Pastoral Helps
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10 Commandments For Pastors New To A Congregation
$17.99Add to cartThe opening months of a new pastorate are decisive for how that ministry will unfold, so great care should be taken to begin wisely and well. Simply transplanting programs and habits that worked elsewhere, ignoring the specific dynamics of the new congregation and its people, making too few significant changes, or making too many insignificant changes will create problems for the new pastor that may never be overcome. “Ten Commandments for Pastors New to a Congregation” offers specific, down-to-earth principles and guidance on how to make a good beginning, one that will lay the foundation for years of fruitful ministry.
Drawing on twenty-five years of parish ministry, during which he has mentored many new and transitioning pastors, Lawrence Farris here provides ten guidelines, illustrated with relevant examples, that identify potential pitfalls and show how to avoid them. Such areas as preaching, pastoral care, self-care, community and denominational commitments, and role clarity are addressed with an emphasis on practical approaches to ministry in a new setting. Farris also gives clear advice on how to learn the new congregation and its setting, how to set appropriate personal and professional boundaries, and how to stay focused on what matters most in a new ministry.Lively, practical, and brief enough for the new pastor to have time to actually read it, “Ten Commandments for Pastors New to a Congregation” is a must-read both for pastors on the move and for individuals preparing for first-time ministry.
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Shepherd Leadership : Wisdom For Leaders From Psalm 23
$24.95Add to cartThe Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;
He leadeth me bedside the still waters;
He restoreth my soul.Today’s professionals need reliable models to teach them how to become better leaders. In this remarkable book, leadership experts Blaine McCormick and David Davenport introduce us to a new kind of leader by offering a new image of leadership- the leader as shepherd.
Drawing on the wisdom of the timeless Twenty-Third Psalm, King David’s psalm, the authors provide professionals with ancient wisdom for grappling with today’s leadership challenges. Shepherd Leadership offers a much-needed lens through which to consider our own leadership as well as the leadership of those around us. This important book teaches us important lessons about leadership: we can be vigilant without being adversarial, we can serve without being passive, and we can guide without commanding. Shepherd Leadership offers a visionary new model for transforming leadership practices in both corporate and small business settings. This is whole-person leadership. It’s not just a matter of thinking or doing things a certain way. It’s a fully integrated life- a matter of head and hand and heart. It’s a way of thinking and doing and being. -
Weary Throats And New Songs
$31.99Add to cartExamines the rich heritage of African American women who have proclaimed–and still proclaim–God’s word. Against all odds, African American women have passionately proclaimed the goodness of God and lifted up Jesus’ name despite barriers of race, class, denomination, education and gender. In response to a sense of deliverance from evil and in gratitude for answered prayers, these women have related their faith and trust in God in sacred places such as ships, fields, homes, barns, factories, hospitals, schools, pulpits, missionary societies, and over kitchen sinks. Even when disenfranchised in the religious communities they helped create, African American women continue to “say a word” about God, whether they are ordained or not.
This book provides a brief review of the rich heritage of African American female proclaimers and examines contemporary African American women’s sermon preparation, content, delivery, and personhood. Brown draws heavily on interviews and conversations, as well as audio and video tapes of women proclaiming God’s word to relate how and why African American women tell others about God despite resistance (weary throats) and with the help of support (new songs) in religious and social communities. -
Healing Bodies And Souls
$19.00Add to cartHale and Koenig, national leaders in health ministries, offer a practical and engaging primer on developing a variety of initiatives for pastors, parish nurses, lay leaders, and concerned parishioners. Their short volume mixes real-life congregational case studies with vital information to equip congregations in helping properly manage illness, navigate the healthcare labyrinth, manage or avoid disability, and even provide some life-saving and presentative medical services. While their case studies report on the many kinds of engagement congregations have taken on, each chapter also provides basic information on the most common healthcare challenges – diabetes, skin cancer, strokes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, breast cancer, prostate cancer, glaucoma, and depression – and what can be done in local congregations.
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Bosquejos Selectos Para Predic – (Spanish)
$10.99Add to cart: If you are a: _ Pastor or evangelist _ Minister or layman _ Student of homiletics _ Bible teacher You will find practical and inspirational help in the two works included in this book. In this study of homiletics, Jay E. Adams focuses on the need for messages that flow from a heart devoted to God so that the words may penetrate the heart of the listener. This book will help you to receive the Biblical message of God for the church and to preach it from the heart.
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Walking The Small Group Tightrope
$12.99Add to cartA time-tested resource for pastors and small group leaders to help them understand how to manage the tensions that result when a variety of good objectives compete for a group’s attention Foundational resources such as Building a Church of Small Groups and The Seven Deadly Sins of Small Group Ministry were written for those who launch and lead small group ministries. Now there is a proven resource from Willow Creek created specifically for small group leaders who serve in the trenches of small group life. Walking the Small Group Tightrope applies “polarity management” training to group life. Polarity management teaches that in every area of life we must learn to manage the tension that exists between two good things rather than choosing one over the other. There are six challenges or “tensions” every small group leader faces and must learn to manage well. Each challenge must be met by managing two good values that exist along a continuum: * Learning Challenge: Truth_Life Continuum * Relational Challenge: Friendship_Accountability Continuum * Development Challenge: Care_Discipleship Continuum * Reconciliation Challenge: Kindness_Confrontation Continuum * Impact Challenge: Task_People Continuum * Connection Challenge: Openness_Intimacy Continuum
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Lay Eucharistic Ministers Handbook
$23.99Add to cartThis practical volume explores every aspect of serving as a eucharistic minister in the Catholic church. It offers in-depth teaching on the meaning of the Eucharist; personal preparation for the rite of commissioning; an explanation of the practical skills required; pastoral advice on giving communion at home or in hospital as well as help for those unexpected moments when something may go wrong. A warm and encouraging companion for all who serve in this ministry.
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Your Church Can Thrive
$17.99Add to cartThe author describes the four main groups of people churches can reach with their ministries: those in the pews, those who walk in, friends and family of current members, and those who live in the neighborhood. He then provides short-term steps and long-term strategies for teaching out to these groups, drawing them into the church, and helping them grow into disciples of Jesus Christ. This book helps readers focus the development of the ministries and programs of the church on those whom the church is trying to reach.
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Take The Next Step
$25.99Add to cartTransformational leaders know how to build on their church’s identity. They know how to make the story of change the next chapter in the book of the congregation’s life, rather than throwing the book away and trying to start over. An astute student of management and leadership theory, Weems offers congregational leaders essential insights into how they can bring about authentic and faithful growth. Includes congregational case studies, visual illustrations of key ideas, and insights from other leadership experts.
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Modeling The Master
$10.99Add to cartThis book presents an intriguing integration of the use of parables by Jesus, the Master Teacher, and the therapeutic approach of Milton Erickson, the master of metaphor. The author reviews much counseling literature that involves the use of metaphor to understand and influence counselees, and considers numerous examples in Scripture of indirect, metaphoric communication. Insights gained from both Scripture and counseling literature are incorporated into an approach appropriate for use in contemporary Christian counseling. Several basic principles emerge that facilitate the formulation and delivery of metaphoric stories that are empathic, engaging, earthy, efficient, and enigmatic. Examples are presented along with suggestions to help the reader develop therapeutic stories from his or her own experience. Attention is also given to the use of metaphoric activities that may augment the counseling process. Practical concerns are addressed, including timing and frequency of stories and activities, interpretation, and seeding. The hope of the author is to challenge Christian counselors to access the powerful potential of effectively using metaphoric stories and activities to increase positive outcomes. The book is designed to serve as a supplemental text in a variety of Christian counseling courses at all levels.
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Spirit Filled Teaching
$22.98Add to cartAcclaimed teacher Roy B. Zuck reveals how teachers can tap into the power of divine energy to fulfill their calling and use their gifts at a deeper level. By applying these timeless, spirit-focused principles, teachers will learn how to teach more effectively and inspire students spiritually.
