I’ve never listened to sermons much outside of regular church attendance or conferences. Since I am a pastor and preach most Sundays, I haven’t listened regularly to others preach since seminary. I want to change that. I made it a goal to listen to one sermon a week. When I listened to Warren Wiersbe’s sermon on Lev. 16, it was terrific. I wondered how I had missed his preaching all these years. Maybe you can help me. Maybe others could use your recommendations too. Who are some preachers that you think I and others could learn from? Who should we listen to? What should we … [Read more...] about Who Are Preachers We Should Learn From?
Give Away Evangelistic Books
Our church gives away lots of books. We give them away at the bus stop, Easter egg hunts, lunches for high school students, Christmas time, summer break, etc. It has become a evangelistic ministry for us, and I want you to consider how you can give away good books. What kind of books should we give away? Give short books. Longer books are not great for gifts because it feels like an assignment or work. Books as a gift should be under 100 pages. We get our books from 10ofThose and Matthias Media. We especially love the books The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness by Tim Keller and Empty by … [Read more...] about Give Away Evangelistic Books
Include Small Churches in Your Training Events and Conferences
“A larger church up the road is hoping to serve other area churches by helping them to organize their security teams,” a denomination leader told me once. When I was a kid, our church had a team of men (and sometimes their sons) driving around on golf carts as part of the security team. I loved the doughnuts in the shed. In my current small church, all the men are the security team every Sunday morning. That's not a separate ministry. Most church training events and conferences don’t include the average church. The average church is 65-75 people and has one pastor. Most training events are … [Read more...] about Include Small Churches in Your Training Events and Conferences
Praying for Friends and Their Families
I suspect I’m not the only person or pastor who wishes for better friendship. I haven’t made the friends that I should have or kept up with the good ones that I had. Pastors often have temporary work friendships until life and ministry take them in different directions. Here is what is helping me: Pray for your friends and their families. I’m gearing this for pastors, but this applies to everyone. I started praying for a couple of friends 1-2 years ago. I just wrote down two names and prayed for them once a week or so. One is a friend that I see once per month. The other is a friend that … [Read more...] about Praying for Friends and Their Families