Guest AuthorBy Phil Bowdle Christmas is coming, and you’re probably reacting in one of two ways (or both). One, you’re digging out your favorite holiday music so you can get into the Christmas spirit. Two, you’re already anxious about everything your church...
By Deborah Ike Recent events, including the abduction of a child on a Sunday morning at a church in Giles County, Virginia, serve as a sober reminder that safety requires vigilance. A key method for both ensuring children are safe and showing...
By Ryan J. Pemberton In this article, Ryan J. Pemberton—author of Called: My Journey to C. S. Lewis’s House and Back Again and coauthor of Walking with C. S. Lewis—explores Advent ideas for your worship community. For Pemberton...
By Reuben Evans The new series Angels follows up The Unseen Realm and Demons. It’s available for purchase on Faithlife TV. Pop culture and church tradition have a lot to say about angels. However, in this documentary series, Dr. Mike Heiser takes...
Happy Reformation Day! In this guest post from Dr. Jim West, professor of biblical studies at the Quartz Hill School of Theology, we are reminded of the great Reformers and how they changed the course of history. *** The temperature outside the...
By Nate Walker “I am not the head of the church. Jesus is.” As a pastor, I had not only heard that many times, I had said it many times myself. And I really did believe it. But it left a major question unanswered for me. If I am not the head, what...
I don’t know a single worship leader who doesn’t want more solid musicians on their worship team. Identifying those musicians through an audition process is the first step to getting them there. But how can you set your new musicians up for success...
By Jeremy Shambach Two years ago, I transitioned from leading and overseeing our church’s youth ministries to overseeing and leading our children’s and youth ministries. Practically, that’s an eighteen-year gap of kids under my care—not to mention...
By Deborah Ike Summer months provide an excellent opportunity to refresh and clean up the church. Decent weather makes it easier to handle outdoor projects. No school may mean some students are willing and able to volunteer a few hours to help. As...
Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” But what are good works? Professor R. Michael Allen explains in the course Law and Gospel: The...
By Jeff Chaves If we learned anything last year, it’s that the church live stream is an important tech tool. For many of us, the live stream is here to stay. If you’re like most church techies, you aren’t content with using the basic tools. You...
By Katie Allred Now that your church’s worship services are both online and in-person (as most are these days), how are you engaging your online visitors—or are you? Here are four tips for making sure your online guests aren’t an afterthought but...
By Trillia Newbell The other morning I woke up while my children were still sleeping and began to pray. I started thinking about my identity. Who am I? As I settled into my prayer time, I began to rejoice at the thought that I am a mother. It is...
By James Wasem Church leadership and tech teams have a perennial problem: maintaining technology systems crucial for ministry, both in the sanctuary and online. While much of the decision-making process is focused on budget, it is even more...
This is a guest post by Peter Krol. A reader of my blog recently emailed to say, “I was never intentionally taught how to lead a Bible study, and, when the time came for me to teach others how to do it, I had no idea even where to begin.” Do you...
By Harold L. Senkbeil Where do you go when the calamities of life feel too heavy? We’re all tempted to turn inward, but perhaps we would do better to open the Psalms of lament instead. In the following excerpt from Christ and Calamity by award...
What do churches need to do church online well? Read on to learn what Jay Kranda, online pastor at Saddleback Church, has to say about this timely topic. *** A couple of months ago, I wanted to buy stock in Pinterest. I had never bought anything...
Did you know Jesus talked more about money than he did about heaven, hell, prayer, or faith? Thousands of verses discuss money. The Bible isn’t bashful about money and stewardship—but many pastors and church leaders are (especially when it comes to...
By Kenny Jahng Can you report on the health of your church at any given milestone throughout the year? Effective leaders keep their finger on the pulse of their community, and data gives the read. In the current environment, it can be hard to get a...
By Keri Wyatt Kent When is the worst time to launch a brand-new discipleship program? You might ask Discovery Church in Colorado Springs. You might also ask them how to grow your church during a global pandemic. In late January, Discovery Church in...
By Tobin Perry Developing generous givers isn’t about your church’s budget. It’s about discipleship. Jesus’ commission to make disciples and teach them everything he commanded (Matt. 28:18–20) means teaching people that giving is part of the...
By Jen Miles and Jason Morris When you think about helping people grow spiritually, Bible engagement and discipleship are probably at the top of your list. What if your congregation engaged with the Bible in meaningful ways every day? Today’s social...
By Adam McLaughlin There’s no shortage of ideas to communicate to our church members, and they all seem to creep into our announcements and church emails. Soon we’re communicating everything about everything—which becomes noise—instead of...
What does the Bible say about loneliness? More than you might think. Scripture’s light reveals its lies and shows us how to deal with loneliness God’s way. This excerpt is adapted from Finding God in My Loneliness by Lydia Brownback. *** Lie:...
By Stephen Nichols, adapted from Welcome to the Story: Reading, Living, and Loving God’s Word. *** How Dietrich Bonhoeffer came to write Life Together In 1935, the German National Church threw its support behind the Nazi party. Troubling to many in...
By Brandon Crowe When we ask, “What does the Bible say about work?” we often find a list of verses telling us to work hard and be faithful in our labor. But when we take a broader view of the topic, we can ask: how does the great commandment shape...
By John Stott, adapted from The Radical Disciple. In the introduction to his book Knowing God, Dr. J. I. Packer writes that we are “pygmy Christians because we have a pygmy God.” We could equally say that we are pygmy Christians because we have a...
There are a number of things that make a church website successful, from aesthetics to load time to ease of use. But the most important thing about your website comes before the page even loads: your domain name. Your website domain name is one of...
This is a guest post by Paul Tripp, author and founder of the Parenting conference. It has been adapted from a blogpost and has been edited for readability. It was 11:00 p.m. on a Sunday night and I was pulling out of the grocery store parking lot...
With our ever-present sin, we must return continually to the ever-abundant grace of God in Christ Jesus. Sunday morning is one of the primary times to reflect upon grace and celebrate it together as a body. Here are five worship songs about grace...