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Desechando Habitos : Ayida Par – (Spanish)
$20.99Add to cartHighly motivating reading for any congregation which has stagnated or is caught up in a seemingly irreversible decline. Offers 20 shocking truths that thriving congregations have discovered to help overcome self-destructive practices. Serves as a much-needed early warning system
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Search To Belong
$19.99Add to cartA practical guide for those struggling to build a community of believers in a culture that wants to experience belonging over believing Who is my neighbor? Who belongs to me? To whom do I belong? These are timeless questions that guide the church to its fundamental calling. Today terms like neighbor, family, and congregation are being redefined. People are searching to belong in new places and experiences. The church needs to adapt its interpretations, definitions, and language to make sense in the changing culture. This book equips congregations and church leaders with tools to: * Discern the key ingredients people look for in community * Understand the use of space as a key element for experiencing belonging and community * Develop the “chemical compound” that produces an environment for community to spontaneously emerge * Discover how language promotes specific spatial belonging and then use this knowledge to build an effective vocabulary for community development * Create an assessment tool for evaluating organizational and personal community health
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Lecciones Biblicas Creativas D – (Spanish)
$13.99Add to cartIn Creative Bible Lessons on the Life of Jesus, you will find 12 solid lesson plans and lists to use in teaching about Jesus’ short ministry here on the earth. These lessons will help make your teaching more entertaining and will take your students to the central theme: Jesus’ life is relevant and timely for Christians today. Contains teaching aids that help stimulate small groups discussions, learning games, humorous scripts, sketches and, many more creative study resources. The lessons explore the life of Jesus as: God, Man, Savior, Healer, Servant, Shepherd, Provider, Redeemer and Hero.
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Empowered Church Leadership
$25.99Add to cartIVP Print On Demand Title
Have you been guiding your church using secular marketing ideas and leadership strategies? Instead, Dodd issues a clarion call for pastors and laypersons to build their ministries on the New Testament apostolic principles of prayer, followership, partnership, servanthood, and willingness to run against the current. Learn to lead where God wants you to go.
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Developing The Leaders Around You Workbook (Workbook)
$17.99Add to cartDr. John C. Maxwell is committed to more than just being a leader_he’s also committed to nurturing and mentoring thousands of potential leaders around him. This passion is what caused him to found INJOY and EQUIP, and it is the driving force in his ministry. Both practical and inspirational, Developing the Leaders Around You is crammed with strategies that help you effectively transform your goals into reality by building leadership in the people around you. Emphasizing that an organization can’t grow until its members grow, Dr. Maxwell encourages readers to foster a productive team spirit, make difficult decisions, handle confrontation, and to nurture, encourage, and equip people to be leaders.
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Making Small Groups Work
$26.99Add to cartHere’s a one-stop small-group leader’s guide for gatherings of all sorts—from divorce recovery and marriage enrichment to spiritual formation. Facilitators will learn God’s plan for growth and how to promote it; what makes a group work; the roles of members; and how to find solutions for problems, including boredom, noncompliance, aggression, overneediness, and nonstop talking.
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Creative Bible Lessons In Revelation
$22.99Add to cart12 exciting faith-building studies from the book of Revelation about the future Teenagers can’t help but think about the future, especially in these uncertain times. The book of Revelation offers both a tantalizing look at what lies ahead and a powerful message of hope for those who put their trust in God. This curriculum takes youth leaders through the book of Revelation, and provides teaching tools and lessons on John’s vision of the future, Jesus the Redeemer, pure worship, the destruction of the earth, the ultimate showdown, the throne, and God’s mighty hand in the future of all humanity.
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Tough Topics
$14.99Add to cartThis collection of provocative discussion questions is guaranteed to get teenagers talking, thinking, and debating. It follows in the footsteps of the best-selling Would You Rather?, What If?, and Unfinished Sentences. Each set of questions is followed by thought-provoking ideas, facts, and verses to think about. Adaptable content makes the book an easy-to-use resource for large or small groups_at youth meetings, retreats, small group discussions, mission trips, and more. With its compact size, it’s convenient to carry along wherever you go.
Examples of questions include:
*Which would be better? To have your prayers answered or to be constantly full of joy?
*Which would be worse? To eat what you don’t like or to crave what you can’t have?
*Which would be better? Fresh-baked, soft, chewy cookies or a nice thick, juicy steak?
*Which would be worse? To have a parachute fail or to ski into a tree? -
Ushering In Todays Churches
$12.49Add to cartUshering in Today’s Churches was written to assist usher ministries to serve God in an effective and excellent manner. The contents of this book are for any churches that desire to take their usher ministries to the next level. The book will give ushers the knowledge to serve God with a spirit of excellence and elevate God with a well-organized ministry. I offer my assistance as a workshop instructor to any church organization that has the desire to further educate its usher ministry. The workshop will equip the usher ministry with knowledge and techniques that God has blessed me with. To have a workshop at your church, please refer to the workshop information page at the end of this book.
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Beyond The Scandals
$24.00Add to cart(PUBFortress)What constitutes misconduct? Which legal, moral, and religious norms apply? How is the church liable? A leading national expert investigates the current scandals, discusses how and why they happened, and proposes useful guidelines for preventing such behavior in the future.
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Afterlife (Student/Study Guide)
$9.99Add to cartAfterlife: Finding Hope Beyond Death is targeted to adult learners in their 20’s and 30’s. Author David deSilva says, “The extent to which we can come to terms with our own death directly impacts our psychological stability and well-being. The denial of death leads to all manner of personality disorders and ultimately to an insecure, inauthentic life.” The good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ proclaims the hope of life in the presence of God forever and the invitation to live in and for this hope. Seven easy-to-lead sessions with clear teaching helps on every page challenge you to examine this powerful biblical theme and will encourage to look at your own questions and beliefs as you study the Scriptures.
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Whats Good About This News
$28.00Add to cartIn this study of the Gospels and the book of Galatians, David Bartlett explores how to reconcile the biblical text’s message to our contemporary context and a particular congregation’s character and need. While, as he shows, important continuities exist in the way the good news is understood throughout the New Testament, precisely what it looks like and how Christians respond to it differs between Mark, Paul, John, and the rest of the writers. Consequently, he demonstrates, preachers have options as they try to discern what news a congregation needs to hear on a particular Sunday. Including sample sermons, What’s Good about This News? shows how each of these biblical texts remains a redemptive word for today’s people.
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From Pastor To Pastor
$9.99Add to cart25 Chapters
Additional Info
From Pastor to Pastor provides encouragement for pastors from someone who knows what it’s like to go through the trials and the triumphs of the job. Part memoir, part devotional, these reflections will help both new and experienced pastors improve their leadership skills as they learn from the reflections of a pastor who’s been in ministry for over 20 years. -
Preparing Couples For Marriage
$39.95Add to cartWith today’s alarming divorce rate, pastors bear a special burden to get couples off to a good start. This comprehensive guide walks you through the process from the initial counseling session to wedding planning to “You may kiss the bride.” Topics include family profiles; resolving conflicts; finances; interfaith, interracial, and second marriages; and more.
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Stories Told Under The Sycamore Tree
$19.95Add to cartPoets and the scriptures have often spoken of Jesus as the “lily of the valley” or the “rose of Sharon,” and the Bible is filled with intriguing references to a wide variety of flora. But what did these plants look like? You’ll find out, and learn much more as well in this fascinating follow-up volume to the popular Learning From The Lizard.
Stories Told Under The Sycamore Tree examines 52 notable flowers, trees, fruits, and other plants in the Bible. Each lesson includes an informative description based on scientific research and scripture, a reflection on the plant’s symbolism, and a prayer, along with superb color illustrations from award-winning nature artist Scott Patton.
These attention-getting, inspiring, and enriching messages are perfect for use with children — there’s a year’s worth of fresh material. But they’re not just for youngsters; they’re also excellent for personal devotions and sermon preparation. Stories Told Under The Sycamore Tree is a visual and meditative feast that will give you a greater appreciation for the wonders of God’s creation.
