Download or read book Church Actually written by Gerard Kelly and published by Monarch Books. This book was released on 2013-06-02 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Church Actually is the theme of Spring Harvest 2012. Church attendance in the west has declined in recent years, but decline has been accompanied by growth in spiritual exploration, a desire for spirituality, faith, even Jesus - all without the church. Experience, history and the New Testament suggest this desire is ill-founded. It is through the church, the Bible suggests, that the Kingdom comes. How can we find a wider vision of the Kingdom and the church's role? Kelly explores four of the 'brilliant ideas' inherent in God's design of the church. God works through his people, and the church trains and equips; the church is Spirit-driven, and spiritual formation is central to God's mission; the church's task force transforms the world through acts of love and service; the church is the rainbow-clothed Bride of Christ, one global family, a reconciling model for the world.

Download or read book Real Good Church written by Molly Phinney Baskette and published by The Pilgrim Press. This book was released on 2014-06-16 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This is a practical manual of everything our church did," says author Molly Phinney Baskette, "to reverse our death spiral and become the healthy, stable, spirited and robust community it is today—evident in the large percentage of children and young adults in our church, and a sixfold increase in pledged giving in the last decade." "Real Good Church" is a testament to Baskette's and First Church Somerville UCC's success, and a gift of hope for all churches that find themselves struggling to keep their doors open. What makes "Real Good Church" unique in the field of church growth books? It's practical. It actually tells churches what they can do—and how to do it. It offers beginning and intermediary steps for growth and renewal. Churches, no matter what situation they're in, will be able to jump in and get to work. It has a sense of humor. Baskette's easygoing, often self-deprecating writing style and approachable strategies will empower the reader and their church to revitalize itself. (If her church could do it, we can, too!)

Download or read book On Church Leadership written by Mark Driscoll and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2008 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mark Driscoll knows something about church leadership. He founded Mars Hill Church in Seattle in 1996, and it is now one of the fastest-growing and most prolific church-planting churches in America. Writing out of his personal experience and biblical conviction, Driscoll examines six important areas of church leadership, packing big truth into this little book, making it a book you’ll actually read.This book also includes some helpful appendices that answer seventeen common practical questions about church leadership, as well as a sample membership covenant and a list of recommended reading for further study on church leadership.On Church Leadership is part of a series of thorough, inexpensive, and accessible books that give clear, biblical answers to difficult theological questions and controversies. Through this series, readers will get a solid and simple introduction to a major doctrine by investing just a little time and money. Praise for the A Book You’ll Actually Read series:“Mark has a gift of taking weighty ideas and expressing them in clear and lively language.” Bruce A. Ware, Professor of Christian Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary“Serious, informed, reverent, but not technical discussions of great themes.” D. A. Carson, Research Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School“Simply and superbly written! Mark Driscoll has given us tools that can be placed in the hands of a skeptic or seeker, a new believer or mature saint.” Daniel L. Akin, President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary“These accessible books will encourage believers to see that theology is not an afterthought in the mission of God and the life of his church.” Ed Stetzer, Director of LifeWay Research“These books are well worth an hour of your time.” Craig Groeschel, Founding Pastor of LifeChurch.tv and author of Confessions of a Pastor

Download or read book At Your Best written by Carey Nieuwhof and published by WaterBrook. This book was released on 2021-09-14 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A perceptive and practical book about why our calendars so rarely reflect our priorities and what we can do to regain control.”—ADAM GRANT “Carey’s book will help you reorganize your life. And then you can share a copy with someone you care about.”—SETH GODIN You deserve to stop living at an unsustainable pace. An influential podcaster and thought leader shows you how. Overwhelmed. Overcommitted. Overworked. That’s the false script an inordinate number of people adopt to be successful. Does this sound familiar: ● Slammed is normal. ● Distractions are everywhere. ● Life gets reduced to going through the motions. Tired of living that way? At Your Best gives you the strategies you need to win at work and at home by living in a way today that will help you thrive tomorrow. Influential podcast host and thought leader Carey Nieuwhof understands the challenges of constant pressure. After a season of burnout almost took him out, he discovered how to get time, energy, and priorities working in his favor. This approach freed up more than one thousand productive hours a year for him and can do the same for you. At Your Best will help you ● replace chronic exhaustion with deep productivity ● break the pattern of overpromising and never accomplishing enough ● clarify what matters most by restructuring your day ● master the art of saying no, without losing friends or influence ● discover why vacations and sabbaticals don’t really solve your problems ● develop a personalized plan to recapture each day so you can break free from the trap of endless to-dos Start thriving at work and at home as you discover how to be at your best.

