Church Life
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Gospel Driven Church
$24.99Many evangelical churches face the problem of the open “back door”–even as new people arrive, older members are leaving, looking for something else. Combined with this problem is the discipleship deficit, the difficult truth that most evangelicals are not reaching the unchurched at the rates they think they are. In fact, many of the metrics that we often “count” in the church to highlight success really don’t tell us the full story of a church’s spiritual state. Things like attendance, decisions, dollars, and experiences can tell us something about a church, but not everything.
To cultivate a spiritually healthy church we need a shift in our metrics–a “grace-shift” that prioritizes the work of God in the lives of people over numbers and dollars. Are people growing in their esteem for Jesus? Is there a dogged devotion to the Bible as the ultimate authority for life? Is there a growing interest in theology and doctrine? A discernible spirit of repentance? And perhaps most importantly, is there evident love for God and for our neighbors in the congregation?
Leading a church culture to shift from numerical success to the metrics of grace can be costly, but leaders who have conviction, courage, and commitment can lead while avoiding some of the landmines that often destroy churches. Wilson includes diagnostic questions that will help leaders measure–and lead team transparency in measuring as a group–the relative spiritual health of their church, as well as a practical prescriptive plan for implementing this metric-measuring strategy without becoming legalistic.
Most attractional church models can lean heavily on making changes to the weekend worship gatherings. And while some of these changes can be good, thriving grace-focused churches are driven by a commitment to the gospel, allowing the gospel to inform and shape the worship service and the various ministries of the church.
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Reason For Church
$22.99Rediscover the goodness and beauty of the Body of Christ.
The evangelical church is hemorrhaging. Over 40 million Americans have dechurched in the last 25 years alone, and multiple generations have been raised to believe the most spiritual thing they can do is follow God by following their heart – right out of the church. Yet, this shift is happening right as society is hitting record levels of loneliness, stress, and anxiety. In The Reason for Church, pastor Brad Edwards connects the dots of our current church crisis and provides compelling reasons to come back.
In part 1, Edwards shows how individualistic beliefs make church implausible and compromise our spiritual formation:
*Marketplace logic and consumeristic approaches to discipleship
*Intuitional spirituality and therapy speak
*Social media’s distortion of what is true, good, and beautiful
*Performative politics and culture wars
*Virtuous victimhood, the decline of trust, and the rise of powerThese chapters show why individualism won’t satisfy and can’t provide the refuge it promises.
In part 2, Edwards uses personal examples, church history, non-Western expressions of faith, and Scripture to show how the church is our existentially satisfying alternative to individualism. Equipped with an institutionally robust vision, we will rediscover the church as God’s spiritual greenhouse where soul-tired sojourners and lonely exiles are restored and repurposed for life in the world.
The Reason for Church offers an honest-yet-hopeful vision for church as a necessary institution. With radical individualism tearing us apart, we need compelling reasons to fall back in love with Christ’s bride, now more than ever.
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Worship Old And New (Revised)
$22.99A reexamination of the actual practice of worship that goes beyond the merely academic to provide a practical perspective through the eyes of the worship leader and the congregation.
The most effective approach to worship is one that blends historical and traditional practices with contemporary elements. Worship Old and New is a scholarly, up-to-date, and thought-provoking resource for anyone serious about exploring worship and how to bring about a worship renewal in the church.
Now reformatted and updated for an easier, more logical approach to worship theology, this revised edition is divided into four major sections, addressing:
*The biblical foundation of worship–found in the Old and New Testaments as well as the early Christian movement.
*The biblical theology of worship–how worship is an enactment of the Gospel.
*A brief history of worship–from ancient and medieval, to twentieth-century renewal.
*An overview of how worship is practiced–from content and structure, to the role of music and art.
New information is incorporated into each section to give you a better grasp of the biblical themes of worship, a deeper understanding of Old Testament customs, and a solid grounding in modern-day renewal movements.
This book is ideal for ministerial, classroom, and congregational settings.