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Years Worth Of Childrens Church
$23.99Add to cartHere are fifty-two weeks of fun, easy-to-use, faith-building programs for the children of your church. Whether Children’s Church is as short as thirty minutes or runs an hour or more, this book has exactly what you need to fill the time and to fill the hearts and minds of your children with God’s Word. Suitable for both small and large groups, these programs provide a meaningful experience for children, not just babysitting during the worship hour. Like adult worship, Children’s Church is grounded in the Scriptures. Beloved Bible verses, stories, and poetry from the Psalms are the basis for the programs.
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Beyond The Collection Plate
$20.99Add to cartThis is a comprehensive guide to building healthy congregational attitudes and practices toward managing and spending financial resources.
Much has been written about how churches can raise money. Less guidance is available to congregations about what to do with financial resources once they have been gathered in. Even less has been offered by way of a comprehensive view of congregational finances, one that demonstrates how individual attitudes toward giving money and congregational attitudes toward managing and spending money are inextricably linked together.
In this book Michael Durall paints a wide-ranging picture of how churches can engender healthy attitudes and practices toward money among their members. How can churches counteract the consumerist mentality in society in ways that lead to simpler living and more sacrificial giving? How can churches tell which stewardship practices and programs are genuinely helpful, and which are seriously outdated? How can we build a strong bond between the day-to-day lives of parishioners and their charitable giving? What opportunities for better stewardship do the unique natures of each individual congregation present?
Written for pastors, finance committees, and everyone involved in the financial life of congregations, Beyond the Collection Plate will serve as an indispensable guide to how the priorities of God’s kingdom can determine how money in the church is raised, managed, and spent.
This book is intended to help readers strengthen the bond between parishioners’ daily lives and their charitable giving. It analyzes prevailing attitudes in church toward giving and managing money, demonstrates how many prevailing practices in stewardship campaigns and fundraising have lost their effectiveness, and provides strategies for encouraging more sacrificial giving.
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Design For Preaching
$29.00Add to cartAn extremely modern approach on how to preach, stressing the individuality of each sermon. An aid to the experienced preacher as well as the seminary student. Choice of mode, tense, proper use of voice, words, logic, etc.-all these and more topics are treated.
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Practical Guide To Pulpit Ministry
$21.99Add to cartThere is a need within the leadership of the Church (the body of Christ) to place a particular emphasis on public speaking dynamics used in pulpit ministry. Many of God’s ministers have received or already accepted the call to publicly minister the Word of God directly from the pulpit, yet may not have the opportunity to receive any practical training or considered the dynamics needed to accomplish the will and purpose of God for their ministries. A Practical Guide to Pulpit Ministry (Public Speaking Dynamics) addresses: Pulpit ministry overview of goals and responsibilities Motivation techniques and instruction Principles of learning Effective communication Preparing outlines/lesson plans Outline/lesson plan personalization And much more! This offering to church leadership and current/prospective ministers embodies the true essence of giving God your best, while keeping Him as the absolute focus!
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Practical Guide To Pulpit Ministry
$13.49Add to cartThere is a need within the leadership of the Church (the body of Christ) to place a particular emphasis on public speaking dynamics used in pulpit ministry. Many of God’s ministers have received or already accepted the call to publicly minister the Word of God directly from the pulpit, yet may not have the opportunity to receive any practical training or considered the dynamics needed to accomplish the will and purpose of God for their ministries. A Practical Guide to Pulpit Ministry (Public Speaking Dynamics) addresses: Pulpit ministry overview of goals and responsibilities Motivation techniques and instruction Principles of learning Effective communication Preparing outlines/lesson plans Outline/lesson plan personalization And much more! This offering to church leadership and current/prospective ministers embodies the true essence of giving God your best, while keeping Him as the absolute focus!
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Youth Ministry From The Inside Out
$16.99Add to cartFlash! Ping! Whiz! Pop! Boom! Bang! Crash! Such are the sights and sounds of modern youth ministry. We look for the bigger, the louder, the brighter. And we work long and hard to make our ministry the biggest, the loudest, the brightest. But look out and listen up: God is not caught up in sound and fury. And he doesn’t want to see youth workers disengage–letting the momentum define their purpose. Mike Higgs, reflecting on more than two decades of work with youth, thinks the greatest need among youth workers today is a reminder of who we are. We need to set aside the distractions of an emphasis on performance and focus instead on connecting with God in his work in us, our students and other youth workers. When a renewed spirit shapes our work with youth, our ministry will become less a muddled chorus of strategies and targets, and more a symphony of purpose and practice.
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Restoring Sexual Identity
$16.99Add to cart1. Three Stories
2. Where Does Same-Sex Attraction Come From?
3. Classic Development Of Lesbian Attraction
4. Healthy Female Gender Development
5. Establishing A Support System
6. Healing From Abuse
7. Overcoming Temptation
8. Healthy Female Friendships
9. Men: Friendships, Singleness, And Marriage
10. Parenthood And The Ex-Gay Woman
267 PagesAdditional Info
Harvest House Print On Demand TitleCan a lesbian change? Yes says author Anne Paulk, who left her lesbian lifestyle twenty years ago as she responded to Christ’s invitation to an abundant life.
“Very early, I felt the tug of sexual attraction toward some members of my gender. I remember being both confused and excited by these feelings. After many years of having been attracted to other women, I embraced a lesbian identity and lifestyle. Later, after an encounter with God, I began my journey out of homosexuality. . .”
Restoring Sexual Identity offers answers to the difficult and often wrenching questions asked by both women desiring change and by friends and relatives of women struggling with same sex attraction.
* Is lesbianism a genetic predisposition or is it developed during childhood?
* Does becoming a Christian immediately eliminate all desire for members of the same sex?
* Can a woman be a lesbian and a Christian at the same time?
* How does childhood sexual abuse relate to the development of lesbianism?
* What support is available for women who struggle with lesbianism?For every woman sexually attracted to other women, here’s another choice.
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Literature Of Theology (Revised)
$33.00Add to cartThis updated reference guide directs students to over five hundred significant theological resources across a wide area of theological research. It details bibliographic sources for encyclopedias, dictionaries, and electronic resources in biblical studies, historical studies, theology, and practical theology.
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En Sus Manos – (Spanish)
$10.99Add to cartIn God’s dwelling place there are different types of vessels. Evangelist David Greco explains how God works with us to transform our lives and turn us into vessels. The divine Potter turns us each into a different vessel. He makes vessels of honor, mercy, chosen, clean, broken, of dishonor, and of hate. And He molds each one to make them useful and for His glory. Do you know which type of vessel you are?
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Sermon Maker : Tales Of A Transformed Preacher
$12.99Add to cartPastor Sam knows all about how to preach-but he’s got a lot to learn about how people listen. All of this is about to change. An unexpected heavenly visitor is coming Sam’s way with a few pointers designed to connect Sam-and every preacher who longs for significance-with the life-changing soul of the sermon. Sam is soon to learn that the sermon is a season of creation-a compass and a call to new directions. With extensive notations for study or discussion
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17 Leyes Incuestionables Del T – (Spanish)
$17.99Add to cartTodo el mundo es parte de un equipo.
Si usted esta casado, usted y su conyuge son un equipo. Si es un empleado, usted y su compaeros de trabajo son un equipo. Si usted da su tiempo a una iglesia u otra organizacion, es parte de un equipo de voluntarios. En su estilo unico y facil de entender, el Dr. Maxwell explica de una manera sencilla de retener el proceso de construir un equipo ganador y como ponerlo en practica.
17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork
Everyone is part of some team.
This book contains laws that you can count on when it comes to getting people to work together, but it tells them in such a way that you can start applying them to your life today. -
Angry Christian
$48.00Add to cartThe Christian tradition has long held that anger is sinful and to be avoided, but respected scholar Andrew Lester argues that the capacity or anger is one of God’s good gifts. Here, Lester incorporates the newest behavioral research models, biblical and theological scholarship, constructivist philosophy, and narrative theory into a pastoral theology of anger. Comprehensive and critically important, The Angry Christian will be of help to Christian caregivers and counselors, to clergy, and to all individuals looking to understand the experience of anger.