Download or read book Growing God s Church written by Gary L. McIntosh and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2016-01-12 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It's no secret that the evangelism methods of yesterday are not yielding the kinds of results they did in the 1970s and 1980s. So how are new Christians hearing the Gospel today? How are they finding churches? And what makes them stay at a church? The answers to these questions have the power to dramatically alter the way we do outreach. And Dr. McIntosh has them. Based on ten years of scientific research, Growing God's Church shows pastors and church leaders how people are actually coming to faith in the 21st century. It covers factors such as our motive for ministry, the priorities churches set for themselves, the reality of churchless Christians, generational and gender-based differences in evangelism effectiveness, the name of your church, the influence of pastors, and much more. The appendix includes a copy of the survey that provides the basis for McIntosh's arguments and an overview of the study is provided in the first chapter.

Download or read book If the Church Were Christian written by Philip Gulley and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2010-02-02 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “[Philip Gulley’s] vision of Christianity is grounded, gripping, and filled with uncommon sense. He is building bridges instead of boundaries, and such wisdom is surely needed now.” —Richard Rohr, O.F.M, author of Everything Belongs Quaker minister Philip Gulley, author of If Grace Is True and If God Is Love, returns with If the Church Were Christian: a challenging and thought-provoking examination of the author’s vision for today’s church… if Christians truly followed the core values of Jesus Christ. Fans of Shane Claiborne, Rob Bell, and unChristian will find much to discuss in If the Church Were Christian, as will anyone interested in the future of this institution.

Download or read book The Church Playbook written by Todd Tolson and published by . This book was released on 2015-08-05 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An all-in-one notebook created to coach Pastors on how to jumpstart growth in their Church & break the toughest barriers they face!

Download or read book The New Testament Order for Church and Missionary written by Alex Rattray Hay and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2010-09-01 with total page 542 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book And the Church Actually Changed written by N. Graham Standish and published by Fortress Press. This book was released on 2020-09-01 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The mainline church is in a drastic decline, and that decline is hitting clergy and churches on all sides of the theological debates. Pastors are struggling, and the ever-changing trends of ministry don't seem to be staunching the decline. . . . And the Church Actually Changed: Uncommon Wisdom for Pastors in an Age of Doubt, Division, and Decline arises out of N. Graham Standish's work as a spiritual director and coach to clergy of all denominations and traditions, and as the pastor of a healthy, growing, and somewhat alternative church for more than twenty-two years. He has helped pastors become healthier and more effective as they carry out the ministry to which they are uniquely called. . . . And the Church Actually Changed addresses issues brought up by clergy themselves in his coaching work with them. Using an integrative approach to ministry, Standish draws on insights from counseling, spiritual direction, organizational development, and other fields. The book is written in the form of dialogues between a clergy coach and various clergy clients who are struggling in their ministry. Each chapter addresses a significant clergy leadership issue, yet the dialogue allows coach and pastor to deal with issues pragmatically by exploring both the big picture and the details of leading a healthy church.

Download or read book So You Don t Want to Go to Church Anymore written by Wayne Jacobsen and published by Windblown Media. This book was released on 2008-09-02 with total page 157 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jake Colsen, an overworked and disillusioned pastor, happens into a stranger who bears an uncanny resemblance (in manner) to the apostle John. A number of encounters with John as well as a family crisis lead Jake to a new understanding of what his life should be like: one filled with faith bolstered by a steady, close relationship with the God of the universe. Facing his own disappointment with Christianity, Jake must forsake the habits that have made his faith rote and rediscover the love that captured his heart when he first believed. Compelling and intensely personal, So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anything relates a man's rebirth from performance-based Christianity to a loving friendship with Christ that affects all he does, thinks, and says. As John tells Jake, "There is nothing the Father desires for you more than that you fall squarely in the lap of his love and never move from that place for the rest of your life."

Download or read book How to Be a Christian without Going to Church written by Kelly Bean and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2014-06-24 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As many--young people especially--leave the traditional church in droves, they often still long for a genuine Christian community in which to practice their faith and share their spiritual journeys with others. They want to be faithful but struggle to find a place where they flourish. Whether they've already left the church behind or are merely considering it, readers will find here both heartfelt encouragement and practical steps for finding or creating a community of faith that honors God and offers rest, love, and communion with other believers. Author Kelly Bean broadens our definition of church to include many alternative forms of Christian community. With true stories of those who have given up on church and what they're doing now, this book is also helpful for pastors and churchgoers to help them understand why people leave the church--and what might be done to help them stay.