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Becoming A Future Ready Church
$22.99Are Church Leaders Missing the Generational Handoff? There’s Still Hope.
*Are we building institutions that will meaningfully serve the next generation of believers and their leaders?
*How does a church thrive in a culture where we have to earn credibility?
*How do we create a sense of belonging to the body of Christ and a strong sense of identity for the next generation?
Becoming a Future-Ready Church is a blueprint to guide you through eight critical shifts to help lead your church into the future with wisdom and hope. It describes several major converging trends that will greatly impact the church in America over the next few decades: the Great Resignation of Boomer leaders from churches, the shrinking percentage of Christians in America, and the change in felt needs among rising generations shaped heavily by anxiety, skepticism, and fragmentation.
Missiologist and pastor Daniel Yang, religion journalist Adelle Banks, and church researcher Warren Bird have come together in Becoming a Future-Ready Church to help church leaders evaluate whether their ministries are entrenched in strategies that worked well in the past but need to be adapted for the future. By helping us ask better questions about the issues and needs facing the church, they reveal practical ways in which the next generation of church leaders can gain a sturdier foothold as they navigate into the future.
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Grace To Grow
$19.99Most pastors pray for a healthy and vibrant church, a prosperous organization and transformative change among those they disciple, but many find themselves frustrated because they lack direction and feel as though they are spinning their wheels. They struggle to correct unhealthy patterns or do not have fresh vision for their ministry.
John K. Jenkins can relate. The first church he attended is best described as a shack with a bell and a steeple. The restroom facilities? An outhouse. When he accepted his first senior pastoral role, he ministered to 35 people on a good Sunday.
Today, Pastor Jenkins welcomes more than 11,000 worshipers to Sunday services, and thousands more participate virtually. And he has learned what it takes to help an organization function wisely and efficiently, no matter its size.
Grace to Grow reveals the lessons Jenkins has learned along the way. It is a guide to help pastors move their ministries from merely surviving to fully thriving, despite the challenging road ahead. He gives insight into his own journey as a young pastor and identifies biblical principles, strategies, and techniques that made the difference in the life of his church and his personal discipleship for almost four decades.
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Offensive Church : Breaking The Cycle Of Ethnic Disunity
$23.99Crises around race have put the church in a defensive posture, always reacting to racial conflicts in society. But Jesus wants more. He wants Christians to play offense by discipling people into a new humanity, where we push beyond mere diversity and into a biblical vision for ethnic unity.
Bryan Loritts calls Christians to proactively and intentionally live out the embodied reality of a people at one with one another. We play offense by practicing a robust gospel, preparing reliable leadership, and providing relational environments so that the church becomes the aroma of Christ to our culture and gains ground against the demonic foothold of racism in all its forms.
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Not A Hopeless Case
$19.99Is America the next missionary graveyard? Or is it ripe for spiritual revolution? The statistics seem grim. Every year, the decline of Christianity continues at a rapid pace, especially among young adults. Churches across the country are closing their doors, dying, or are being “adopted” by nearby larger churches. What is the story church leaders hear? We’ve lost the next generation.
But this decline in religious affiliation has not made us less spiritual. Young adults are still asking questions that only faith (or religion) can fully answer. Questions are like seeds buried in the rich, dark soil of our hearts. Nurtured with oxygen and water, they unfold into that which they were meant to become. Absent these conditions, they wither in the dark. Those most resistant to Christianity are those whose questions did not receive oxygen in their faith communities while they were children and teenagers.
Not a Hopeless Case is the story of questions, the questions of young adults about faith and spirituality–young adults who are lost and want to be found–and the questions of pastors who seek to find them.
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Ministerio Pastoral – (Spanish)
$31.23Si esta tratando de condensar el ministerio pastoral en un volumen, !aqui lo tiene!
Alentador, perspicaz y desafiante, El ministerio pastoral esta diseado para una nueva generacion de pastores que tratan de dirigir con la pasion de los apostoles. Escrito por MacArthur y sus colegas en The Master’s Seminary, esta guia bosqueja las prioridades biblicas esenciales para un ministerio eficaz.