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Movie Based Illustrations For Preaching And Teaching
$24.99Add to cartA handy reference volume of movie clip illustrations that connect with today9s audiences and reinforce biblical truths Movies have become the stories of our culture. People love to discuss favorite movies and actors, and this interest can help you communicate God9s Word with power_if you have exciting, movie-based illustrations at your fingertips. Now the editors of PreachingToday.com have gathered the best movie-based illustrations, the scenes that convey biblical truth convincingly. This collection contains 101 complete illustrations straight from popular movies that your listeners can relate to. Each illustration is easy to use_you don9t even have to be familiar with the movie to share the truth it portrays. * Complete index includes multiple keywords and relevant Scripture passages for easy selection. * Each illustration provides plot summary and detailed description of the scene_you can tell the story well even if you haven9t seen the movie. * Exact beginning time and ending time are given for each illustration, if you9d like to show the video clip. * Each illustration gives background information on the movie, including year created, MPAA rating, and more. Bring home biblical truths for your congregation or class in a dramatic way by incorporating these movie illustrations into your future messages and lessons and then receive a FREE 90-day trial membership and access to over 7,600 sermon illustrations at PreachingToday.com!
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Passion Driven Congregation
$25.99Add to cartWhat can sustain a church’s growth over a lengthy period of time, especially across a change in senior pastors? Long, successful pastorates are customarily followed by brief, unhappy ones, and then by a period of stagnation and even decline. Succesive pastors of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Indianapolis, demonstrate how a theologically and socially progressive church can be faithful to its particular character and still experience significant, sustained numerical growth.
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Called To Teach
$40.00Add to cartPresbyterian educators Duncan Ferguson and William Weston argue that the calling to teach in higher education is distinctively Reformed and a primary mission of the Presbyterian church. This collection of essays first lays the biblical, theological, and historical foundations for this calling, then explores how it is lived out today in educational institutions-church-related as well as secular. Concluding that today’s church must have the nurture of the teacher as a central part of its mission, Called To Teach will be a welcomed resource for all those who have the vocation of teaching.
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Strength In Weakness
$20.99Add to cartHelp and hope for men . . .
undermined by silent fathers
harassed by pornography and sexual temptation
afraid of failing those they love most
angered by past relationships with womenHelp and hope for women . . .
lost in their relationships with others
betrayed by fathers, husbands or male leaders
wounded by sexual assault
paralyzed by self-hatredAndrew Comiskey sees our weakness as “a threshold for holy power”–the point at which God can meet us for healing and equip us for service. He has seen it happen again and again. During many years of ministry, Comiskey, his wife, Annette, and their fellow “strugglers” have accompanied hundreds of wounded men and women to transformation at the cross of Christ. Telling real-life stories of despair, hope and lasting change, Comiskey lays out the foundations for healing from relational and sexual sin. With chapters focusing on particular areas of vulnerability for men and women, on the battle over homosexuality in church and culture, and on the essential role of the church in ongoing healing, Strength in Weakness makes clear the way to the cross–God’s sufficient answer to our deepest needs.
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5 Pillars Of The Apostolic
$15.99Add to cartMichael Scantlebury, seeks to find a biblical, balanced and logical approach to explainging the ministry of today’s apostles. It is a timely expression since so much of what is being said and written today about apostles and apostoloic ministry lacks strong biblical basis and is often extreme and contradictory. This book provides an excellent tool for the Church to measure apostolic claims by the yardstick of the author’s five-pillars of apostolic grace. This book set the standards appropriately gigh for those who have the high-calling of apostle. Best of all the book is Christ-centered in its approach, revealing Jesus Christ as the real answer to each fundamental and eternal question rather than apostles in themselves.
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When God Walked On Campus
$16.99Add to cartA brief history of evangelical awakenings at American colleges and universities. Do you long for revival on your college or university campus ? Is your heart burdened for the students you interact with each day? Here are some accounts of revivals in the past two centuries that will whet your appetite for the transforming work of God’s Spirit on your campus today. From the academic halls of America-Princeton, Yale, Harvard, Dartmouth, Brown, Middlebury, Union, Bethel, Wheaton, Williams, Trinity, Ashland, and many others-comes the stirring stories of awakening and revival. On both secular and Christian campuses, the moving of God was evident as men and women were converted and stirred to ministry and foreign service. Out of these pockets of awakening came the formation or strengthening of student and campus fellowships such as InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Youth for Christ, Campus Crusade for Christ, Navigators and the YMCA. The powerful ministries of men such as Timothy Dwight, J. Edwin Orr, Martyn Lloyd-Jones and Charles Spurgeon were used to promote revival in these seasons of collegiate awakening and a sermon from each has been selected to quicken your heart and challenge your thinking. May this brief look at history equip you with fresh hope for revival today!
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Help I Teach Childrens Sunday School
$12.25Add to cart1. Today’s Children
2. Characteristics Of Effective Teachers
3. Birth-2 Years Old
4. 3-5 Years Old
5. 6-7 Years Old
6. 8-9 Years Old
7. Pre-teens – 10-12 Years Old
8. Applying Effective Teaching Methods
9. What About Discipline
10. Children With Special NeedsAdditional Info
A teacher in a Sunday school program is a valuable asset in a child’s spiritual formation. Much of what they do lays the foundation for a child’s growth in the Christian faith and life. They are a vital resource to children and their parents. What they do during this crucial Sunday morning time truly matters. Help! I Teach Children’s Sunday School is an aid book for these special teachers of infants through sixth graders. This guidebook to teaching excellence in the Sunday school will be a help to beginning and experienced teachers alike. -
Contemporary African American Preaching
$34.99Add to cartL. Susan Bond reveals the full range and diversity of African American preaching in this exploration of African American homiletical theories. Portraying the many approaches that are empowering preaching in African American churches today, Bond shows how different theological perspectives produce different methods of sermon preparation and delivery, different strategies for selecting illustrative material, and even different ways of beginning and ending sermons. Her goal is not to lift up the “right way” to preach in the African American tradition, but to show the richness and nuance contained within this powerful cultural expression.
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Practicing Gospel
$38.00Add to cartFor seminarians and pastors too often tempted to equate pastoral care with popular psychology, good preaching with snappy public speaking, and Christian education with flashy curriculum, esteemed theologian Ed Farley offers a more faithful approach to the tasks of ministry in this collection of groundbreaking essays. By holding theology and practice in an inescapable partnership, Farley rightly refocuses the Church’s life on its proper object and subject: a mysterious, transforming God.
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Unfinished Business : Returning The Ministry To The People Of God (Revised)
$24.99Add to cartA comprehensive listing of field-tested programming material designed to supplement a church9s creative process of service planning The Source is an encyclopedic catalog of music, drama, and video resources compiled by the Willow Creek Association. It provides worship planners and creative directors with a quick, topical reference to help them relate sermon topics, drama, music, and movie clips to a unifying theme. Complete with a clear, thorough user9s guide, this one-stop workbook for effective worship planning covers more than 130 topics. Major headings include Christian Life Issues, Holidays and Special Services, Identity of God, Life Issues, Relationships with God, Social Issues, Seeker Issues, and Relationships. This revised edition is geared to meet the needs of both seeker-oriented churches and traditional churches that use contemporary music or drama or video in their services.
New features include:
* A worship chorus section, including over 150 songs from Integrity, Maranatha!, EMI, Vineyard, Word, and more
* Interviews with programming directors from various WCA churches focusing on how different churches use the arts in their specific settings -
New Mercies I See
$12.95Add to cartIn New Mercies I See, Stan Purdum does for the ministry what James Herriot did for veterinary medicine in All Creatures Great and Small. Set in rural Ohio churches, Stan’s stories are humorous, poignant, thought-provoking, pathos-filled, and heartwarming. But above all, they are hopeful. Whether it’s sudden rain falling on a pain-wracked young man clinging to his brother’s coffin, the guilty woman whose love for an abused baby brings resurrection to them both, or the overly enthusiastic pastor who has to serve communion with walnut juice freckling his face, these accounts recognize that the persistent grace of God is never far from any one of us.
