Pastoral Helps
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Present Over Perfect Study Guide (Student/Study Guide)
$16.99Add to cartIn a culture that values speed, efficiency, image, and busyness, some of us are aching for another way to live: more intentional, more connected. Simpler, slower, richer. Many of us have believed the myth that achievement and success bring us contentment, only to find it’s actually things like connection and meaning, not success and achievement, that provide true peace and genuine happiness.
Present Over Perfect is bestselling author Shauna Niequist’s motto for how to live a rich, engaged, and loving life in the midst of what often feels terribly messy and imperfect.
As a wife, mother, friend, and writer, Shauna shares with vulnerability and transparency about the reality of living wholly present in our relationships with our families and the others we love. These five sessions will inspire participants to discover their own path to this more fulfilling way to do life.
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Psalm 3 KJV Preacher Edition
$39.99Add to cartThis eagerly anticipated volume of The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible(R) covers chapters 107-150 of the Psalms and is part three of a three-part series.
The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible(R) is much more than a commentary – it’s a comprehensive resource for expository and topical preaching.
Each volume organizes key points of Scripture passages in a systematic outline form, along with content synthesized from 200+ Bible commentaries, language sources, and reference works.
The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible(R) includes inspirational sermon points, practical life applications and dozens of supporting scriptures in every section.
This volume includes Psalms chapters 107-150 and contains Scripture printed in King James Version (KJV).
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Ministry Proverbs : Lessons Learned For Leading Congregations
$20.95Add to cartBiblical and cultural proverbs have been cherished throughout the ages. One reason for their enduring influence is that they reveal deeper wisdom through easy-to-grasp phrases. They form our lives by offering wisdom we can hold onto and use in life’s most complex situations. In the increasingly complex world of modern ministry, it has become harder for pastors and church leaders to act wisely when the models for ministry keep changing. Ministry Proverbs is a collection of 60 proverbs that the Rev. Dr. Graham Standish has developed over the years to guide his own ministry. These are proverbs such as “We are only responsible for our efforts. God is responsible for the results. So be responsible for your part, and let God be responsible for God’s part. Wisdom comes in learning to tell the difference.” Each proverb is followed by 4-6 paragraphs of reflection that take the reader deeper into the ramifications and applications of the proverb. The reflections are intended to help readers to apply the proverbs in their own ministries, and to remember them so that when they face a difficult or uncertain situation, they can tap into the wisdom.
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Exodus
$27.00Add to cartFocused Biblical Scholarship to Teach the Text Effectively
To craft informed sermons, pastors scour commentaries that often deal more with minutia than the main point. Or they turn to devotional commentaries, which may contain exegetical weaknesses. The Teach the Text Commentary Series bridges this gap by utilizing the best of biblical scholarship and providing the information a pastor needs to communicate the text effectively. By concentrating each carefully selected preaching unit into six pages of focused commentary, each volume in this series allows pastors to quickly grasp the big idea and key themes of each passage of Scripture. Each unit of the commentary includes the big idea and key themes of the passage; sections dedicated to understanding, teaching, and illustrating the text; and full-color illustrations, maps, and photos.
The newest release in this innovative commentary series is T. Desmond Alexander’s treatment of Exodus.
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So Great A Cloud Of Witnesses
$21.95Add to cartChapters Included In This Book:
The Supplanter: Jacob
My House Will Serve The Lord: Joshua
The Sword Of The Lord: Gideon
The Outsider: Ruth And Boaz
The Sweet Singer Of Israel: DavidAdditional Info
One of the insights of people of faith is that God is active in history as he seeks to bring creation into conformity with his purpose. There have been those in every age who have discovered something of God’s purpose and have attempted to pass it on. Sometimes, God’s activity has been reported in supernatural terms, but fully as often, the activity of God is revealed in the faithful actions of human beings. For that reason, the Old and New Testaments are filled with the experiences of individuals who have discovered God’s presence in their individual circumstances.David Rogne’s So Great A Cloud of Witnesses will give readers an appreciation for the people of faith who are presented, and humbly recognize the cost borne by so many to deliver the faith to us. They are a great cloud of witnesses. They have played their part in relaying the faith to subsequent generations, and they are now filling the stands in the heavenly arena, eager to see how we continue the race.
Witnesses have been chosen from varied backgrounds so that it may be seen that people from all walks of life are called to live faithfully and to witness to God’s truth. The entire known story of some of these individuals, such as Joseph, the husband of Mary, may be just a few verses of Scripture. Some, such as the Wiseman and the Emmaus disciple, are not even named. Nevertheless, their witness is important. Rogne attempts to give life to the testimony of these less-well-known witnesses by giving them names and employing a little imagination. In every case, the subjects tell their stories as they might have experienced them.
Chapters included in this book:
The Supplanter: Jacob
My House Will Serve the Lord: Joshua
The Sword of the Lord: Gideon
The Outsider: Ruth and Boaz
The Sweet Singer of Israel: David -
Pilgrim Church And Kingdom
$11.95Add to cartCourse 8: Church & Kingdom: What does it mean to live as a child of the kingdom of God and follow in the way of Christ each day as a member of his church? How does it affect our life at work as well as at home? How does it affect what we do with the gifts we have been given, especially those gifts of time and talents, passions, resources, and money? How is the Christian faith changing us and shaping us so that we become more like Jesus? The importance of prayer, living out our faith, celebrating Sabbath, and reflecting generosity is explored. We look at how faith in the God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit shapes and changes all our relationships
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Intercessory Prayer Study Guide (Student/Study Guide)
$16.99Add to cartYour Prayers Are PowerfulI, God is all-powerful, why does He need us to pray? If we pray and nothing happens, does this mean that God isn’t listening? If you’ve ever felt that your prayers don’t count, Intercessory Prayer will show you just how vital your prayers are. In this book, pastor and teacher Dutch Sheets explains the nuts and bolts of prayer with wisdom, gentleness, and humor. This book will inspire you, give you the courage to pray for the “impossible,” and help you find the persistence to see your prayers to completion. Discover your role as a prayer warrior–it can mean the difference between heaven and hell for someone you know!
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Pilgrim The Eucharist
$11.95Add to cartCourse 6: The Eucharist: How do Christians know and worship God? The six sessions of Course 6 reveal reasons why the Eucharist is celebrated as a memorial of Christ’s saving passion and stands at the very heart of Christian worship. Session 1 looks at worship as communion with God. Session 2 explores the Eucharist as the pattern of all Christian worship. Session 3 looks at the intimacy we have with God in Holy Communion and how we are transformed by the encounter. Sessions 4 – 6 look at worship as a sign and foretaste of heaven, shaping our whole life, and how the whole of life is sacramental.
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Plan To Protect US Edition
$59.99Add to cartA protection plan for children and youth;
A protection plan for those who work with them.Plan to Protect (TM) is not about what we need to do to run programs and activities, and it is not about placing a hardship on your staff and volunteers. Abuse prevention and protection of children and young people is not something we have to do, but something we have the privilege of doing. It is a privilege to create a safe environment in order to have our communities trust us with their family members.
As you implement Plan to Protect (TM) your efforts are a ministry in itself to:protect children
protect young people
demonstrate your care for your staff and volunteers
demonstrate care to parents and family members
empower and nurture the healing of victim-survivors
demonstrate grace, restoration and welcome to the offender that comes into your church
demonstrate accountability and integrity and
bring Glory to God
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Face Of Forgiveness
$27.99Add to cartAcknowledgments
1. Whatever Happened To The Forgiveness Of Sins?
2. Covering Our Nakedness: Healing Through Therapy
3. Guilt And Shame
4. Opened Eyes And Downturned Faces
5. The Shame Of The Cross
6. “As One From Whom Others Hide Their Faces . . .”
7. Living Before Christ’s Face
Epilogue: Answer To Jane
Notes
Bibliography
General Index
Scripture IndexAdditional Info
The struggle to offer and receive forgiveness is not helped by theologies that focus solely on guilt and a therapeutic environment focused on human agency. Philip Jamieson argues that Christians need to think about the way Christ takes on human shame and restores our ability to face God and each other as redeemed persons. -
Music Architect : Blueprints For Engaging Worshipers In Song
$30.00Add to cartGuidance for Leaders Seeking a Richer Way to Employ Worship Music
Worship expert Constance Cherry offers comprehensive guidance to Christian leaders seeking a deeper, richer way to employ worship music in engaging ways for twenty-first-century worshipers. Following Cherry’s successful book “The Worship Architect,” this work helps Christian leaders think theologically and act pastorally about worship music in their churches. It addresses larger issues beyond the surface struggles of musical styles and provides tools to critically evaluate worship songs. The book is applicable to all Christian traditions and worship styles and is well suited to both the classroom and the local church. Each chapter concludes with suggested practical exercises, recommended reading, and basic vocabulary terms. -
Instant Bible Dramas
$19.99Add to cartThis resource is designed to be used by children’s ministry leaders in introducing scripture stories to elementary children. Each drama is designed to allow children the opportunity to participate in the telling of the story with no rehearsal or planning. The narrator expresses the story and the children provide the action. With 56 dramas the major Bible stories are told in a way that will have the elementary children engaged immediately
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Mission Of Jesus Discovery Guide
$18.99Add to cartJoin renowned teacher and historian Ray Vander Laan as he guides you through the land of the Bible. In each lesson, Vander Laan illuminates the historical, geographical, and cultural context of the sacred Scriptures. Filmed on location in Israel, the That the World May Know DVD series will transform your understanding of God and challenge you to be a true follower of Jesus.
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RelatAble Study Guide (Student/Study Guide)
$10.99Add to cartLet’s face it: relationships are tricky. We have problems in our relationships with friends. We have conflicts with our parents. We have unresolved issues in some relationships and wonder if reconciliation is even possible. We want to make our relationships healthier, more meaningful, and more fulfilling, but we don’t know where to start. The good news is that because God put us on this planet to interact with others, we know that he has a plan for how we can build stronger relationships. He has given us a model in Christ for how we can become the kind of people who move through life with the ability to connect with others. He can do something within our hearts to shape us into the kind of people that others want to be around. But we have to be willing to change our ways and adopt the mindset of Christ. In this six-session video-based study, pastor and author Louie Giglio explores the fundamental questions of what makes us relatable to others. He reveals that the degree to which we are able to share our lives, love others, and extend mercy in all situations is determined by the degree to which we are able to receive the gift of grace that God has extended to us. He shows how God can change our perspective on relationships, bring us peace in the midst of conflict, and help us restore relationships that seem broken beyond repair.
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Living Out The Message Of Christ Participants Guide 8 (Student/Study Guide)
$7.99Add to cartA Program for Implementing a Christ-Centered Recovery Ministry in Your Church
Alcoholism – Divorce – Sexual Abuse – Codependency – Domestic Violence – Drug Addiction – Sexual Addiction – Food Addiction – Gambling Addiction and others.There is a way the church can help the hurting move beyond their wounds to experience the healing and forgiveness of Christ. Since 1991, more than 200,000 people have participated in the Celebrate Recovery programs offered at more than 3,500 churches, prisons, and rescue missions.
Drawn from the Beatitudes, Celebrate Recovery helps people resolve painful problems in the context of the church as a whole.