Otros colaboradores incluyen a: Richard L. Mayhue, James F. Stitzinger, Alex D. Montoya, James M. George, Irvin A. Busenitz, James E. Rosscup, Donard G. McDougall, Robert L. Thomas, David C. Deuel, George J. Zemek y S. Lance Quinn.
If you are looking to sum up pastoral ministry in a 1-volume book, this is it!
Encouraging, insightful, and challenging, El ministerio pastoral is designed for a new generation of shepherds who seek to lead with the passion of the apostles. Written by MacArthur and his colleagues at The Master’s Seminary, this guide outlines the biblical priorities essential to effective ministry.
Other contributors include: Richard L. Mayhue, James F. Stitzinger, Alex D. Montoya, James M. George, Irvin A. Busenitz, James E. Rosscup, Donard G. McDougall, Robert L. Thomas, David C. Deuel, George J. Zemek, and S. Lance Quinn.
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Vital Christian Community
$29.95Twelve characteristics of healthy Christian communities and the congregational and personal practices that develop them.
Congregations have been the bedrock of mainline Christian life and practice for centuries but in recent years many have dwindled in energy and impact. Leaders conclude that change is needed, that they can’t keep applying the same models and practices that have served in the past but no longer seem to work.
At a time when all kinds of institutions are being buffeted by swift and strong cultural forces, Brochard and Newton believe the congregation to be a primary site for the transformation of individuals, communities, and the world and that the measures for congregational vitality begin with health, faithfulness, and effectiveness as local expressions of the Church.
The authors offer readers insights into developing a sense of purpose, building trust, encouraging curiosity, becoming more collaborative, appreciating productive conflict, and other vital skills.
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Next Worship : Glorifying God In A Diverse World
$21.99What happens when a diverse church glorifies the global God?
We live in a time of unprecedented intercultural exchange, where our communities welcome people from around the world. Music and media from every culture are easily accessible, and our worship is infused with a rich variety of musical and liturgical influences. But leading worship in multicultural contexts can be a crosscultural experience for everybody. How do we help our congregations navigate the journey?
Innovative worship leader Sandra Maria Van Opstal is known for crafting worship that embodies the global, multiethnic body of Christ. Likening diverse worship to a sumptuous banquet, she shows how worship leaders can set the table and welcome worshipers from every tribe and tongue. Van Opstal provides biblical foundations for multiethnic worship, with practical tools and resources for planning services that reflect God’s invitation for all peoples to praise him.
When multiethnic worship is done well, the church models reconciliation and prophetic justice, heralding God’s good news for the world. Enter into the praise of our king, and let the nations rejoice!
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Church Of Us Vs Them
$25.00We are living in angry times. No matter where we go, what we watch, or how we communicate, our culture is rife with conflict. Unfortunately, Christians appear to be caught up in the same animosity as the culture at large. We are perceived as angry, judgmental, and defensive, fighting among ourselves in various media while the world looks on. How have we failed to be a people of reconciliation and renewal in the face of such tumult?
Claiming that the church has lost itself in the grip of an antagonistic culture, David Fitch takes a close look at what drives the vitriol in our congregations. He traces the enemy-making patterns in church history and diagnoses the divisiveness that marks the contemporary evangelical church. Fitch shows a way for the church to be true to itself, unwinding the antagonisms of our day and making space for Christ’s reconciling presence in our day-to-day lives. He offers new patterns and practices that move the church beyond making enemies to being the presence of Christ in the world, helping us free ourselves from a faith that feeds on division.
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Spiritual Formation As If The Church Mattered
$35.29Most books on spiritual formation focus on the individual. But spiritual formation is at the heart of the church’s whole purpose for existence. It must be a central task for the church to carry out Christ’s mission in the world. This book offers an introduction to spiritual formation set squarely in the local church. The first edition has been well received and widely used as a textbook. The second edition has been updated throughout, incorporates findings from positive psychology, and reflects an Augustinian formation perspective. Foreword by Dallas Willard.
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