Download or read book Finding Church written by Wayne Jacobsen and published by Blue Sheep Media. This book was released on 2014-10-15 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What if the church Jesus is building looks more like wildflowers strewn across an alpine meadow than a walled garden with manicured hedges? If, like many other people, you have questioned whether there is something more to Jesus' church than the religious institutions we've inherited after two thousand years, you'll want to read Finding Church. Here is straight talk from a man who has sought authentic New Testament community for more than fifty years and who has discovered it in the most unlikely places.

Download or read book The Emotionally Healthy Church written by Peter Scazzero and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2010 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This revised and expanded edition of Peter Scazzero s award-winning book not only takes the original six principles for cultivating spiritual and emotional health in your church further and deeper, but he also adds a seventh principle to show you as a church leader how to slow down to lead with integrity."

Download or read book Sharpening the Focus of the Church written by Gene A. Getz and published by Moody Publishers. This book was released on 2024-10-01 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A timeless classic for solid grounding and renewal. Is your church adrift? Many churches are struggling to stay focused—to stay on point and hold fast to gospel essentials. Competing voices threaten to divide rather than unite and grow the church. In Sharpening the Focus of the Church, Dr. Gene Getz has written a classic, insightful, biblical treatise on church renewal. Getz focuses on New Testament principles as applied to the unique needs of contemporary culture and roots readers in the perspective of the history of the church. Discover how to sharpen your church’s focus through the lenses of Scripture, church history, and present-day needs. As you embark on this in-depth study of New Testament teaching, you will experience the power of the Word and the power of the Spirit transforming your church from the inside out. You’ll find positive, biblical solutions to the problems facing the church today, with practical advice for finding solutions to contemporary questions.

Download or read book Why Men Hate Going to Church written by David Murrow and published by HarperChristian + ORM. This book was released on 2011-10-31 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Church is boring.” “It’s irrelevant.” “It’s full of hypocrites.” You’ve heard the excuses—now learn the real reasons men and boys are fleeing churches of every kind, all over the world, and what we can do about it. Women comprise more than 60% of the adults in a typical worship service in America. Some overseas congregations report ten women for every man in attendance. Men are less likely to lead, volunteer, and give in the church. They pray less, share their faith less, and read the Bible less. In Why Men Hate Going to Church, David Murrow identifies the barriers keeping many men from going to church, explains why it’s so hard to motivate the men who do attend, and also takes you inside several fast-growing congregations that are winning the hearts of men and boys. In this completely revised, reorganized, and rewritten edition of the classic book, with more than 70 percent new content, explore topics like: The increase and decrease in male church attendance during the past 500 years Why Christian churches are more feminine even though men are often still the leaders The difference between the type of God men and women like to worship The lack of volunteering and ministry opportunities for men The benefits men get from attending church regularly Men need the church but, more importantly, the church needs men. The presence of enthusiastic men is one of the surest predictors of church health, growth, giving, and expansion. Why Men Hate Going to Church does not call men back to church—it calls the church back to men.

Download or read book What Is a Healthy Church written by Mark Dever and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2024-09-26 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Key Traits of a Healthy Church to Develop within the Local Body What is an ideal church, and how can you tell? How does it look different from other churches? More importantly, how does it act differently, especially in society? Many of us aren't sure how to answer those questions, even though we probably have some preconceived ideas. This book answers those questions and many more. Author Mark Dever seeks to help believers recognize the key characteristics of a healthy church: expositional preaching, biblical theology, and a right understanding of the gospel. Dever then calls us to develop those characteristics in our own churches. By following the example of New Testament authors and addressing all members of the church, pastors and laity alike, Dever challenges all believers to do their part in maintaining the local church. Part of the 9Marks Building Healthy Churches series, What Is a Healthy Church? offers timeless truths and practical principles to help each of us fulfill our God-given roles in the body of Christ. Offers an Ideal Church Model: Encourages pastors and members to implement healthy church qualities within their local body Written by Mark Dever: Pastor, bestselling author, and president of 9Marks From 9Marks: Other titles in the Building Healthy Churches series include Church Discipline; Deacons; and Church Membership Replaces ISBN 978-1-58134-937-5

Download or read book Church written by Ephraim Radner and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2017-10-27 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an introduction to thinking theologically about the Christian church--what is known as ecclesiology. The book covers background questions of conception, history, differences among separated Christian churches, and several modern approaches to the study of the church. It also introduces readers to a specific scriptural way of thinking about the church centered on mission, that takes into account problems associated with past approaches, and sensitive to contemporary concerns with the reality of Judaism and other national identities in a global context.