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Moving Forward In Gods Grace The Journey Continues Participants Guide 5
$7.99Add to cartA Program for Implementing a Christ-Centered Recovery Ministry in Your Church
Alcoholism – Divorce – Sexual Abuse – Codependency – Domestic Violence – Drug Addiction – Sexual Addiction – Food Addiction – Gambling Addiction and others.
There is a way the church can help the hurting move beyond their wounds to experience the healing and forgiveness of Christ. Since 1991, more than 200,000 people have participated in the Celebrate Recovery programs offered at more than 3,500 churches, prisons, and rescue missions.
Drawn from the Beatitudes, Celebrate Recovery helps people resolve painful problems in the context of the church as a whole.
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1st Things First
$13.99Add to cartAs the young Ken Kamau devoured books on leadership, he became increasingly aware that they were written by and for people who were way ahead of where he was in his life and ministry. He needed to know how one begins to be a leader, not how one continues to lead a large and successful ministry. He has now written the book he would have wanted to read as a young pastor. His key thesis is that if you want to be a blessing to the kingdom, you have to get the basics right. Before you step into the spotlight of ministry life, you need to work on the backstage of your life. So he writes about learning from mistakes and from successes, learning how to be led as well as how to lead, and building and safeguarding a strong marriage. He also deals with the practical issues involved in building and nurturing a strong support team, even in a small church with few resources. The book is infused with humour and practical wisdom acquired the hard way, and also with a passion to fulfil the Great Commission. It thus speaks even to those who are not pastors, for we too are called to serve God faithfully, listen to his word, and use the lessons God has been teaching us to reach out to those who need to hear the message of God’s love. We too need to live out that message with integrity in our day-to-day lives.
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More To Your Story Study Guide (Student/Study Guide)
$14.99Add to cartJoin bestselling author Max Lucado on a journey through the promises of the New Testament and discover your place in God’s plan. Everything changes when you see how your story fits within God’s. Designed for use with the 6-session DVD study.
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Longevity In Leadership
$15.99Add to cartEverybody knows that leading is challenging. Leaders are out front, showing people and organizations new places where they can and should go. They have to inspire people to challenge themselves to do more things or to increase their abilities in order to achieve specific goals.
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Preachers Guide To Lectionary Sermon Series Volume One
$47.00Add to cartPreachers get the best of lectionary and topical series preaching with this comprehensive manual of sermon series ideas based on the Revised Common Lectionary. Designed to frame consecutive weeks of lectionary texts into seasonal and short-term series, a diverse group of twelve preachers outline multiple thematic series plans for each lectionary year. Each series plan provides a series overview, chart that outlines each segment of the series, tips and ideas, scriptural references, and a brief sermon starter. The series honors holy days and seasons and responds to typical patterns of church attendance, maximizing visitor retention and member engagement. Pastors can honor their commitment to lectionary preaching while taking advantage of the benefits series preaching can offer with this truly unique resource.
Contributors include:
Theresa Cho, Pastor of St. John’s Presbyterian Church, San Francisco, California
Bob Dannals, Rector of St. Michael’s and All Angels Episcopal Church, Dallas, Texas
Magrey R. DeVega, Pastor of Hyde Park United Methodist Church, Tampa, Florida
Brian Erickson, Pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church, Birmingham, Alabama
Mihee Kim-Kort, Presbyterian Minister and Campus Ministry Leader at University of Indiana, Bloomington, Indiana
Jessica LaGrone, Dean of Chapel at Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, Kentucky
Cleophus J. LaRue, Professor of Homiletics, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey
Jacqueline J. Lewis, Senior Minister, Middle Collegiate Church, New York City, New York
Katherine Willis Pershey, Pastor of First Congregational Church, Western Springs, Illinois
Paul Rock, Pastor of Second Presbyterian Church, Kansas City, Kansas
Martin Thielen, Pastor of First United Methodist Church, Cookeville, Tennessee
Winnie Varghese, Priest and Director of Community Outreach at Trinity Wall Street, New York, New York -
Looking For Lovely Teen Girls Bible Study Book (Student/Study Guide)
$15.99Add to cartLooking for Lovely: Collecting the Moments that Matter explores the ordinary people of the Bible to discover the beauty in each life. This seven-session study for girls examines people of various professions-fishermen, gardeners, women, soldiers, and ultimately Jesus to find the lovely in everyday life. Every moment matters. Every individual matters. We can’t put life on pause to avoid the difficulties, but we can be people of influence in and through all circumstances. There are moments of suffering, perseverance, character building, and hope in every life. In our everyday, normal lives, looking for lovely is discovering God and connecting with Him in the midst of the positive and negative circumstances we face. God asks that we trust His timing and lean in as He turns the soil in our lives to make everything beautiful in His time. In the end, it is not about outside circumstances but actually about our hearts.
Features:
Seven sessions (Bible study book includes 6 weeks of homework, 4 days per week; 7 video sessions optional and available for purchase)
Group material that guides questions and discussion with a small group
Optional digital download bundle for group use optional and available for purchase
Personal study segments for 6 weeks, 4 days per week to complete between group sessions
Women’s version also available
4 color cover / 2 color insideBenefits:
Girls will discover lovely in the mundane and difficult moments of life
Engage in a more personal relationship with God as you discover scriptural truths
Encourage spiritual growth in girls through the individual time in the homework and the group sessions
Understand that God sometimes calls us to do hard things but they are worth finishing
Laugh through times of perseverance and discover the beauty in the journey
Trust God’s timing and lean in as He makes everything beautiful in His time -
Equipping Church : Serving Together To Transform Lives
$22.99Add to cartPicture your church as a place where the priesthood of believers finds its expression in creative and powerful ways. Picture leaders and staff equipping and unleashing people to minister in ways consistent with how God designed them. Think of the effectiveness, vitality, and contentment that come when the body of Christ nurtures itself through the healthy give-and-take of each member. In The Equipping Church, Sue Mallory describes the benefits, the structure, and the culture of an equipping church and shows how your congregation can become one. This book is about limitless possibilities. Think “vision.”
What might your church look like if its members became vital, fully empowered partners in ministry? How can you help them discover and release their full potential? How would their roles change–and yours?
AN EQUIPPING CHURCH IS A CHURCH WHERE:
* pastors and leaders enable church members to share in ministry
* people’s gifts, talents, and life callings are matched with areas of service
* ministry opportunities are recognized and developed
* the culture encourages the growth of a broad array of ministries
*a well-designed system addresses needs of every kind, both individual and corporate *the pastor doesn’t have to be all things to all peopleUnpacking insights and principles uncovered by Leadership Training Network over the last several years, Mallory helps you customize an equipping system and culture in your church. You’ll proceed from preparation (what you need to know), to foundations (what you need to change), to construction (what you need to do). In the process, Mallory takes you inside the story of her own church, Brentwood Presbyterian, to observe the different stages of their trial-and-error journey and how it has transformed their approach to “doing church.” See how they dealt with various concerns that arose along the way, and meet men and women whose lives have been changed because Brentwood took the ministry road less traveled. Each chapter includes a section of “Equipping Principles,” questions for discussion and reflection, and a summary of different equipping churches from around the country. With the accompanying Equipping Church Guidebook, this book will be a mile marker in your church–and the gateway to a more effective and biblical approach to ministry.
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Generous Church : A Guide For Pastors
$18.99Add to cartOur possessions can create unbearable weight and affect our ability to serve and thrive. How do we defy gravity and find freedom? In this 4-week small group study and stewardship campaign, pastor and author Tom Berlin explores what is required to sustain a vibrant life, what we need versus what we want, and what we can do to avoid being pulled into the orbit of materialism. The Pastor Guide helps the pastor and leadership team think strategically about financial planning and giving beyond the annual campaign vision. Tom Berlin believes and teaches that the church, in order to inspire generosity in individuals, needs to be seen and understood as generous. People will embrace giving if they see the ways their gifts are used in the community and the world. Generous church… generous people. Sermon helps and fresh illustrations will be included, broken down into four segments: Think About It – How do I think through the key aspects of our church’s financial reality and plan? Communicate It – How do we tell our story so the whole congregation shares a vision who we are, what we do, and what changes we can make in the world with our people and resources. Plan It – What’s the short-term campaign plan, the annual plan, and our long-term plan for the financial and spiritual life of our congregation? – Manage It – How do we set up processes, reports, goals, and metrics to stay true to our plan?
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Little Handbook For Preachers
$22.99Add to cartNo function of the pastor is as visible and stress inducing as preaching. Being a good preacher requires learning the mental, emotional, spiritual and physical skills needed to effectively share God’s word with a congregation. It demands a commitment to the craft of preaching. But few pastors feel adequately prepared for this high-stakes responsibility when they begin their ministries. Mary Hulst knows what it takes to preach well. Forged by her experiences as a pastor, preaching professor and college chaplain, she recognizes the challenges of the pulpit. In this uniquely practical book, Hulst provides foundational concepts and tips that all pastors can use, whether they are ministry newcomers or seasoned professionals. Preaching can bring both you and your congregation great joy and satisfaction, week after week. And A Little Handbook for Preachers can help you deliver a better sermon by Sunday.
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Fresh From The Word
$31.99Add to cartFresh From the Word gathers together Rosalind Brown’s acclaimed reflections on the Sunday Lectionary readings which appeared in the Church Times every week for three years. Now expanded and arranged for use in any liturgical year, and with an additional section for saints’ days and festivals, this comprehensive preaching companion provides an inspiring resource for worship throughout the year.
Noted for their insightful, distilled wisdom and practical focus, these scripture reflections draw on the breadth of the Christian spiritual tradition to illuminate the Lectionary readings and open up their meaning for Christian living today, offering a trusted guide for all who share in the ministry of the word.
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History Of Preaching 2
$54.99Add to cartA History of Preaching brings together narrative history and primary sources to provide the most comprehensive guide available to the story of the church’s ministry of proclamation. Bringing together an impressive array of familiar and lesser-known figures, Edwards paints a detailed, compelling picture of what it has meant to preach the gospel. Pastors, scholars, and students of homiletics will find here many opportunities to enrich their understanding and practice of preaching. Ecumenical in scope, fair-minded in presentation, appreciative of the contributions that all the branches of the church have made to the story of what it means to develop, deliver, and listen to a sermon, A History of Preaching will be the definitive resource for anyone who wishes to preach or to understand preaching’s role in living out the gospel.