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Story Time At The Altar
$13.95Add to cartJesus told stories, and the scriptures are the sacred story of God and his people … and since children love stories as well, what could be a more appropriate way to plant the seeds of faith than with stories? This outstanding collection provides 86 enchanting parables that you can share during “children’s time” on Sunday morning, as well as at home, school, camp, or any other setting where young people are gathered together and want to hear a story. Brief talking points and questions in each message help youngsters clearly understand the good news of God’s incredible grace and unconditional love. Many of the stories illustrate biblical themes — but a wide variety of other topics and approaches are included, along with a convenient scripture index. Written in a simple, direct style that children of all ages can easily relate to, these delightful stories will inspire joy and hope.
Stories include:
* Elijah And The Voice (1 Kings 19:11)
* Timothy’s Questions (Psalm 100:3a)
* The Aspen And The Wind (Mark 10:44)
* The House On The Rock (Matthew 7:24-27)
* Teach Us To Pray (Matthew 14:22-33)
… and many more! -
Gods Word Alive And Active
$13.95Add to cartHere are more ready-to-use children’s sermons from the prolific pen of Julia Bland which are sure to appeal to busy pastors and teachers. In this collection, Bland compares God’s Word to a variety of concrete objects, teaching youngsters that although the scriptures were written a long time ago, they remain a powerful and unequaled guide for good and holy living. Like all of her other acclaimed CSS titles, each message in this collection comes with a two-sided activity sheet including a coloring page for young children along with puzzles and word games for older children that reinforce the lesson’s theme and key concepts. In addition to “children’s time” during the worship hour, this resource is also excellent for Sunday school or Vacation Bible School.
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Built By The Owners Design
$14.95Add to cartEvery church needs to reach out and bring in new members in order to remain a living, vital entity — yet there are many different ideas about what is the best way for Christian congregations to foster real growth. In recent years, what has been termed the “Church Growth Movement” (as exemplified in such best-selling books as The Purpose Driven Church and The Habits Of Highly Effective Churches) has come to the forefront with its agenda of meeting felt needs and targeting specific audiences. At the same time, there has been a less-publicized but pointed reaction to what some perceive as the church growth movement’s misdirected zeal. And while the church growth movement has been very successful with new churches, its methods often fall short of satisfying the growth needs of established congregations.
In Built By The Owner’s Design, Danny Von Kanel invites you into the drawing room of the Master Designer to examine His blueprints for evangelism and church growth. Employing the plumb line of God’s Word, he makes it clear that God’s way of growth and outreach is most effective. Von Kanel draws on a careful analysis of more than 50 churches in the Southern Baptist, United Methodist, and Presbyterian (USA) denominations to offer a viable alternative that charts a middle ground between overzealousness and declining attendance, identifying a proven framework that can support lasting growth in diverse situations. Several checklists are included that help you systematically evaluate your own congregation and develop a tailor-made growth plan based on your specific circumstances. Grounded in solid research and Von Kanel’s own experience in several growing ministries, Built By The Owner’s Design is an immensely practical resource that belongs in every pastor’s library.
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Sermon Warm Ups
$12.95Add to cartCould you use an attention-getting introduction to set up a talk or sermon? If so, the brief sketches in this collection are exactly what you need to create living illustrations of scriptural themes that will stick in your audience’s memory. Jesus explained concepts about God’s kingdom through parables utilizing elements familiar to his listeners; likewise, the modern storytelling in these short, easy-to-prepare scenes helps worshipers understand the gospel by depicting the biblical message in the context of our daily lives. And they’re effective. Since drama draws on both our visual and auditory senses, it’s a proven vehicle for increasing learning and retention rates. When you want a change of pace that will really make a difference, these scenes are great for use in place of the sermon or for various types of fellowship programs.
Contents include:
* The Inheritance (Ephesians 1:13-14; Mark 6:14-29)
* Cooking With Carol (John 6:24-35, 41-51)
* The Pray-er (James 5:13-20)
* Are You Calling Me? (Hebrews 5:1-10; Mark 10:35-40)
… and many more! -
Gospel Telling : The Art And Theology Of Childrens Sermons
$16.95Add to cartWhen was the last time you took a moment to consider the purpose and effectiveness of your children’s sermons? After all, nothing is more important than sowing the seeds of faith early in life. In this comprehensive look at all aspects of preaching the gospel to young people, Richard Coleman challenges you to examine your approach with a critical eye and gives you plenty of practical guidance for developing simple, direct messages that help children form a relationship with Jesus Christ.
In the first section of Gospel-Telling, Coleman discusses what constitutes meaningful children’s sermons, offering a thoughtful rationale for the idea that we must proclaim the gospel so youngsters experience God’s love. You’ll learn how you can mine your own experience for inspiration and proclaim gospel stories that flow from your specific circumstances. Then in the second portion of the book you’ll see this process at work, with over 30 examples illustrating several different types of children’s sermons.
Whether you’re a pastor, Christian educator, or engaged in the teaching ministry, you’re sure to profit from the practical advice and in-depth reflection in these pages. With Gospel-Telling, you’ll be equipped to share with young people the Good News — with creativity and theological integrity.
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Shaking Wolves Out Of Cherry Trees
$20.95Add to cartIf you want to stimulate your creative juices and avoid dull, cliche-filled preaching, then you’ll love this collection of 150 imaginative “sermon starters.” Each idea consists of a clever title that’s sure to catch the interest of the person in the pew along with a purpose statement and a brief discussion of the topic (including appropriate scripture references). There are a variety of suggested approaches with striking imagery, providing you with plenty of seeds for developing interesting, thought-provoking messages. And with a convenient subject index included, Shaking Wolves Out Of Cherry Trees is certain to be a treasured addition to any pastor’s library. But this volume isn’t just for preachers — it’s also an excellent source of meditations for men’s, women’s, or youth groups as well as inspiring devotional reading.
Here’s a sample of some of the inventive entries:
* Daring To Be A Lion’s Breakfast!
* Is There A Lightning Bolt With Your Name On It?
* How Many Will Your Garbage Can Feed?
* We Have Met The Monster And It Is Us
* Will Your Bones Dance Again?
* Cain’s And Einstein’s Theory Of Relativity -
Old Wine In New Skins 2
$16.95Add to cartAcross the broad spectrum of the Christian faith, worship services are in transition. There is a richness of expression in traditional worship structures that needs to be maintained, yet there is a vitality and joy in contemporary praise celebrations that is an essential part of the Christian spirit. But whatever the style of service, whether it’s traditional, contemporary, or “blended,” meaningful worship that makes a powerful impact is directly connected to our daily lives, addressing our hopes and fears.
Like the first volume of Old Wine In New Skins, this comprehensive collection provides plenty of resources for strengthening and reinvigorating your worship services. There are two years’ worth (104) of calls to worship in a wide variety of styles that can be used in almost any setting. Each weaves together suggested hymns or praise songs with spoken material utilizing everyday language and images, creating a strong thematic thrust that truly prepares the congregation to stand before the Lord in praise and petition. There’s also a group of brief reflections that can be used as sermon illustrations, theme-setters for the service, or newsletter features.
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Preaching To Myself
$12.95Add to cartA compelling preacher shares her unique method for creating memorable sermons in this practical, down-to-earth manual that’s chock-full of excellent ideas for homiletical preparation. It’s an engaging look at what characterizes outstanding preaching as well as a humorous catalog of the hazards facing those who enter the pulpit. Schmitz relates numerous amusing and instructive anecdotes from her own preaching experience, and offers valuable advice on how to write and deliver messages with maximum impact. For example, Schmitz notes that compelling stories which resonate with hearers are a crucial ingredient of great sermons — and Preaching To Myself illustrates how to tap into this endlessly renewable resource. Simple, funny, field-tested in the trenches with real people — if you want to enjoy a chuckle while learning what makes top-notch sermons that change lives, then this is the book for you.
