and have heard that, I’m almost certain you were dreaming.

   

The sermon introduction is more important now than historically it has ever been. We can no longer assume that simply because we have a title in front of our name, letters after our name, or an open Bible before us that people feel any obligation to pay attention to what we have to say.

   

Every youth minister wants to create a safe place for students to grow in their faith. S.A.F.E. is an acronym that helps discipline and reinforce appropriate behavior in a positive manner.

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