Volume 2 contains primary source material on preaching drawn from the entire scope of the church’s twenty centuries. The author has written an introduction to each selection, placing it in its historical context and pointing to its particular contribution. Each chapter in Volume 2 is geared to its companion chapter in Volume 1’s narrative history. Volume 1, available separately as 9781501833779, contains Edwards’s magisterial retelling of the story of Christian preaching’s development from its Hellenistic and Jewish roots in the New Testament, through the late-twentieth century’s discontent with outdated forms and emphasis on new modes of preaching such as narrative. Along the way the author introduces us to the complexities and contributions of preachers, both with whom we are already acquainted, and to whom we will be introduced here for the first time. Origen, Chrysostom, Augustine, Bernard, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Wesley, Edwards, Rauschenbusch, Barth; all of their distinctive contributions receive careful attention. Yet lesser-known figures and developments also appear, from the ninth-century reform of preaching championed by Hrabanus Maurus, to the reference books developed in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries by the mendicant orders to assist their members’ preaching, to Howell Harris and Daniel Rowlands, preachers of the eighteenth-century Welsh revival, to Helen Kenyon, speaking as a layperson at the 1950 Yale Beecher lectures about the view of preaching from the pew. “…’This work is expected to be the standard text on preaching for the next 30 years,’ says Ann K. Riggs, who staffs the NCC’s Faith and Order C
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History Of Preaching 1
$65.99Add to cartA History of Preaching brings together narrative history and primary sources to provide the most comprehensive guide available to the story of the church’s ministry of proclamation. Bringing together an impressive array of familiar and lesser-known figures, Edwards paints a detailed, compelling picture of what it has meant to preach the gospel. Pastors, scholars, and students of homiletics will find here many opportunities to enrich their understanding and practice of preaching. Volume 1 contains Edwards’s magisterial retelling of the story of Christian preaching’s development from its Hellenistic and Jewish roots in the New Testament, through the late-twentieth century’s discontent with outdated forms and emphasis on new modes of preaching such as narrative. Along the way the author introduces us to the complexities and contributions of preachers, both with whom we are already acquainted, and to whom we will be introduced here for the first time. Origen, Chrysostom, Augustine, Bernard, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Wesley, Edwards, Rauschenbusch, Barth; all of their distinctive contributions receive careful attention. Yet lesser-known figures and developments also appear, from the ninth-century reform of preaching championed by Hrabanus Maurus, to the reference books developed in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries by the mendicant orders to assist their members’ preaching, to Howell Harris and Daniel Rowlands, preachers of the eighteenth-century Welsh revival, to Helen Kenyon, speaking as a layperson at the 1950 Yale Beecher lectures about the view of preaching from the pew. Volume 2, available separately as 9781501833786, contains primary source material on preaching drawn from the entire scope of the church’s twenty centuries. The author has written an introduction to each selection, placing it in its historical context and pointing to its particular contribution. Each chapter in Volume 2 is geared to its companion chapter in Volume 1’s narrative history. Ecumenical in scope, fair-minded in presentation, appreciative of the contributions that all the branches of the church have made to the story of what it means to develop, deliver, and listen to a sermon, A History of Preaching will be the definitive resource for anyone who wishes to preach or to understand preaching’s role in living out the gospel. “…’This work is expected to be the standard text on preaching for the next 30 years,’ says Ann K. Riggs, who staffs the NCC’s Faith and Order Commis
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Seeking Allah Finding Jesus Study Guide (Student/Study Guide)
$16.99Add to cartBuilding on the powerful story and arguments he shared in Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, Nabeel Qureshi and co-author Kevin Harney take viewers deeper into apologetics and evangelism among Muslims with this complete study course. In eight lessons coordinated to be used alongside the Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus Video Study, Qureshi and Harney explore Muslim culture, the most common Muslim objections to Christianity, and the core doctrines upon which Islam stands or falls. Compassionate and clear, the Seeking Allah Finding Jesus Study Guide will be a useful training tool for pastors, outreach leaders, and any believers wanting to winsomely engage Muslims in spiritual conversations. The Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus Study Guide develops in further detail the objections to Islam and case for Christianity that Qureshi introduced in Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus. When studied with the accompanying Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus Video Study, this accessible course is perfect for adult classes, small groups, segments in college or seminary courses, and motivated independent learners alike.
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How To Preach And Teach The Old Testament For All Its Worth
$18.99Add to cartMany preachers ignore preaching from the Old Testament because they feel it is outdated in light of the New Testament and difficult to expound. On the other hand, some preachers will preach from the Old Testament frequently but fail to handle it correctly, turning it into moralistic rules or symbolic lessons for our spiritual life. In How to Preach and Teach the Old Testament for All Its Worth, Christopher J. H. Wright proclaims that preachers must not ignore the Old Testament. It is the Word of God! The Old Testament lays the foundation for our faith and it was the Bible that Jesus read and used. Looking first at why we should preach from the Old Testament, the author moves on to show the reader how they can be preach from it. Covering the History, Law, Prophets, Psalms, and Wisdom Literature, interspersed with practical checklists, exercises, and sermons, he provides an essential guide on how to handle the Old Testament responsibly.
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Live Smart : Preparing For The Future God Wants For You (Reprinted)
$14.00Add to cartA Guide to Living Wisely While You’re Young
As a professor and youth director, author Dan Dumas has seen that young people have high expectations for themselves. They want their lives to matter, and there’s no reason our expectations for them should be any different.This book presents practical tools and biblical advice to middle school and high school-aged readers so they can make the most of their youth. It covers everything from making the right friendships to how to think about education and how to invest in their relationships with God. The habits a person forms when they’re young can last a lifetime–now’s the time to make it count.This book is ideal for parents and youth pastors to give to young people to read on their own or study in groups. -
Stepping Aside Moving Ahead
$18.99Add to cartHenri Nouwen’s statement that too many clergy are “lonely ministers practicing lonely ministry” can be amplified in the years leading up to and immediately following retirement. Although there are books about retirement in general, clergy have unique personal and professional dimensions to retiring. Stepping Aside, Moving Ahead provides a clergy-oriented context. The author begins with letters from clergy nearing retirement about the issues they are facing and structures the book in the following way: Opening Letters from clergy Foundations (the formative dynamics that create a good retirement) Movements (the formative transitions that lead to a good retirement) Actions (the specific behaviors that produce a good retirement) Outcomes (the attitudes which emerge from a good retirement)
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Changeover Zone : Successful Pastoral Transitions
$17.99Add to cartUtilizing the metaphor of a relay race, The Changeover Zone provides step-by-step, hands-on application of techniques and principles that bring about successful pastoral transitions-passing the baton from one pastor to her/his successor. While the concepts apply to any type of pastoral transition, the techniques are specifically designed to improve the transitions when new churches are going through their first pastoral change and when churches are receiving a new pastor following a long-tenured pastor. The first section teaches the key action steps for each party involved in a transition; the second section focuses specifically on new churches going through their first pastoral transition and; the third section focuses more on long-tenured pastorates and draws the distinctions and similarities between existing churches and new churches going through a pastoral change. Drawing on years of experience the authors introduce the reader to best practices that any church, pastor, or denominational office can implement.
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Talking God : Preaching To Contemporary Congregations
$19.95Add to cartToday’s church has a digital dilemma: We live in an age where “new media” is inescapable, yet many still perceive these new forms of communication as either an unmanageable challenge or at odds with the mission of the church. Clergy and lay leaders alike can be at a loss as to what methodologies, practices, and adjustments are necessary to engage today’s congregations. How can we effectively meet the challenges of our present context?In Talking God, Fr. Cutie, whose wide following spans both traditional and new media, starts where preaching the gospel has always started, with a preacher and an audience, and examines the challenges digital communications pose to all involved in the craft of preaching, including the way contemporary audiences receive and listen to the message preached. Is the 21st century church responding to this evolution by seeking to understand the present-day “listening context” and the often overwhelming “media culture” in which it is called to preach? Must preachers and teachers of the Word of God evolve in style and practice to continue being effective communicators of the gospel? Has the world changing around us changed our methodology or even our message?
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Ways Of The Word
$37.00Add to cartPreaching, and the discipline of preaching, is at a crossroads. The changing realities of church and theological education, the diversity of our classrooms, and our increasingly complex community contexts leave us in search of tools to help train a rising generation of preachers for a future whose contours are far from clear. The questions are immense: How to support preachers in contexts that are diverse religiously, culturally, and ethnically, both inside and outside the church? How to help students take varied contexts seriously as they are formed as leaders?
In Ways of the Word, a dynamic team of master preachers brings much-needed help. Different in race, gender, age, and tradition, both Sally A. Brown and Luke A. Powery speak with one voice their belief that preaching is an Spirit-empowered event: an embodied, vocalized, actively received, here-and-now witness to the ongoing work of God in the world.
They aspire to help students and preachers alike to reflect on a journey of learning by doing. They aim to help preachers to become more attuned to the Spirit, more adept in preaching’s component skills, and more self-aware about all that is at stake in proclaiming the redemptive work of God in specific contexts.
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Thoughts From My Journey
$9.99Add to cartWith Thoughts from My Journey, Seattle business leader Ralph Palmen has gifted his readers with simple and profound words of wisdom that have a direct bearing on how we can live godly lives. Stemming from an intimate relationship with God and decades of experience and success in the business world, these devotional gems offer practical advice on dynamic Christian living, biblical management, leadership, and organizational development, and how to gain the cultural high ground in order to impact the world for Christ. Ralph Palmen is founder and president of the Palmen Institute, Inc. and co-founder of Express Employment Professionals.
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Ministry Training Academies
$11.95Add to cartMinistry Training Academies are dynamic ministries that train and release children to do ministry. They provide children with a unique opportunity to learn ministry through hands-on experience.
Ministry Training Academies also help to fulfill the purpose of the local church. Given that children make up approximately 25% of the church population, it would be unlikely for a church to fulfill what God has called it to do unless children are engaged in helping fulfill that purpose.
Can you imagine if every evangelical church equipped and released their children in ministry? Not only would there be radical changes in the church of Jesus Christ, there would be changes in homes, schools, and neighborhoods. Children who walk in newness of Christ as a believer AND partner with Him in ministry, will have a profound impact in their world.
Let’s stop doing ministry to our children and begin a chapter in church history where we begin doing ministry WITH children.
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1 Thing : A Revolution To Change The World With Love
$15.99Add to cartNeil Cole demonstrates the Church’s lack of influence on our society because believers are not bringing true transformative love to it, but rather a form of religious moralism. Neil details how real change was launched within the New Testament church and demonstrated in history, impacting harsh societal issues like slavery and the oppression of women. The author details how similar change can occur if we address today’s pressing issues with love rather than a moralistic posture.
Cole points out that the church has unrealistic expectations of imposing morality without spirituality to the lost. The church acts surprised when the unredeemed act like they are unredeemed. The real shock, Neil notes, is how the redeemed act like they are not. This book is a call for the church to respond in love toward the world and to not impose their own values on others, but rather live them out.
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Do This Remembering Me
$18.95Add to cartWhat do I do to help? Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, almost everyone knows someone with some form of dementia, yet few know how to answer that question, and very little material exists on providing spiritual care to adults with dementia-related diseases. Even seminaries rarely provide training or clinical pastoral education in this field. This book is an answer. It provides a hands-on manual that will give clergy, spiritual care providers, and family members an understanding of the ongoing spiritual needs of individuals with dementia, as well as practical tools such as how to create a religious service in a memory care unit and how one might plan a nursing home visit. Accessibly written, with real life applications and sample services for a variety of settings. More than just useful, the book inspires with shared stories that are tender, sad, funny-and sometimes all three at once, encouraging readers to develop spiritual care ministries for people with memory loss in congregations, homes, nursing facilities, or other communities-a ministry that will only gain in importance in the coming decade, as Baby Boomers age and the number of people with Alzheimer’s and dementia skyrockets.
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Serving A Movement
$18.99Add to cartOur goal as Christians is never simply to build our own tribe. Instead, we seek the peace and prosperity of the city or community in which we live through a gospel movement led by the Holy Spirit, a movement united by the gospel of Jesus Christ, a common mission to reach and serve others, and a commitment to be gracious and generous to those who disagree with you.
In Serving a Movement, best-selling author and pastor Timothy Keller looks at the nature of the church’s mission and its relationship to the work of individual Christians in the world. He examines what it means to be a “missional” church today and how churches can practically equip people for missional living. Churches need to intentionally cultivate an integrative ministry that connects people to God, to one another, to the needs of the city, and to the culture around us. Finally, he highlights the need for intentional movements of churches planting new churches that faithfully proclaim God’s truth and serve their communities.