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Feasts Of The Kingdom
$21.95Add to cartFeasts and festivals are a central part of many cultures, and for Christians there is no more important “meal” than Holy Communion, in which we commemorate our liberation through the sacrificial death of Jesus. Yet there are many other occasions in the Bible where Jesus taught his friends and disciples as he ate and drank. In The Feasts Of The Kingdom, Maurice Fetty examines a wide variety of sacred meals in scripture, ranging from the Lord’s supper to banquets in the parables. He connects these occasions to our mealtimes today, where we can develop a sense of community and Christian fellowship that is emblematic of the spiritual feast at the heart of the Church’s worship. With 26 messages included for all seasons of the church year, this volume is an especially valuable source of preaching ideas. But most of all, Fetty’s insights provide sustenance for the soul!
Chapter titles include:
* Faith And Fast-Food Religion (John 6:67-68)
* The Hunger Pangs Of Success (Philippians 2:5-7)
* Breakfast On The Beach (John 21:9, 12)
* The Ultimate Wedding Reception (Revelation 19:9)
* Table Manners In A Hungry World (Luke 16:20-21)
… and many more! -
Teaching Prayer In The Classroom (Revised)
$19.99Add to cartIn this revised and expanded edition of Teaching Prayer in the Classroom, Delia Halverson provides children’s teachers and leaders with practical guidance for teaching the elusive, and often mystifying, topic of prayer to children and young people. As in the original volume, Teaching Prayer in the Classroom offers step-by-step activities that engage children in different prayer experiences, while also providing specific examples of age-appropriate prayers for preschoolers to twelve-year-olds. In addition, age-level understandings and experiences of prayer are presented, as well as guidance for integrating different prayers into existing Sunday school lessons and creating a variety of unique prayers. Along with a number of reproducible handouts that provide useful information for teachers and students, this volume offers guidance and suggestions to help parents use prayer with their children at home.
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Giant Book Of Childrens Sermons
$49.95Add to cartThe youngest members of your congregation have trooped up the aisle in their Sunday best. Be prepared with these 260 object lessons and simple visual aids such as crayons, scissors, and salt shakers! Features five years of 10-minute “sermonettes” that complement New Testament Scripture passages. Includes a companion CD-ROM.
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Preaching Marks Gospel
$18.95Add to cartIn a classic case of failing to see the forest for the trees, Jensen, a homiletics professor and author of two works on narrative preaching, says that preachers tend to analyze biblical books to glean the slightest bits of exegetical data, yet miss the thrust of the overarching story they try to convey. Jensen contends that preachers get too caught up in an analytical, left-brained mentality that obscures the power and meaning of the good news story.
In these pages Jensen helps us approach Mark’s gospel with eyes wide open rather than with microscope in hand. He treats Mark’s gospel as a narrative whole and challenges preachers to tell the gospel’s story to their congregations. In doing so, Jensen emphasizes the strength of biblical stories. He says that these stories are powerful in and of themselves, that they work without much explanatory help. The problem is that listeners never hear the entire story, because it’s always told to them in bits and pieces.
Jensen’s adaptation of what Robert Alter (author of The Art of Biblical Narrative) calls narrative analogy assumes that “… parallel acts or situations are used to comment on each other in biblical narrative.” In other words, if Mark told story “B” to flesh out the reality of story “A,” then perhaps preachers today can do the same thing in their preaching. Students of Jensen have enthusiastically embraced this approach: “This is great, we never get to hear them (stories) whole!” How did it ever occur to us that we could improve on the story of the Prodigal Son, for example, by reducing it to ideas?
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Pastors At Greater Risk
$23.00Add to cartSome of today’s pastors are relatively untroubled but need help in releasing the pressure inherent in ministry to others. Others are close to running on empty, both spiritually and emotionally. All of them would like someone to confide in who can provide realistic help based on firsthand experience. This is precisely what Pastors at Greater Risk is all about! First published in 1993, this edition is completely rewritten, with updated stats, interviews with contemporary pastoral leaders, and a special emphasis on today’s hot-button issues, such as job turnover, pornography, spiritual burnout, congregational turnover, and more. The result: A book that is rich in wisdom and understanding and one that provides pastor-to-pastor help at a time when it is needed more than ever!
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Youth Workers Guide To Parent Ministry
$24.99Add to cartBoth a theoretical and practical framework for parent ministry by youth workers in a local or parachurch setting In order for youth workers to be truly effective in ministering to parents, it9s important to lay a careful relational groundwork to ensure that the “right to be heard” has been earned. This book presents a ministry model with 9 evolving levels, each one strengthening the credibility of the youth worker and opening doors to deeper and more meaningful parent support. Each of the 9 levels includes practical ideas and strategies for implementation. The book provides useful tools for youth workers in a variety of ministry settings dealing with a range of family structures.
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Principios De Predicacion – (Spanish)
$22.99Add to cartSe requiere una habilidad poco usual en el manejo del idioma literario para combinar profundidad y sencillez para definir terminos profesionales en lenguaje laico y a la vez hacer un libro de texto y manual de inspiracion. Pablo Jimenez tiene esa capacidad. Su tratado sobre la predicacion esta redactado en lenguaje sencillo y ampliamente ilustrado. Es suficientemente ameno como para servir de material suplementario o de inspiracion a quienes solo quieren disfrutar un poco de buena lectura y de la cual sacar ideas para su uso personal. Sin embargo a la vez esta obra es suficientemente profunda como para convertirse en libro de texto para institutos teologicos, colegios o seminarios.
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Preaching From The Soul
$22.99Add to cartCareful biblical interpretation; insights into contemporary life; polished delivery; humorous anecdotes; these are the building blocks of preaching that genuinely reach people. Right? Wrong, says Ellsworth Kalas. We have all encountered preachers who seem to know all the fine points of exegesis and inflection, yet whose sermons leave us surprisingly unmoved, aware that we were in the presence of good speaking, but not great preaching.
The difference, Kalas reminds us, lies in that hard-to-describe, yet essential quality known as soul. Soul is the collection of those perspectives and convictions that matter most to the preacher. Soul preaching means offering one’s particular ideas, attitudes, and convictions fully to the congregation. When one preaches with soul, one engages the biblical text with the core of one’s values and beliefs. Soul preaching is, in other words, simply giving the whole self to the task of proclamation. While the concept may sound simple, the reality is anything but.In the clear, insightful style for which he is known, Kalas takes readers on a path of discovery, introducing them to the unique gifts that they can bring to preaching, and the best way to engage those gifts in preparing and delivering the sermon.
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Tour Of The Nations
$16.99Add to cartTour of the Nations is a book designed to aid teachers in assisting their students to become more knowledgeable in foreign missions. It takes students on a one-year visit to the seven major continents of the world, introducing them to many cultural and spiritual adventures. It presents lesson material each week for approximately one year, and provides thorough lessons for each session. This book will serve as a great tool for missions training and Christian education for children from preschool through the elementary grades. The work of training children in the local church setting can be a great task, but one that is commanded of us by Christ. Tour of the Nations will help make that task easier, providing lessons and ideas for classroom teachers in introducing their students to foreign mission countries, hopefully igniting the embers that may be placed in young, tender hearts by the gifting power of the Holy Spirit.
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Pastors Guide To Effective Preaching
$14.99Add to cart12 Chapters
Additional Info
Pastors are judged by their preaching. How are you measuring up?
Every week, those 30 minutes you spend in front of the congregation impact their decisions about whether or not to attend your church.
Preaching changes lives when Christians answer the call to do what
God asks of them.
In The Pastors Guide To Effective Preaching, Billy Graham William Willimon, Eugene Peterson, and other well known church leaders will teach you to connect with the congregation through your preaching. Beyond the “how to’s” of preaching, The Pastors Guide provides a foundation for embodying God’s grace and holiness as a means of communicating His message.
You’ll learn to
Keep your congregation engaged in what you’re saying.
Plan an extended preaching schedule.