This new edition contains the third section of Center Church in an easy-to-read format with new reflections and additional essays from Timothy Keller and several other contributors.
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I Wonder : Engaging A Childs Curosity About The Bible
$21.99Add to cartHow can anyone completely answer the difficult questions that children ask: Who created God? Will there be another flood? Is the Bible true? But then, we adults have questions too: With so many options and Bible translations, where can I go for help? What is the best Bible for my child? How do we talk about miracle stories, healing stories, and the creation stories? What about violence? When kids ask about the relevancy of the Bible for today, what do we say? How we read and interpret the Bible with children may mean the difference between whether or not it will continue to be an important source for their faith development as they become young adults. Written by an expert in children’s ministry, I Wonder is a resource for adults who want to explore ways to help children read, engage, wrestle, and grow into deeper understanding of the Bible. It is for those who come to the Bible with souls open to be fed and who want their children to seek faith and wisdom. It will also help readers address timeless questions and issues including recent biblical scholarship, literary analysis, reading the Bible from their social location and reading the Bible in a multi-faith world.
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Viral Multiplication In Hispanic Churches
$18.99Add to cartReverend Iosmar Alvarez created this book to teach church planting leaders how to plant new, healthy, vital, and vibrant churches with multiplication DNA. Using scripture-grounded values, principles, and the author’s own testimony, this book will help reach both new and diverse Hispanic/Latino people, as well as other cultures and contexts.
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Help Me Help Others
$12.99Add to cart“Help Me Help Others” was written for compassionate individuals who are looking for biblically-based, relational truths to use as they help those in distress. Dr. Wagner’s use of real-life examples, end-of-chapter contemplations, and easy-to-follow diagrams increase the ease with which these concepts can be understood and applied.
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Ministry Training Academies
$28.95Add to cartMinistry Training Academies are dynamic ministries that train and release children to do ministry. They provide children with a unique opportunity to learn ministry through hands-on experience.
Ministry Training Academies also help to fulfill the purpose of the local church. Given that children make up approximately 25% of the church population, it would be unlikely for a church to fulfill what God has called it to do unless children are engaged in helping fulfill that purpose.
Can you imagine if every evangelical church equipped and released their children in ministry? Not only would there be radical changes in the church of Jesus Christ, there would be changes in homes, schools, and neighborhoods. Children who walk in newness of Christ as a believer AND partner with Him in ministry, will have a profound impact in their world.
Let’s stop doing ministry to our children and begin a chapter in church history where we begin doing ministry WITH children.
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Necessary Nine : Things Effective Pastors Do Differently
$16.99Add to cartConventional wisdom is that leaders are born, not made. In reality, that is one small piece of the leadership puzzle. The fact is, approximately 10% of church leaders are naturally-gifted leaders who actually don’t need any help. Another 10% of church leaders do not have the capacity to lead nor learn to lead with the skill set needed for the 21st century church. This means approximately 80% of church leaders have the possibility of becoming a more effective church leader. This book is for them. The Necessary Nine contains nine simple axioms for effective pastoral and lay leadership for the church. These axioms have the greatest potential for fruitful ministry. These strategies are straightforward and easy to use. The reader will have “that’s true” moments and learn to put those insights into regular practice. It will help the reader with the simple leadership strategies that, if practiced over and over and over, will change the effectiveness of their leadership, the church and the world.
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She : Five Keys To Unlock The Power Of Women In Ministry
$22.99Add to cartWe are not all the same. The time has come for us to honestly name the ways we are different and similar so that we can serve together in unity, grace and trust. Women in ministry experience unique challenges in their church settings which continue to hinder their vocational, professional, and personal success. Women in ministry need a trusted and comprehensive resource not only to be able to survive but to thrive in their places of call. She provides theoretical, theological, and practical frameworks and strategies for flourishing as woman in ministry and engages critical reflection on the practice of ministry in light of current feminist theory, biblical interpretation, and experience. Covering everything from biblical arguments for and against women in the church to what not to wear, this book offers background information and tools for negotiating the many and varied issues that woman in ministry face, including leadership, the authority and office of the clergy, and structures and power in the church. A trusted and comprehensive resource for women in ministry, equipping them to thrive in their places of call, and for the men who serve alongside them.
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How Youth Ministry Can Change Theological Education If We Let It
$33.99Add to cartSince 1993, forty-nine theological seminaries have created opportunities for high school students to participate in on-campus High School Theology Programs (HSTPs) that invite them to engage in serious biblical and theological study. Many of the young people who take part in these programs go on to become pastoral or lay leaders in their churches. What has made these programs so successful – especially given the well-documented “crisis of faith” among young people today?
In this book thirteen contributors – many of whom have created or led one of these innovative theology programs – investigate answers to this question. They examine the pedagogical practices the HSTPs have in common and explore how they are contributing to the leadership of the church. They then show how the lessons gleaned from these successful programs can help churches, denominations, and seminaries reimagine both theological education and youth ministry.
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Glocalization : How Followers Of Jesus Engage A Flat World
$24.99Add to cartIf you want to know where and how the church is going to grow, think local and global. Think glocal. Glocal is Bob Roberts’ term for the seamless connectedness between the local and global. That connection is affecting the church in ways that never could have been imagined in the first-century church, or even the twentieth-century church. And it’s creating unprecedented opportunities for individuals and churches-for you and your church-to live out their faith in real time across the world. Glocalization offers a vision of the unprecedented changes of our times and how they are impacting the church. Discover how these changes will transform the way churches define their mission and how Christians relate to one another and to the world. This provocative book turns the traditional mission-agency model upside down and shows how transformed people and churches can make a glocal (global and local) impact. Glocalization offers an exciting vision for churches and individuals who want to reach this changing world for Christ.
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Membership Matters : Insights From Effective Churches On New Member Classes
$22.99Add to cartInsights from Effective Churches on New Member Classes and Assimilation Findings from a national study to improve membership classes and to motivate current members into active ministry How do churches move members-both old and new- into ministry? Many church staff and lay leaders know they need to start new member classes as a point of entry into their churches but don’t know how. This book is based on a national study of effective churches and shows how growing churches implement new member classes and motivate their members into ministry. Membership Matters is designed to be a guide for church leaders wanting to start or improve a membership class. It includes models for classes and examples of resources such as church covenants, class schedules, and lesson outlines. It also gives direction on motivating uninvolved members to participate in ministry. One chapter chronicles an ongoing discussion among pastors of growing churches that are effectively motivating members to do ministry.
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Bible Lessons For Children
$11.95Add to cartChildren’s Church Sermons for Worship Service offers adult leaders and teachers a complete year’s worth of scripts for presenting the truths of the Christian faith to children from four to eight years old. Drawing upon long experience, including more than two decades teaching children in the public schools and nineteen years leading children’s worship, author Sunday Burger offers season-specific messages crafted to encourage children to explore their developing faith.
Building upon the foundation of research into the ways children in this age group learn, this collection offers lessons field-tested in worship with children. Each week’s script highlights a passage from the Scriptures, presents a central Christian truth, suggests a visual aid, outlines a message for an adult to share with children, and ends with an invitation for the children to join the leader in a prayer. Depending upon children’s inquisitiveness, the scripts encourage them to explore the message’s theme by connecting the visual aid with the Bible’s message and by answering questions along the way.
If your ministry involves working with children between the ages of four and eight, then this guide can equip you to share the truths of the Christian faith in the main worship service, Sunday school classes, children’s church, Bible school, or whenever young children gather. Through these lessons, the Holy Spirit can use encounters with God’s Word to prepare children to live by faith, lead the Church, and extend the Kingdom of God.
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Bible Lessons For Children
$28.95Add to cartChildren’s Church Sermons for Worship Service offers adult leaders and teachers a complete year’s worth of scripts for presenting the truths of the Christian faith to children from four to eight years old. Drawing upon long experience, including more than two decades teaching children in the public schools and nineteen years leading children’s worship, author Sunday Burger offers season-specific messages crafted to encourage children to explore their developing faith.
Building upon the foundation of research into the ways children in this age group learn, this collection offers lessons field-tested in worship with children. Each week’s script highlights a passage from the Scriptures, presents a central Christian truth, suggests a visual aid, outlines a message for an adult to share with children, and ends with an invitation for the children to join the leader in a prayer. Depending upon children’s inquisitiveness, the scripts encourage them to explore the message’s theme by connecting the visual aid with the Bible’s message and by answering questions along the way.
If your ministry involves working with children between the ages of four and eight, then this guide can equip you to share the truths of the Christian faith in the main worship service, Sunday school classes, children’s church, Bible school, or whenever young children gather. Through these lessons, the Holy Spirit can use encounters with God’s Word to prepare children to live by faith, lead the Church, and extend the Kingdom of God.
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Pastor : The Theology And Practice Of Ordained Ministry (Revised)
$34.99Add to cartOrdained ministry, says Willimon, is a gift of God to the church–but that doesn’t mean that it is easy. Always a difficult vocation, changes in society and the church in recent years have made the ordained life all the more complex and challenging. Is the pastor primarily a preacher, a professional caregiver, an administrator? Given the call of all Christians to be ministers to the world, what is the distinctive ministry of the ordained? When does one’s ministry take on the character of prophet, and when does it become that of priest? What are the special ethical obligations and disciplines of the ordained? In this book, Willimon explores these and other central questions about the vocation of ordained ministry. He begins with a discussion of who pastors are, asking about the theological underpinnings of ordained ministry, and then moves on to what pastors do, looking at the distinctive roles the pastor must fulfill. The book also draws on great teachers of the Christian tradition to demonstrate that, while much about Christian ministry has changed, its core concerns–preaching the word, the care of souls, the sacramental life of congregations–remains the same. Ordained ministry is a vocation to which we are called, not a profession that we choose. To answer that call is to open oneself to heartache and sometimes hardship; yet, given the one who calls, it is to make oneself available to deep and profound joy as well.
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Easter Programs Dramas And Skits For Youth
$8.99Add to cartA compilation of programs written for youth 10-16. A new author collection writing in contemporary and tradition formats and style for churches of all sizes and selected small groups. This program book also contains poems, quotes and reading to add to the enjoyment and inspiration during this special time in the church.
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Leading Healthy Growing Multiplying Small Groups
$17.99Add to cartLiberty University Press
In “Leading Healthy, Growing, Multiplying Small Groups,” Rod Dempsey and Dave Earley make the process of forming your own small group attainable. They demonstrate the necessity of small groups, and then teach their readers how to structure a new group. Dempsey and Earley share their passion for discipleship and Christ-centered community, and show others how they can further the Great Commission in their own lives. From local churches to neighbors and extended families, Dempsey and Earley encourage their readers to reach out to those around them. “Leading Healthy, Growing, Multiplying Small Groups” provides the wisdom and tools to transform your community. -
Along The Way
$19.99Add to cartConversations about children and faith draw us close to the heart of God, and the authors of Along the Way lead everyone in the church–parents, grandparents, teachers, friends, ministers, and leaders–into a careful, honest dialogue about nurturing children spiritually. Along the way, readers will rediscover how each child’s walk with God is a unique journey of discovery. Readers will also realize that sharing these paths with children can change and bless not simply the children, but their own lives as well.
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Groove The Basics Student Journal (Student/Study Guide)
$10.99Add to cartToday’s faith and biblical illiteracy in general and among those who attend church and claim to be Christian is staggering. Some alarmists are claiming that the Christian faith is in danger of becoming extinct. We can no longer rely on culture to support the passing on of faith in Jesus Christ to the coming generations. The Basics study is not a quick fix to this situation. It is a handcrafted tool that when used by compassionate, caring, and committed adults, will ignite their imagination for God, the Scripture, the faith community, and living a transformed life. The Basics will likely raise more questions than it answers, and that’s intentional. Don’t feel the need to make sure all the loose ends are tied up at the conclusion of your youth gathering. Allow your teens the opportunity to leave with ideas and truths on which to reflect and wrestle as they use the daily devotionals provided in the Groove: The Basics Student Journal. The Groove Bible study series invites teens to learn the essentials of their faith, own their story, and engage the world in serving Jesus. Each topical study consists of four weekly sessions that are easy to lead and relate to life issues teens face. With up to 48 weeks available, Groove is great for Sunday and mid-week gatherings for both large and small groups as well as retreats.The student journal contains session-specific questions, background information, and daily devotions for each session.
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Groove The Life Student Journal (Student/Study Guide)
$10.99Add to cartThe life of the Christian is marked by disciplines, practices, and commitments that help shape the foundation of our faith. So how do we help youth encounter and choose to embrace some of these practices as they move into a faith that they claim as their own? The Life is a four-week study designed to help youth consider spiritual practices and what those practices can mean in their lives. Each week, they will consider the practices of being committed to a church family, of prayer, of giving, and of sharing their faith with others. The ideas and lessons are reinforced with exercises and daily devotions, found in the Groove: The Life Student Journal, designed to help them reflect and apply these disciplines in their own lives. The Groove Bible study series invites teens to learn the essentials of their faith, own their story, and engage the world in serving Jesus. Each topical study consists of four weekly sessions that are easy to lead and relate to life issues teens face. With up to 48 weeks available, Groove is great for Sunday and mid-week gatherings for both large and small groups as well as retreats.The student journal contains session-specific questions, background information, and daily devotions for each session.
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Groove Character Student Journal (Student/Study Guide)
$9.99Add to cartWhen beliefs, attitudes, and values line up with actions there is character. Helping teenagers grow in Christlike character is no easy task. How do we help teenagers follow Jesus and take on his character? It takes practice and the commitment of their church family to support, encourage, and celebrate the “wins” with them along this exciting journey of growth. Character is a four-week Bible study designed to help teens develop Christ-like behavior in their daily lives. Teenagers will consider the ideas of truth, how they use their words, how they view their possessions, and what it is to be a person of integrity. The study is reinforced with daily devotions and exercises found in the Groove: Character Student Journal. Helping youth embrace character and the practice of growing their spiritual lives independent from group study can be a powerful combination. The Groove Bible study series invites teens to learn the essentials of their faith, own their story, and engage the world in serving Jesus. Each topical study consists of four weekly sessions that are easy to lead and relate to life issues teens face. With up to 48 weeks available, Groove is great for Sunday and mid-week gatherings for both large and small groups as well as retreats.The student journal contains session-specific questions, background information, and daily devotions for each session.
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Groove Jesus Student Journal (Student/Study Guide)
$9.99Add to cartWhat do Christian teenagers believe today about Jesus Christ? And what difference does that belief make in their life? Research shows that most teenagers do not understand the basic core beliefs of Christianity and often express misgivings of their own faith. How do we help teens connect with the significance and importance of Jesus Christ? Jesus is a four-week study designed to help teens encounter the basic truths about who Jesus is and why that matters in their lives. Through group study and daily devotions, found in the Groove: Jesus Student Journal, teenagers will begin to understand the significance of Christ and how that relates to their daily walk. The Groove Bible study series invites teens to learn the essentials of their faith, own their story, and engage the world in serving Jesus. Each topical study consists of four weekly sessions that are easy to lead and relate to life issues teens face. With up to 48 weeks available, Groove is great for Sunday and mid-week gatherings for both large and small groups as well as retreats.The student journal contains session-specific questions, background information, and daily devotions for each session.
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Groove Temptation Student Journal (Student/Study Guide)
$9.99Add to cartTemptations are all around us; and facing those temptations is never easy, especially for teenagers. While simply avoiding temptation would make life a lot easier, it can be very hard for teens, who are still developing socially, emotionally, intellectually, spiritually, and physically. Temptation is a four-week study designed to help teens navigate and overcome the daily temptations they battle. Greed, pride, envy, and lust are challenges we all face; so understanding the spiritual implications of those temptations can help our youth thrive in their spiritual lives as they move into adulthood. The Groove: Temptation Student Journal provides exercises and daily devotions that help teens deal with the temptations they face as they learn to develop a maturing faith in Christ. The Groove Bible study series invites teens to learn the essentials of their faith, own their story, and engage the world in serving Jesus. Each topical study consists of four weekly sessions that are easy to lead and relate to life issues teens face. With up to 48 weeks available, Groove is great for Sunday and mid-week gatherings for both large and small groups as well as retreats. The student journal contains session-specific questions, background information, and daily devotions for each session.
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Groove The Walk Student Journal (Student/Study Guide)
$9.99Add to cartWhat does it look like to “walk with Jesus”? Like a great deal of church jargon we toss around, it can become a confusing concept for teens to embrace and understand. The Walk is designed to teach youth what it means to walk with Jesus. As their faith grows, they will learn to exercise the grace, love, patience, humility, and meekness found only in Christ. As a result, they will begin to own their faith, as it moves from something that they hear about to something that they are living in their own lives. The daily devotions of the Groove: The Walk Student Journal will encourage youth to embrace these concepts and experience a rich and fulfilled life as they learn to imitate Christ in their daily lives. The Groove Bible study series invites teens to learn the essentials of their faith, own their story, and engage the world in serving Jesus. Each topical study consists of four weekly sessions that are easy to lead and relate to life issues teens face. With up to 48 weeks available, Groove is great for Sunday and mid-week gatherings for both large and small groups as well as retreats. The student journal contains session-specific questions, background information, and daily devotions for each session.
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Groove School Student Journal (Student/Study Guide)
$10.99Add to cartNearly all youth are involved in school and educational pursuits for a majority of their day. Even if they are not attending a traditional school, there are ways to encourage them to live out their faith as they follow Jesus and at the same time grow in their academic knowledge. School is designed to help teenagers consider how their faith affects their lives at school. From the lessons studied each week, combined with the daily devotions found in the Groove: School Student Journal, teens will be encouraged to pause and reflectively engage as their academic and spiritual lives collide. Over the course of the series, youth will be encouraged to make a place of belonging for everyone in their school, to set and keep priorities that reflect their faith in Jesus, to find joy even at school, and to know that our worth ultimately lies in who Jesus is and what he has done for us. The Groove Bible study series invites teens to learn the essentials of their faith, own their story, and engage the world in serving Jesus. Each topical study consists of four weekly sessions that are easy to lead and relate to life issues teens face. With up to 48 weeks available, Groove is great for Sunday and mid-week gatherings for both large and small groups as well as retreats. The student journal contains session-specific questions, background information, and daily devotions for each session.
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Groove Grace Student Journal (Student/Study Guide)
$9.99Add to cartGrace is a church word that sometimes gets lost in the world of teenagers. Research shows that most teenagers have embraced a system of belief in which being a follower of Jesus is defined by behavior, instead of the grace of God offered through Christ. Grace is designed to show youth that grace is a real, practical force in their lives even in the midst of brokenness, fear, doubt, and stress. These key factors can often become major stumbling blocks for youth if they are not equipped with the tools to understand how God’s grace operates in each of these areas. Each lesson in the Groove: Grace Student Journal includes daily devotions and reflections to help young people work through the issues raised. Sometimes the lessons leave youth with more reflection and processing to do; such challenges help youth develop a maturing, deepening faith that will last into adulthood. The Groove Bible study series invites teens to learn the essentials of their faith, own their story, and engage the world in serving Jesus. Each topical study consists of four weekly sessions that are easy to lead and relate to life issues teens face. With up to 48 weeks available, Groove is great for Sunday and mid-week gatherings for both large and small groups as well as retreats. The student journal contains session-specific questions, background information, and daily devotions for each session.
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Groove Relationships Student Journal (Student/Study Guide)
$9.99Add to cartIf you have been in youth ministry for any length of time, you will quickly learn the one thing that teenagers value most: their relationships. As they move into a world of independence, these relationships help shape their identity and affect their lives for the future. Relationships looks at the key relationships that youth have with their families, friends, and members of the opposite sex. All youth have relationship stories; and the reality is that we can help them navigate those relationships, whether they come from great circumstances or challenging ones. The daily devotions and exercises in the Groove: Relationships Student Journal are designed to help youth dig deeper into the ideas presented in the weekly lessons and move them toward more thoughtful relationships. T The Groove Bible study series invites teens to learn the essentials of their faith, own their story, and engage the world in serving Jesus. Each topical study consists of four weekly sessions that are easy to lead and relate to life issues teens face. With up to 48 weeks available, Groove is great for Sunday and mid-week gatherings for both large and small groups as well as retreats.The student journal contains session-specific questions, background information, and daily devotions for each session.
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Groove Dilemmas Student Journal (Student/Study Guide)
$10.99Add to cartEvery day, youth are called to navigate a world full of challenging decisions-from the simple choices about everyday life to the much more serious ethical dilemmas that can make being a teenager a complicated experience. Some of those dilemmas include: What does it mean to be a person with established morals and ethics? How does the commandment to love others affect our lives in a tangible way? What happens when we make choices that have consequences that greatly affect our lives and the lives of those around us? Dilemmas isn’t designed to provide simple answers to complicated questions, but rather help teens understand how to make inspired, smart choices that reflect both who they are and who they are striving to be. The Groove: Dilemmas Student Journal will challenge youth to be deliberate, thoughtful, and faithful as they attempt to make choices that are consistent with their character and their faith. The Groove Bible study series invites teens to learn the essentials of their faith, own their story, and engage the world in serving Jesus. Each topical study consists of four weekly sessions that are easy to lead and relate to life issues teens face. With up to 48 weeks available, Groove is great for Sunday and mid-week gatherings for both large and small groups as well as retreats.The student journal contains session-specific questions, background information, and daily devotions for each session.
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Groove I Am Student Journal (Student/Study Guide)
$10.99Add to cartDiscovering and embracing one’s identity has proven to be a long, lonely, rough, and at times, dangerous road for today’s teenagers. It’s likely you’ve chosen this study to use with your youth group because you care deeply and want the teenagers within your sphere of influence to find the answers to their identity questions in Jesus Christ. The I Am study is not a quick fix for your teenagers’ needs. It is a handcrafted tool that, when used by compassionate, caring, and committed adults, will ignite their imagination and excitement for whom their Creator says they are and the purpose for which they were designed. I Am will likely raise more questions than it answers, and that’s intentional. Don’t feel the need to make sure all the loose ends are tied up at the conclusion of your youth gathering. Allow your teens the opportunity to leave with ideas and truths on which to reflect and wrestle as they use the daily devotionals provided in the Groove: I Am Student Journal. The Groove Bible study series invites teens to learn the essentials of their faith, own their story, and engage the world in serving Jesus. Each topical study consists of four weekly sessions that are easy to lead and relate to life issues teens face. With up to 48 weeks available, Groove is great for Sunday and mid-week gatherings for both large and small groups as well as retreats. The student journal contains session-specific questions, background information, and daily devotions for each session.