Relate the gospel to our secular and humanistic society
Understand the role of preaching in your overall ministry
Preach with authority and communicate the gospel with simplicity
And much more. -
Christs Own Forever Leaders Guide (Teacher’s Guide)
$25.95Add to cartThe Leader’s Guide provides clergy and lay people with a flexible, succinct framework for meeting with parents, informally or in a group setting. Includes background on baptism and Christian initiation, as well as guidance on preparation for baptism in the Episcopal Church today. Guidance is provided for preparation and follow-up with parents who are parish members and those who are unchurched. (Living the Good News)
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Christs Own Forever Parent Godparent Journal
$12.95Add to cartThis interactive journal invites parents and godparents on a child’s spiritual journey as he or she takes this important first step.
If you are ordering a quantity of 30 or more, please call 1-800-824-1813 to receive your volume discount.
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Christly Gestures : Learning To Be Members Of The Body Of Christ
$29.99Add to cartThe church is not only the central place of Christian worship but also a place of faith-filled education. Christly Gestures reframes the very meaning of religious education, exploring what the form and content of Christian learning would look like if local churches truly saw themselves as the body of Christ.
Author Brett Webb-Mitchell begins with the writings of Paul, using them to clarify the biblical image of Christ’s body as the community of believers. Taking this powerful analogy to heart, he suggests that Christian education must not only nurture the minds and spiritual lives of church members but also educate their bodies into the “Christly gestures” – performing acts of faith that imitate Jesus and embody the gospel in daily life. In the quest for a richer, more relevant understanding of Christian education, Webb-Mitchell provides meaningful answers to questions concerning the purpose, context, ways, and means of educating Christians today.
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Where All Hope Lies Print On Demand Title
$29.99Add to cart304 Pages
Additional Info
“Where All Hope Lies” presents fifty-six select sermons by James Van Tholen, a gifted young pastor who lost his battle with cancer in January 2001 at the age of thirty-six.Though Jim’s untimely death gives a certain poignancy to this volume, these sermons are far from dark or despairing. Van Tholen’s conversational style, thought-provoking insights into Scripture, and frequent interaction with such writers as Flannery O’Connor, Frederick Buechner, Kathleen Norris, and others make these sermons truly enjoyable as well as profitable to read. Through them all there runs a sense of concentrating on what really matters trusting in God no matter what suffering or difficulties might come our way. Indeed, as demonstrated by the book’s title sermon first published in “Christianity Today” as “Surprised by Death” more than anything, Van Tholen preached the grace and goodness of God.
Including a foreword by Neal Plantinga and a closing reflection on “the man behind the sermons” by Jim’s wife, Rachel, “Where All Hope Lies” offers gracious, powerful, uplifting words for believers throughout the church year
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3 Months With The Spirit (Student/Study Guide)
$14.99Add to cartIn his lively writing style, renowned author Justo Gonzalez makes this material, formerly available only in Spanish, available to an English-speaking audience. Consisting of 13 Bible studies–each in 7 parts–Three Months with the Spirit can be used for individual or group study.
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Im More Than A Pastors Wife
$22.99Add to cartA serious yet good humored look at the unique challenges facing pastors9 wives in the 21st century. Pastor9s wives confront unique challenges, both as wives of a public figure and as members of the congregation. Lorna Dobson, whose husband, Ed, is senior pastor of Calvary Church in Grand Rapids, MI, speaks from experience. In this open and caring discussion she addresses the dynamics that pastors9 wives face in a church culture that is in transition to a new era in the 21st century. Dobson9s writing has been praised for its combination of good humor and serious advice and for its balance of scriptural basis, personal illustrations, honesty, and sincerity. In this revised edition she draws on fresh experiences and mature reflection. Here she delves further into the ways wives can support their husbands9 ministries, and she explores the dynamics of dealing with “problem people” and conflicts between pastor and congregation. “Although this book is an easy read, Dobson isn9t always easy on readers, using a tone of gentle exhortation .[She] is well read and includes great quotes from authors .This book will help any pastor9s wife wanting to fine-tune her role.” Bookstore Journal
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Preaching In Black And White
$22.99Add to cart12 Chapters
Additional Info
A noted black preacher and a white preacher interact on the dynamics of pulpit ministry Black preachers and white preachers have tended to minister in isolation within their separate communities. They have been unaware of what they might learn from each other as members of the same body of Christ. Yet as America becomes increasingly diverse, pastors need to become more sensitive to the needs of people from other cultural backgrounds. Preaching in Black and White is the first attempt to bring together a noted black preacher and white preacher to interact on the dynamics of pulpit ministry and what can be learned from each other. Readers are invited to pull up a chair and listen in to a conversation between the two authors as they discuss the context in which African-American preaching has developed, the similarities and differences in styles of preaching in the two communities, and how they go about preparing and delivering a sermon. Humor and stories punctuate the dialogue including the stories of Dr. Bailey9s receiving a beating from the police in California and how forgetting the second point in his sermon brought the house down with laughter. Features include: * Two illustrative sermons on the same text about Zacchaeus by a white preacher and a black preacher * Audio CD featuring signature sermon from E. K. Bailey, “Testing of a Tax Collector” * Annotated bibliography of preaching resources * Biographical section introducing noted black preachers * Black and white photographs -
Help Im Leading A Childrens Sermon 1
$14.00Add to cart1. Common Lectionary Year A
2. Common Lectionary Year B
3. Common Lectionary Year C
ApendixAdditional Info
Children are an important part of the worshipping community and need to have opportunities that create for them a sense of belonging. Children’s sermons provide this opportunity and should be events of proclamation. Help! I’m Leading a Children’s Sermon, Volume 1 contains a collection of children’s sermons designed to involve children creatively in worship and the proclamation of the Word. The collection contains two sermons for each Sunday with a key emphasis on Scripture, including key verses to be read within the sermon. The sermons invite the children to participate in corporate worship in a meaningful, creative way by asking questions and using hands-on activities to explain themes such as hope, forgiveness, repentance and God’s sovereignty. Help I’m Leading a Children’s Sermon, Volume 1 is an essential book for the collection of any worship leader -
Mission Trip Prep Kit Leaders Guide (Teacher’s Guide)
$14.99Add to cartYou work hard planning mission trips. Now make mission trips work for you and your group. Headed to inner-city America? Appalachia? A border of Shantytown? Overseas? Wherever your destination, the MISSION TRIP PREP KIT contains all you need to prepare your students for an unforgettable cross-cultural experience _ and tools to debrief them after they9ve returned to their worlds. Use this kit- *To get on-site impact as well as long-term spiritual change in your kids. *Whether you9re a mission-trip novice or a savvy traveler outside your comfort zones. *Whether your group9s is geared toward reaching others with the gospel or to disciple your young missionaries. *In several sessions spread over a month or two _ or in an intensive, two-day training session or retreat. IN THIS LEADER9S GUIDE: You9ll receive not only the rationale, the how, and the logistics of planning and pulling off a missions trip, but _ and this is the genius of the leader9s guide _ 4 PRE-TRIP TEACHING SESSIONS that will help your students _ *Assess their EXPECTATIONS, their fears, their motivations. *Adjust their PERCEPTIONS of the culture they9ll be working in. *Improve their emotional and spiritual STAMINA for living for a week or a month in a very different world from their own. *Practice the skills and ATTITUDES (teamwork, servanthood, Christ-centeredness) they9ll need for a missions trip. And to make sure your trip9s goals are accomplished and the benefits stick around for a long haul, you9ll also receive 2 POST-TRIP SESSIONS that will help you DEBRIEF your students, ease them back into their own worlds, CELEBRATE with them, and make missions and ministry part of their EVERYDAY LIVES WITH JESUS. What9s more, in these pre- and post-trip teaching sessions are a variety of ACTIVITIES processing points creative PRAYER IDEAS take-home applications BIBLE STUDIES relevant to mission tripping TALK OUTLINES that both instruct and inspire and lots of sessions options you can tailor to your own HIGH SCHOOLERS OR MIDDLE SCHOOLERS.