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Core Study 2 All In Leader Guide (Teacher’s Guide)
$9.99Add to cartCORE (Connect, Own, Reveal, Empower) is a resource designed to help teenagers discover their true identity, value and worth as God’s children and empower them to reach their potential in faithfully following Christ with others. All In is a four session study for groups of all sizes. When used alongside Dig In, All In is a powerful tool to help you help your group take the next step of living their newfound commitment to their God-given identity with confidence. Responsibility Reveal Empower True Identity The CORE All In Leader Guide contains helps for using the study with your teens along with plans that include engaging material for both large-group and small group discussions. Featured in each session is a short and powerful video introducing the topic.
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Core Study 1 Dig In Leader Guide (Teacher’s Guide)
$9.99Add to cartCORE (Connect, Own, Reveal, Empower) is a resource designed to help teenagers discover their true identity, value and worth as God’s children and empower them to reach their potential in faithfully following Christ with others. Dig In is a four session study for groups of all sizes that takes teens on the journey of addressing the obstacles they’ve experienced in understanding who they are in Christ toward connecting with God and others in new and healthy ways. Who I’m Not:Identity Theft Delete the Spam Connect with the Holy Spirit Connect with Others The CORE Dig In Leader Guide contains helps for using the study with your teens along with plans that include engaging material for both large-group and small group discussions. Featured in each session is a short and powerful video introducing the topic.
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Core Study 2 All In Student Journal (Student/Study Guide)
$12.99Add to cartCORE (Connect, Own, Reveal, Empower) is a resource designed to help teenagers discover their true identity, value and worth as God’s children and empower them to reach their potential in faithfully following Christ with others. All In is a four session study for groups of all sizes. When used alongside Dig In, All In is a powerful tool to help you help your group take the next step of living their newfound commitment to their God-given identity with confidence. Responsibility Reveal Empower True Identity The student journal is a resource for the journey providing the opportunity for teens to explore what they are learning on a personal level.
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Core Study 1 Dig In Student Journal (Student/Study Guide)
$12.99Add to cartCORE (Connect, Own, Reveal, Empower) is a resource designed to help teenagers discover their true identity, value and worth as God’s children and empower them to reach their potential in faithfully following Christ with others. Dig In is a four session study for groups of all sizes that takes teens on the journey of addressing the obstacles they’ve experienced in understanding who they are in Christ toward connecting with God and others in new and healthy ways. Who I’m Not:Identity Theft Delete the Spam Connect with the Holy Spirit Connect with Others The student journal is a resource for the journey providing the opportunity for teens to explore what they are learning on a personal level.
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Groove Character Leader Guide (Teacher’s Guide)
$14.99Add to cartWhen beliefs, attitudes, and values line up with actions there is character. Helping teenagers grow in Christ-like character is no easy task. How do we help teenagers follow Jesus and take on his character? It takes practice and the commitment of their church family to support, encourage, and celebrate the “wins” with them along this exciting journey of growth. Character is a four-week Bible study designed to help teens develop Christ-like behavior in their daily lives. Teenagers will consider the ideas of truth, how they use their words, how they view their possessions, and what it is to be a person of integrity. The study is reinforced with daily devotions and exercises found in the Groove: Character Student Journal. Helping youth embrace character and the practice of growing their spiritual lives independent from group study can be a powerful combination. The Groove Bible study series invites teens to learn the essentials of their faith, own their story, and engage the world in serving Jesus. Each topical study consists of four weekly sessions that are easy to lead and relate to life issues teens face. With up to 48 weeks available, Groove is great for Sunday and mid-week gatherings for both large and small groups as well as retreats. The leader guide contains everything needed to lead teens through a Groove study, including teaching outlines, leader notes, Bible background, reflections, and parent communication.
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Groove School Leader Guide (Teacher’s Guide)
$14.99Add to cartNearly all youth are involved in school and educational pursuits for a majority of their day. Even if they are not attending a traditional school, there are ways to encourage them to live out their faith as they follow Jesus and at the same time grow in their academic knowledge. School is designed to help teenagers consider how their faith affects their lives at school. From the lessons studied each week, combined with the daily devotions found in the Groove: School Student Journal, teens will be encouraged to pause and reflectively engage as their academic and spiritual lives collide. Over the course of the series, youth will be encouraged to make a place of belonging for everyone in their school, to set and keep priorities that reflect their faith in Jesus, to find joy even at school, and to know that our worth ultimately lies in who Jesus is and what he has done for us. The Groove Bible study series invites teens to learn the essentials of their faith, own their story, and engage the world in serving Jesus. Each topical study consists of four weekly sessions that are easy to lead and relate to life issues teens face. With up to 48 weeks available, Groove is great for Sunday and mid-week gatherings for both large and small groups as well as retreats. The leader guide contains everything needed to lead teens through a Groove study, including teaching outlines, leader notes, Bible background, reflections, and parent communication.
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Groove The Basics Leader Guide (Teacher’s Guide)
$14.99Add to cartToday’s faith and biblical illiteracy in general and among those who attend church and claim to be Christian is staggering. Some alarmists are claiming that the Christian faith is in danger of becoming extinct. We can no longer rely on culture to support the passing on of faith in Jesus Christ to the coming generations. The Basics study is not a quick fix to this situation. It is a handcrafted tool that when used by compassionate, caring, and committed adults, will ignite their imagination for God, the Scripture, the faith community, and living a transformed life. The Basics will likely raise more questions than it answers, and that’s intentional. Don’t feel the need to make sure all the loose ends are tied up at the conclusion of your youth gathering. Allow your teens the opportunity to leave with ideas and truths on which to reflect and wrestle as they use the daily devotionals provided in the Groove: The Basics Student Journal. The Groove Bible study series invites teens to learn the essentials of their faith, own their story, and engage the world in serving Jesus. Each topical study consists of four weekly sessions that are easy to lead and relate to life issues teens face. With up to 48 weeks available, Groove is great for Sunday and mid-week gatherings for both large and small groups as well as retreats. The leader guide contains everything needed to lead teens through a Groove study, including teaching outlines, leader notes, Bible background, reflections, and parent communication.
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Pioneering Movements : Leadership That Multiplies Disciples And Churches
$20.99Add to cartGod’s mission needs movement leaders. Jesus pioneered something completely new in human history?a dynamic missionary movement intent on reaching the world. His mission is as clear and as relevant today as in the days of the early church: to make disciples everywhere, baptizing them and teaching them to obey everything Jesus has commanded. But the potential of the church remains untapped. What does it take to lead movements that successfully carry out this mission? In Pioneering Movements, Steve Addison identifies what it takes to follow Jesus’ example. Building on his previous books Movements That Changed the World and What Jesus Started, he reveals the apostolic qualities and behaviors of biblical, historical, and contemporary pioneers who can guide church and ministry leaders today. This is a book for those who are called to embrace the mission-driven work that Jesus and his disciples began?making disciples of all nations, in all places.
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Christian Mission In The Modern World
$24.99Add to cartJesus sends us into the world just as the Father sent him. And yet thousands of years later Christians continue to disagree on what this involves. Some believe that the focus of Christian mission is evangelizing and “saving souls.” Others emphasize global justice issues or relief and development work. Is either view correct on its own? John Stott’s classic book presents an enduring and holistic view of Christian mission that is just as needed today. Newly updated and expanded by Christopher J. H. Wright, Christian Mission in the Modern World provides a biblically based approach to mission that addresses both spiritual and physical needs. With his trademark and unparalleled clarity and conviction, Stott illuminates how the Great Commission itself not only assumes the proclamation that makes disciples, but also teaches obedience to the Great Commandment of love and service. Wright has expertly updated the original book and demonstrates the continuing relevance of Stott’s prescient thinking. This balanced approach to mission offers timeless guidance for current and future Christians to embrace Jesus’ unconflicted and holistic model of ministry.
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Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts Workbook For Women Updated (Workbook)
$12.99Add to cartThe Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts Workbook for Women will help you uncover and understand the unique shaping factors you bring into your marriage both as a woman/man and as an individual. Prepare for some surprising and helpful insights, for honest, intimate, and enjoyable relationship-strengthening conversations with you and your fiance, and for engaging discussions with a small group.
EXERCISES AND ASSESSMENTS
Twenty-four exercises will shed amazing new light on the way you are put together, how that affects specific aspects of how you and your loved one relate, and how you can improve those areas to build a better relationship. You will gain unprecedented insights into – your personal “Ten Commandments” – making your roles conscious – getting your sex life off to a great start – identifying your “hot topics” – your spiritual journey … and much, much more
DISCUSSION GUIDE
Les and Leslie will help both of you enjoy lively and eye-opening interaction through seven sessions and bonus sessions on the DVD. For small groups, individual couples, and pastors and marriage counselors, each session links with the workbook exercises and concludes with an exercise each couple can do together over the next week. -
Beyond The Local Church
$18.99Add to cartForeword
Introduction
1. The Power Of A Balanced Anatomy
The Biblical Genius And Design For Apostolic Structures And Movements
2. Limping Or Leaping Through Time
The Encouragement Of Apostolic Missionality In History
3. Mother Teresa Wasn’t A “Para-Catholic”!
Why “parachurch” Is A Dirty Word
4. So What Is “Apostolic”?
The Oft-neglected Essential To Authentic Missionality
5. Holy Discontent And Sanctified Ambition
The Apostolic Imperative Of Ephesians
6. Setting Visionaries Free
Pioneering As A Second Decision Entrepreneur
7. Finding Second Decision People
How To Engage And Release Apostolic Leaders
8. Running Together!
The Exponential Leverage Of Interdependence
9. Movements Of God
The Extraordinary Results Of Apostolic Gifting Lived Out In Apostolic Structures
10. The Momentum Of Movements
To Kill Or To Multiply, That Is The Question
Conclusion: Be A History Shaper
AcknowledgmentsAdditional Info
Many people have given up on the church. But that doesn’t mean that they’ve given up on God or Christianity. In many cases, it was merely that local church congregations were not the best context for missional people to live out their sense of God’s call.The good news is that God is raising up vibrant movements of Christians in a vast array of vocations around the world: disciple-making ministries, missions, relief and development, social activism, advocacy and much more. These are all strategic ways to live for the kingdom-in venues beyond the local church.
Wherever movements of the gospel have occurred, visionary people and apostolic structures have been essential. Mission leader Sam Metcalf shows how God has always worked through entrepreneurial individuals and organizations that launched out in fresh ways. He gives biblical and missiological foundations for missional movements, showing that what has often been called “parachurch” is an equally valid manifestation of the church. Affirming the strengths of apostolic personalities, Metcalf shows how they can be deployed to cross cultural barriers, renew secular societies and transform the nations with the power of the gospel.
God may be inviting you to join what he is doing around the world. Answer the call and discover how God can use you beyond your imagination.