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Teaching Todays Teachers To Teach (Revised)
$24.99Add to cartA revision of a standard resource for classes and seminary courses in Christian education. A revised edition of the best-selling Teaching Teachers to Teach (1974), this book is a basic, comprehensive manual offering practical guidance that helps teachers learn the art and practice of teaching. Throughout the book, Griggs identifies the basic elements of the teaching process and outlines the essential ingredients needed for effective teaching.
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Confessing Jesus Christ A Print On Demand Title
$32.99Add to cart264 Pages
Additional Info
Denying any realities beyond our own mental constructions, postmodernists relentlessly question the presuppositions of many disciplines—including homiletics. Confessing Jesus Christ: Preaching in a Postmodern World encourages pastors to treat sermons as public acts of “faith alone.” Offering a lively description of antifoundationalism—and its implications for Christianity—David Lose suggests concrete methods of countering the challenges it poses. Includes two sample sermons. -
Ministry Loves Company
$25.00Add to cartIn Ministry Loves Company John Galloway provides new and veteran pastors with insights on establishing and maintaining a vital parish ministry while remaining invigorated by the practice of ministry. Drawing on the image of a congregation as a family, Galloway uses anecdotes to describe the life of a congregation and the life of a pastor, who have both been called to be the body of Christ. Poignant, memorable, and often humorous, Galloway’s reflections derive from his own personal experiences as a pastor. Ministry Loves Company uniquely addresses the many challenges facing today’s pastors and serves as a practical guide for those veteran pastors who are seeking to remain courageous and excited about parish ministry.
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Boundaries With Kids Participants Guide (Student/Study Guide)
$14.99Add to cartA video resource kit that helps parents bring control to their family and instill godly character in their children This ZondervanGroupware curriculum is a complete resource kit for helping parents put into practice the principles detailed in the book Boundaries with Kids. Drs. Henry Cloud and John Townsend take parents through the ins and outs of establishing family boundaries and cultivating sound character in their children. The video features presentations by the authors as well as dramatic vignettes. The 8 sessions can be used in large or small groups and are presented in a new test-proven small group interactive format. The complete ZondervanGroupware kit includes one leader9s guide, one participant9s guide, one Boundaries with Kids softcover book, one VHS video, and one DVD. Each element except the videos is also sold separately. An 8-Session Focus on Boundaries and Kids
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17 Indisputable Laws Of Teamwork (Workbook)
$19.99Add to cartWhether leading in business, church, sports, or in your family, teamwork is essential. In this new book, John Maxwell walks readers through the various laws of leadership showing the importance of working together.
Everyone who works with people is realizing that the old autocratic method of leadership simply doesn’t work. The way to win is to build a great team.
John C. Maxwell has been teaching the benefits of leadership and team building for years. Now he tackles the importance of teamwork head on, writing about teamwork being necessary for every kind of leader, and showing how team building can improve every area of your life.Written in the style of the bestseller The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, this new book not only contains laws that you can count on when it comes to getting people to work together, but it tells them in such a way that you can start applying them to your own life today. And it’s illustrated with great stories of team leaders – and team breakers – from history, business, the church, and sports.
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Boundaries With Kids Leaders Guide (Teacher’s Guide)
$29.99Add to cartA video resource kit that helps parents bring control to their family and instill godly character in their children This ZondervanGroupware curriculum is a complete resource kit for helping parents put into practice the principles detailed in the book Boundaries with Kids. Drs. Henry Cloud and John Townsend take parents through the ins and outs of establishing family boundaries and cultivating sound character in their children. The video features presentations by the authors as well as dramatic vignettes. The 8 sessions can be used in large or small groups and are presented in a new test-proven small group interactive format. The complete ZondervanGroupware kit includes one leader9s guide, one participant9s guide, one Boundaries with Kids softcover book, one VHS video, and one DVD. Each element except the videos is also sold separately. An 8-Session Focus on Boundaries and Kids
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Principles Of Prison Ministry
$14.99Add to cartMany churches have sent teams of ministers into prisons, and nearly two-thirds of them have returned to their churches defeated. The Principles of Prison Ministry serves as a manual for such teams, giving volunteer chaplains a far better view of what prison ministry is all about. Dr. Seay’s twenty-three years of experience will help navigate you through some of the trouble areas in this difficult world of prisons.
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What They Dont Teach You At Theological College
$23.00Add to cartThis is an accessible guide for all those thinking of ordination, their teachers, and all those setting out in the ministry, along with their families. It offers practical advice on all the personnel issues related to the ministry, from sensing a call to planning for your retirement. There is clear and simple guidance on the appointments system and chapters on handling conflict, introducing change, managing on less money, knowing when to move on and reviewing your ministry. The Church is exempt from employment law and clergy aften have to feel their way through 30 years or more service. This text offers support and guidance for every stage of your ministry, a summary of legal responsibilities and parish structures and advice for nurturing your personal life.
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Milk For Babes
$17.49Add to cart“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” (1 Peter 2:2-3) “The title and subject matter of this book,” says Anne Murchison, “arose out of my own need for follow-up material for new Christians who have no classes readily available to them.” Anne discovered the lack of a Christian “primer” through her own experiences as a new Christian, and as she attempted to share her faith with non-Christian friends and with classes of new believers put in her care. Consequently she has written this basic, yet thorough study which provides the tools for laying a sure foundation for faith. The author addresses these and other queries so often posed by beginning Christians and curious unbelievers. What is God’s nature-what’s he like? Who is Satan? What about those who never hear of Jesus? The Trinity-how can three be one? What is sin? “Whether you are a nonbeliever or a believer in Jesus Christ,” states Tom Landry in his preface, “the challenge of Christianity brings up questions that need answering. Anne Murchison has used these questions as topics for her study guide. She has allowed the Word of God, the Bible, to answer these questions. . . . “I encourage you to use this book as a study guide for your time in the Bible. The Holy Spirit will reveal to you only what you are able to handle. As you continue to grow and mature as a Christian, God will continue to reveal new truths that will enable you to fully enjoy the ‘peace that passes all understanding.”
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Lessons From A Dog Guide Cycle C
$10.95Add to cartDee Brauninger has a way with words that makes one’s heart sing and be open to learn andhear more. Gentle phrases leap out and make one think and wrestle with God and one’s self.(from the introduction)Margaret Slater, Inclusive Ministry CoordinatorLocal Church Ministries, United Church of ChristIn these meditations on the love and trust of the relationship between guide dog and person, readersfind themselves learning to love and to trust in other important ways. Brauninger speaksfrom experience, yet with care and respect for the reader’s own journey and conclusions about life.Mary Avidano, PastorAlbion United Church of ChristAlbion, NebraskaBrauninger has a gift for writing words that are truly inspired and inspiring. Her workwith guide dogs has given her a unique insight into spiritual life, and a very understandableway of presenting God’s message.Judy Campbell, Director of TrainingLeader Dogs for the BlindRochester, MichiganTheses superbly crafted meditations, focusing on messages of hope and the reality of God’spresence, introduce insights that speak to the heart. The meditations bear reading severaltimes, allowing one to savor the words and explore the meanings for one’s own life.Martha D. Walker, Counselor and Christian EducatorPottstown, PennsylvaniaUsing her own experiences with leader dogs as a metaphor for our dependence upon a caringGod, Brauninger creatively weaves together personal stories, fresh insights into biblical passages, and implications for people in the pews.Dosia Carlson, Pastor EmeritusChurch of the BeatitudesPhoenix, ArizonaThese messages are a real treasure! Told in a setting that includes a dog guide namedTreasure, the stories help relate our faith to our own daily situations. Treasure helps us gainsome insight and understanding into both our faith and our life.Bob Loffer, Associate Conference MinisterNebraska Conference, United Church of ChristThe images of our faith strengthen our spiritual growth. Dee Brauninger weaves the attributesof the divine so well as she captures the person with a disability living in unity with adog, or is it with God?David Denham, ConsultantUnited Church of Christ Disabilities MinistriesDallas A. Brauninger is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ andfull-time writer who has served churches in Colorado and Nebraska. She has been honoredby her denomination for outstanding ministry to persons with disabilities and theirfamilies, and she is the editor of That All May Worship And Serve, the