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Apostolic Church Planting
$18.99Add to cartPreface
Introduction
1. What Is Church Planting?
2. How’s Your Ecclesiology?
3. Practices Of Team Members
4. Pathway To Planting
5. Stages Of Planting
6. Planned Role Changes
7. Church Multiplication Cycle
8. Methods
9. Where To Begin?
10. Pastoral Development
11. Strategy Development
12. Ethical Guidelines
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
About The AuthorAdditional Info
Church planting is not just about gathering new communities of people who are already Christians. In the book of Acts, church plants begin with sharing the gospel. Planting churches flows naturally out of making disciples.Missionary church planter J. D. Payne explains the process and stages of church planting, with biblical foundations and practical steps for planting teams. He provides a pathway for the multiplication of disciples, leaders and churches. Here are church planting strategies and activities that are simple, highly reproducible and can be implemented by ordinary team members, not just by charismatic leaders.
This guide can be used for planting in contexts among any given people group, domestically or internationally. It is an ideal resource for teams to work through together as they follow God’s call in their community.
Read more: http://www.ivpress.com/cgi-ivpress/book.pl/code=4124#ixzz3ZOJH0pFd
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Vulnerable Pastor : How Human Limitations Empower Our Ministry
$22.99Add to cartForeword
Introduction: God Is An Odd LeaderPart I: Getting Over Ourselves: Vulnerability With God
1. Filled With Emptiness
2. What Makes Us Feel Weak. And What Doesn’t: A Confession
3. Save Me! Vulnerability And Salvation
4. Feeling Exposed: How Vulnerable Pastors Handle Emotions
5. I Need You! How Vulnerable Pastors Pray
6. Letting The Bible Read Us: How Vulnerable Pastors Read The BiblePart II: Being True To Ourselves: Vulnerability Behind The Scenes
7. Learning To Like The Mess: How Vulnerable Pastors Create Culture
8. Changing The Mold: How Vulnerable Pastors Recognize And Develop Leaders
9. Taking Our Own Sweet Time: How Vulnerable Pastors Use Their Time And Energy
10. Thriving For Others: How Vulnerable Pastors Measure SuccessPart III: Practicing In Public: Vulnerability With An Audience
11. Welcome To The Process: How Vulnerable Pastors Teach And Preach
12. The Right Kind Of Desperate: How Vulnerable Pastors Engage With The WorldEpilogue: Unfading Treasure In Jars Of Clay
Discussion Guide
Acknowledgments
NotesAdditional Info
Often pastors feel like we need to project strength and competency in order to minister effectively. That’s why we go to conferences and emulate the latest superstars. But we know we can never live up to those images. Deep down, we know our own limitations, our weaknesses, our faults. We fear that if people knew who we really are, we’d be disqualified from ministry. Not so. Mandy Smith unpacks the biblical paradox that God’s strength is revealed through our human weakness. Transparently describing her pastoral journey, Smith shows how vulnerability shapes ministry, through our spiritual practices and relationships, influencing our preaching, teaching and even the nuts and bolts of the daily schedule. Understanding our human constraints makes our ministry more sustainable and guards us against disillusionment and burnout. We don’t have to have it all together. Recognizing our weakness makes us rely on God, so our weakness can become a ministry resource. God has called you to lead not as a demigod, but as a human, so the world can see that the church is a place for humans like them. -
Saving Your Second Marriage Before It Starts Workbook For Women Updated (Workboo
$12.99Add to cartComplete with twenty-eight self-tests-two of them brand-new-and a new group discussion guide, the expanded and updated Saving Your Second Marriage Before It Starts workbooks for men and women will help couples uncover and understand the unique shaping factors they bring into their second marriage both as men and women and as individuals.
Exercises and assignments will help couples identify and meld their love styles, face the myths of remarriage honestly, become soul mates, identify each person’s “hot topics,” and much more.The discussion guide in each workbook integrates with the Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts DVD (sold separately and includes seven pre-marriage sessions plus two additional sessions specifically designed to help prepare couples for remarriage) to facilitate lively and eye-opening interaction. Each session links with the workbook exercises and concludes with exercises each couple can do together between each lesson.
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Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts Workbook For Men Updated (Student/Study Gu
$14.99Add to cartThe Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts Workbook for Men will help you uncover and understand the unique shaping factors you bring into your marriage both as a woman/man and as an individual. Prepare for some surprising and helpful insights, for honest, intimate, and enjoyable relationship-strengthening conversations with you and your fiance, and for engaging discussions with a small group.
EXERCISES AND ASSESSMENTS
Twenty-four exercises will shed amazing new light on the way you are put together, how that affects specific aspects of how you and your loved one relate, and how you can improve those areas to build a better relationship. You will gain unprecedented insights into – your personal “Ten Commandments” – making your roles conscious – getting your sex life off to a great start – identifying your “hot topics” – your spiritual journey … and much, much more
DISCUSSION GUIDE
Les and Leslie will help both of you enjoy lively and eye-opening interaction through seven sessions and bonus sessions on the DVD. For small groups, individual couples, and pastors and marriage counselors, each session links with the workbook exercises and concludes with an exercise each couple can do together over the next week. -
Arts Camp : A Creative Customizable Alternative To Vacation Bible School An
$34.95Add to cartLess packaged, more theologically and pedagogically appropriate, thoughtful, and community-based alternative toVacation Bible School
* A way for churches to conduct an artful exploration of faithArts Camp provides practical, concrete instruction that a church needs to plan, organize, staff, and conduct an annual five-day Arts Camp, including guidance on logistics, funding, finding art instructors (within both the local church and the broader community), ideas for structuring and scheduling the five days of camp, and a celebration on the Sunday following camp. Each chapter includes details on art projects, programming, music, drama, games, and resources.
For Episcopal and other mainline churches looking for alternatives to pre-packaged VBS programs, directors of Christian education and children’s ministry, camps and retreat centers
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Sermon Without End
$29.99Add to cartThe relationship between preaching and the public sphere has long been debated. Three different theological approaches tend to dominate the discussion. In different ways, these approaches take into account the movement from the modern mindset of the mid-to-late 20th century to the emerging postmodern worldview. In The Sermon without End authors Allen & Allen thoughtfully offer a fourth option, one that in their view has not received much attention, but which offers a distinct and especially helpful perspective. It is a new and dynamic conversational model, reaching beyond the earlier work of Tillich and Tracy. In this homiletical framework, conversation takes place in multiple directions between the text or tradition and the world today. It is preaching in conversation, not just toward but with voices from the public sphere. The book provides a solid foundation for understanding this post-apologetic approach, but it importantly goes on to offer practical, real-pulpit guidance for implementation in a preaching ministry. It is a book for both scholars and practicing preachers who wish to reach people in meaningful and significant ways, and in ways that make sense for today.
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Servants And Fools
$22.99Add to cartLeadership is much discussed these days in politics, media, films, and church. Yet many are unclear about what leadership actually means, and there is too little careful reflection on whether Christian leadership has its own distinctive shape and character. Arthur Boers reveals the peculiar reversals of Christian leadership and ministry, and shows how in our tendency to focus on big bold heroes we often miss the point. Leadership modeled after Jesus practices service and sacrifice, is cautious about power and hierarchies, and prioritizes the vulnerable. In other words, it reverses what many expect of leadership. Servants and Fools explores leadership as we see it lived out in the biblical narrative, and gives the reader a deeper understanding of what it means to be a Christian leader. This book will redefine leadership for many Christians, in a most helpful way.
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New Pastors Handbook (Reprinted)
$18.00Add to cartMost seminary graduates will begin their ministries with plenty of important head knowledge to share–but with a deficit of some of the most practical aspects of doing ministry, such as:
*which ministry role most suits them
*how to start out strong at a new church
*persevering during difficult seasons of ministry
*leading meetings and delegating tasks
*safeguarding their family
*fighting discouragement, pastor envy, and a lack of contentment
*navigating special ministry needs, such as hospitals, weddings, and funerals
*and much moreThrough his hard-won wisdom, Jason Helopoulos comes alongside new pastors as a trusted friend and mentor, ready to guide them through their first years of ministry with intelligence and compassion.
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Rock Solid Childrens Ministry
$16.00Add to cartIn this follow-up to Rock-Solid Kids, Fowler helps ministry leaders, workers, and parents discover effective ways to target the hearts of children. You’ll learn seven biblical principles that can transform your ministry.
“I love this book. . . . [It is] one of the best practical training tools I’ve ever seen.”–from the foreword by Jim Wideman, children’s ministry pioneer
Discussion guide is included.
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Prophetic Lament : A Call For Justice In Troubled Times
$22.99Add to cartWhen Soong-Chan Rah planted an urban church in Cambridge, Massachusetts, his first full sermon series was a six-week exposition of the book of Lamentations. Preaching on an obscure, depressing Old Testament book was probably not the most seeker-sensitive way to launch a church. But it shaped their community with a radically countercultural perspective. The American church avoids lament. But lament is a missing, essential component of Christian faith. Lament recognizes struggles and suffering, that the world is not as it ought to be. Lament challenges the status quo and cries out for justice against existing injustices. Soong-Chan Rah’s prophetic exposition of the book of Lamentations provides a biblical and theological lens for examining the church’s relationship with a suffering world. It critiques our success-centered triumphalism and calls us to repent of our hubris. And it opens up new ways to encounter the other. Hear the prophet’s lament as the necessary corrective for Christianity’s future. The Resonate series recovers the ancient wisdom of Scripture and helps us understand how it resonates with our complex world. The stories and insights of a book of the Bible are brought into conversation with contemporary voices of hope and lament–the cultural messages we interact with on a daily basis. The Scriptures become a meeting ground where God speaks to the pressing concerns of our day, and we are confronted in turn with a fresh experience of God’s truth.
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Pastoral Theology For Public Ministry
$20.95Add to cartFor seminaries, those involved in lay and ordained ministries
* Part of a growing conversation about the roles of ordained ministry
* Taps into an increasing interest in the Church’s public presence in ministries like Ashes to GoWhat does it mean to be engaged in Christian ministry in a shifting spiritual and religious landscape? Stephen Burns invites readers to think anew about the distinctiveness of public practices of pastoral presence. Rather than narrowly defining pastoral care and pastoral theology (pastoral counseling, preaching, youth groups, visits to elders, etc.) and theological academic categories (history, pastoral theology, liturgy, ethics, and contemporary sociology), he argues for a new imagination and practice of pastoral presence – a presence that is representative, public, integrated, and expansive.
For seminary introductory pastoral care and pastoral theology courses; those practicing Christian ministry; those seeking to understand more about what clergy and lay ministers do
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If Participants Guide (Student/Study Guide)
$9.99Add to cartIf is a powerful little word. Some people are stuck in “if only,” trudging through lives marked with regret. But God wants us to live lives marked with possibilities, with the “what if” attitude that looks forward to the future with confidence. Why? Because the answer to “If God is for us, who can be against us?” is “No one.” God is always on our side. Every day, in every way.
With his trademark enthusiasm and contagious joy, Mark Batterson helps readers overcome feelings of guilt, fear, and doubt because in Christ there is no condemnation. Unpacking the promises of Romans 8, he shows readers that they are more than conquerors–right now and forever. And because of that, the possibilities for their lives are limitless.
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Walking With God In The Desert Discovery Guide (Student/Study Guide)
$18.99Add to cartThis seven-session small group Bible study, Walking with God in the Desert, by noted teacher and historian, Ray Vander Laan, is volume twelve of the 12-part Faith Lessons series. Are you going through a difficult period of life? The loss of a loved one? Unemployment? A crisis of faith? During these desert times, it’s easy to think God has disappeared. In Walking with God in the Desert you’ll discover that it’s only when we are totally dependent on him that we find God is closer than ever and can experience his amazing grace and provision. Filmed on location in Israel, Faith Lessons is a unique video series that brings God’s Word to life with astounding relevance. By weaving together the Bible’s fascinating historical, cultural, religious, and geographical contexts, teacher and historian Ray Vander Laan reveals unique insights into the Scriptures’ significance for modern believers.
Each lesson:
*Focuses on passages of Scripture explored in the DVD
*Includes sidebars, maps, photos and other study tools
*Features questions that facilitate discussion and inspire personal reflection
*Includes 25 personal Bible studies to help you deepen your learning experience between sessions, and turn lessons from the past into applications that impact how you live out your faith today.The companion DVD for Walking with God in the Desert was filmed on location in the Sinai Desert, Wadi Nasb, Judea Wilderness, Mount Sinai, Negev and En Gedi. These illuminating “faith lessons” afford a new understanding of the Bible that will ground your convictions and transform your life. The Faith Lessons video series is ideal for use in small groups, personal and family Bible studies, and adult Sunday school. Individual believers and families will gain vital insights from long-ago times and cultures through this innovative approach to Bible study. This Discovery Guide is designed for use with the Walking with God in the Desert DVD (sold separately).
Lessons include:
*Join the Journey – Filmed in the Sinai Desert
*It’s Hot Here and There’s No Way Out – Filmed in Wabi Nasb
*Help is Here – Filmed in Wadi Nasb
*When Your Heart Cries Out – Filmed in the Judea Wilderness
*They Were Not Wandering – Filmed on Mount Sinai
*Ears to Hear – Filmed in Negev
*There’s Hope in the Desert – Filmed in En Gedi -
Faith Of A Mockingbird (Student/Study Guide)
$16.99Add to cartIn The Faith of a Mockingbird, based on Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, pastor and author Matt Rawle uses Lee’s beloved characters to explore Christian faith, theology, and ethics. Join Scout, Atticus Finch, Boo Radley, and Tom Robinson in this four-week study considering God’s world and what it all means. A DVD featuring four sessions with the author, a full Leader Guide, and Worship Resource Flash Drive also are available for group study.
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Fire On The Mountain Discovery Guide (Student/Study Guide)
$18.99Add to cartThis six-session small group Bible study, Fire On The Mountain, by noted teacher and historian, Ray Vander Laan, is volume nine of the 12-part Faith Lessons series. When the Israelites left Egypt, they were finally free. Free from persecution, free from oppression, and free to worship their God. But with that freedom comes a new challenge – learning how to live together the way God intends. In this ninth volume of Faith Lessons, discover how God teaches the Israelites what it means to be part of a community that loves him and what that means for us today. Filmed on location in Israel, Faith Lessons is a unique video series that brings God’s Word to life with astounding relevance. By weaving together the Bible’s fascinating historical, cultural, religious, and geographical contexts, teacher and historian Ray Vander Laan reveals unique insights into the Scriptures’ significance for modern believers.
Each lesson:
*Focuses on passages of Scripture explored in the DVD
*Includes sidebars, maps, photos and other study tools
*Features questions that facilitate discussion and inspire personal reflection
*Includes 25 personal Bible studies to help you deepen your learning experience between sessions, and turn lessons from the past into applications that impact how you live out your faith today.The companion DVD for Fire On The Mountain was filmed on location at the Red Sea, Sinai, Serabit al Khadim, and Jebel Katarina. These illuminating “faith lessons” afford a new understanding of the Bible that will ground your convictions and transform your life. The Faith Lessons video series is ideal for use in small groups, personal and family Bible studies, and adult Sunday school. Individual believers and families will gain vital insights from long-ago times and cultures through this innovative approach to Bible study.
This Discovery Guide is designed for use with the Fire On The Mountain DVD (sold separately).
Lessons include:
*The Lord Who Heals You – Filmed at the Red Sea and Sinai
*Not By Bread Alone – Filmed in Sinai
*Their Blood Cried Out – Filmed at Serabit al Khadim
*The Mountain of God – Filmed at Jebel Katarina
*I Led You Like a Bride – Filmed at Jebel Katarina
*The Whisper of God – Filmed at Jebel Katarina -
Death And Resurrection Of The Messiah Discovery Guide (Student/Study Guide)
$18.99Add to cartThis ten-session small group Bible study, Death and Resurrection of the Messiah, from noted teacher and historian, Ray Vander Laan, is volume four of the 12-part Faith Lessons series. In it, Vander Laan illustrates how Jesus’ call to follow him turned the world upside down, and learn how confronting evil can be loudly proclaiming the name of Jesus or quietly caring for someone in need.
Filmed on location in Israel, Faith Lessons is a unique video series that brings God’s Word to life with astounding relevance. By weaving together the Bible’s fascinating historical, cultural, religious, and geographical contexts, teacher and historian Ray Vander Laan reveals unique insights into the Scriptures’ significance for modern believers.
The Death and Resurrection of the Messiah (336 pages) includes ten sessions. Each lesson:
*Focuses on passages of Scripture explored in the DVD
*Includes sidebars, maps, photos and other study tools
*Features questions that facilitate discussion and inspire personal reflection
*Includes 30 personal Bible studies to help you deepen your learning experience between sessions, and turn lessons from the past into applications that impact how you live out your faith today.These illuminating “faith lessons” afford a new understanding of the Bible that will ground your convictions and transform your life. The Faith Lessons video series is ideal for use in small groups, personal and family Bible studies, and adult Sunday school. Individual believers and families will gain vital insights from long-ago times and cultures through this innovative approach to Bible study.
This Discovery Guide is designed for use with the Death and Resurrection of the Messiah DVD (sold separately).
Lessons include:
*When Storms Come – Sea of Galilee
*Piercing the Darkness – Kursi
*Gates of Hell- Caesarea Philippi
*City of the Great King Part 1 – The Temple
*City of the Great King Part 1 – Jerusalem
*The Lamb of God – Mount of Olives
*The Weight of the World – Capernaum/Gethsemane
*Roll Away the Stone – Garden Tomb
*Power to the People – Southern Stairs
*Total Commitment – Caesarea -
Life And Ministry Of The Messiah Discovery Guide (Student/Study Guide)
$14.99Add to cartThis eight-session small group Bible study, Life & Ministry of the Messiah, from noted teacher and historian, Ray Vander Laan, is volume three of the 12-part Faith Lessons series. In it, Vander Laan illustrates how Jesus’ call to follow him turned the world upside down.
Journey back to the time of Jesus. Marvel at the magnificence of Herod’s palace. Scramble among the ruins of Qumran. And wonder at the simplicity and wisdom of Jesus’ parables. In the Life & Ministry of the Messiah, you and your group will discover how the events of Jesus’ day impacted his life, ministry and communication…and then you’ll learn how it affects yours.
Filmed on location in Israel, Faith Lessons is a unique video series that brings God’s Word to life with astounding relevance. By weaving together the Bible’s fascinating historical, cultural, religious, and geographical contexts, teacher and historian Ray Vander Laan reveals unique insights into the Scriptures’ significance for modern believers.
The Life & Ministry of the Messiah Discovery Guide (296 pages) includes eight sessions. Each lesson:
*Focuses on passages of Scripture explored in the DVD
*Includes sidebars, maps, photos and other study tools
*Features questions that facilitate discussion and inspire personal reflection
*Includes 30 personal Bible studies to help you deepen your learning experience between sessions, and turn lessons from the past into applications that impact how you live out your faith today.These illuminating “faith lessons” afford a new understanding of the Bible that will ground your convictions and transform your life. The Faith Lessons video series is ideal for use in small groups, personal and family Bible studies, and adult Sunday school. Individual believers and families will gain vital insights from long-ago times and cultures through this innovative approach to Bible study.
This Discovery Guide is designed for use with the Life & Ministry of the Messiah DVD (sold separately).
Lessons include:
*In the Shadow of Herod – Herodion
*My Rock and My Fortress – Masada
*The Time Had Fully Come – Filmed in Qumran
*No Greater Love – Filmed in Korazin/Mount of Beatitudes
*The Rabbi – Filmed in Gamla
*Language of Culture – Filmed in Sepphoris
*Misguided Faith – Filmed in Belvoir
*Living Water – Filmed in En Gedi -
Promised Land Discovery Guide (Student/Study Guide)
$14.99Add to cartThis five-session small group Bible study, Promised Land, by noted teacher and historian, Ray Vander Laan, is volume one of the 12-part Faith Lessons series.
In Promised Land, Vander Laan illustrates how God guided his people to a specific place – the Promised Land – to impact the world both in ancient times and today. Just like the time and place of our birth shapes our journey, so the land and culture of the Hebrew people shaped their story. Promised Land provides wonderful context to the stories of that time.
Filmed on location in Israel, Faith Lessons is a unique video series that brings God’s Word to life with astounding relevance. By weaving together the Bible’s fascinating historical, cultural, religious, and geographical contexts, teacher and historian Ray Vander Laan reveals unique insights into the Scriptures’ significance for modern believers.This Discovery Guide includes five sessions. Each lesson:
*Focuses on passages of Scripture explored in the DVD
*Includes sidebars, maps, photos and other study tools
*Features questions that facilitate discussion and inspire personal reflection
*Include 30 personal Bible studies to help you deepen your learning experience between sessions, and turn lessons from the past into applications that impact how you live out your faith today.These illuminating “faith lessons” afford a new understanding of the Bible that will ground your convictions and transform your life. The Faith Lessons video series is ideal for use in small groups, personal and family Bible studies, and adult Sunday school. Individual believers and families will gain vital insights from long-ago times and cultures through this innovative approach to Bible study.
This Discovery Guide is designed for use with the Faith Lessons Promised Land DVD (sold separately).
Lessons include:
*Standing at the Crossroads -Tel Gezer
*Wet Feet – Jordan River
*First Fruits – Tel Jericho Confronting Evil – Tel Beth Shemesh
*Iron of Culture – Tel Azekah -
Early Church Discovery Guide (Student/Study Guide)
$14.99Add to cartThis five-session small group Bible study, Early Church, by noted teacher and historian, Ray Vander Laan, is volume five of the 12-part Faith Lessons series. In this volume, Vander Laan uncovers the passion and commitment early believers displayed as they claimed Jesus in the face of fierce consequences and powerful adversaries.
Filmed on location in Israel, Faith Lessons is a unique video series that brings God’s Word to life with astounding relevance. By weaving together the Bible’s fascinating historical, cultural, religious, and geographical contexts, teacher and historian Ray Vander Laan reveals unique insights into the Scriptures’ significance for modern believers.
The sessions on this DVD were filmed on location in Caesarea Philippi, Sardis, Pergamum, Ephesus, and Laodicea.
These illuminating “faith lessons” afford a new understanding of the Bible that will ground your convictions and transform your life. The Faith Lessons video series is ideal for use in small groups, personal and family Bible studies, and adult Sunday school. Individual believers and families will gain vital insights from long-ago times and cultures through this innovative approach to Bible study.
This Discovery Guide is designed for use with the Early Church DVD (sold separately).
Lessons include:
*Everything to Lose, Nothing to Gain – Filmed in Caesarea Philippi
*The Salt of the Earth – Filmed in Sardis
*Where Satan Lives – Filmed in Pergamum
*The Mark of the Beast – Filmed in Ephesus
*Hot or Cold – Filmed in Laodicea
