Gospel-Driven Ministry

Gospel-Driven Ministry
Author: Jared C. Wilson
Publisher: Zondervan
Total Pages: 247
Release: 2021-03-02
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0310111579

From the beginning of his ministry, Jesus called and equipped individuals who would serve his community of followers. These "shepherds" are called to preach, pray, and care for the needs of God's people. But what does it mean to be a pastor? And what is the nature of this ministry, according to the Bible? In Gospel-Driven Ministry, Jared Wilson begins by looking at the qualifications for the pastorate, addressing the notion of a call to ministry and how an individual--and a church community--can best identify the marks of maturity and affirm a call. In each chapter, Wilson looks at one of the core practices of pastoral ministry, including: Preaching Sermons Developing a Vibrant Prayer Life Caring and Counseling Pastoring Married and Single Gospel-Centered Leadership Fighting Sin and Spiritual Warfare Resolving Conflict Passing on the Ministry to Others In addition, Wilson provides practical resources including theological insights on baptism and the Lord's Supper, guidance for wedding and funeral sermons, outlines for leading elder and deacon meetings, tips for interviewing new pastors, questions to ask at ordination, and advice on knowing when and how to leave a pastor role. This is a comprehensive, practical guide to pastoral ministry that prepares new pastors and equips those currently serving for long-term, healthy ministry.

The Gospel-Driven Life

The Gospel-Driven Life
Author: Michael Horton
Publisher: Baker Books
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2009-10-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1441205241

In his well-received Christless Christianity Michael Horton offered a prophetic wake-up call for a self-centered American church. With The Gospel-Driven Life he turns from the crisis to the solutions, offering his recommendations for a new reformation in the faith, practice, and witness of contemporary Christianity. This insightful book will guide readers in reorienting their faith and the church's purpose toward the good news of the gospel. The first six chapters explore that breaking news from heaven, while the rest of the book focuses on the kind of community that the gospel generates and the surprising ways in which God is at work in the world. Here is fresh news for Christians who are burned out on hype and are looking for hope.

The Purpose Driven Church

The Purpose Driven Church
Author: Rick Warren
Publisher: Zondervan
Total Pages: 401
Release: 2007-09-04
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0310294088

The issue is church health, not church growth—if your church is healthy, growth will occur naturally. So how do we make healthy churches, driven by purpose? In order for any church to thrive, it must be built around the five New Testament purposes given to the church by Jesus Christ. In this classic of Christian church stability, pastor and bestselling author of The Purpose Driven Life Rick Warren unpacks this proven five-part strategy that will enable your church to grow: Warmer through fellowship. Deeper through discipleship. Stronger through worship. Broader through ministry. Larger through evangelism. Every church is driven by something. Tradition, finances, programs, personalities, events, seekers, and even buildings can each be the controlling force in a church. But Warren will show you how to concentrate on building people and let God build the church. In other words, healthy, consistent growth is the result of balancing the five biblical purposes of the church. And The Purpose Driven Church will show you how to do that. “The Purpose Driven Church has brought focus and direction to more pastors and church leaders than you can count. What a gift!”—John Ortberg, bestselling author.

Center Church

Center Church
Author: Timothy Keller
Publisher: Zondervan
Total Pages: 400
Release: 2012-09-04
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0310494192

Practical and Gospel-centered thoughts on how to have a fruitful ministry by one of America's leading and most beloved pastor. Many church leaders are struggling to adapt to a culture that values individuality above loyalty to a group or institution. There have been so many "church growth" and "effective ministry" books in the past few decades that it's hard to know where to start or which ones will provide useful and honest insight. Based on over twenty years of ministry in New York City, Timothy Keller takes a unique approach that measures a ministry's success neither by numbers nor purely by the faithfulness of its leaders, but on the biblical grounds of fruitfulness. Center Church outlines a balanced theological vision for ministry organized around three core commitments: Gospel-centered: The gospel of grace in Jesus Christ changes everything, from our hearts to our community to the world. It completely reshapes the content, tone, and strategy of all that we do. City-centered: With a positive approach toward our culture, we learn to affirm that cities are wonderful, strategic, and under-served places for gospel ministry. Movement-centered: Instead of building our own tribe, we seek the prosperity and peace of our community as we are led by the Holy Spirit. "Between a pastor's doctrinal beliefs and ministry practices should be a well-conceived vision for how to bring the gospel to bear on the particular cultural setting and historical moment. This is something more practical than just doctrine but much more theological than "how-to steps" for carrying out a ministry. Once this vision is in place, it leads church leaders to make good decisions on how to worship, disciple, evangelize, serve, and engage culture in their field of ministry—whether in a city, suburb, or small town." — Tim Keller, Core Church

The Gospel-Centered Life

The Gospel-Centered Life
Author: Robert H. Thune
Publisher: New Growth Press
Total Pages: 111
Release: 2016-04-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1942572921

Lots of Christians talk about the gospel, but how many really understand the gospel and know how to apply it to their lives? Featuring nine self-contained lessons with discussion questions, articles, practical exercises, and comprehensive leader’s notes in the back, The Gospel-Centered Life helps participants understand how the gospel shapes ...

Gospel Wakefulness (Foreword by Ray Ortlund)

Gospel Wakefulness (Foreword by Ray Ortlund)
Author: Jared C. Wilson
Publisher: Crossway
Total Pages: 226
Release: 2011-10-06
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1433526395

We may know the gospel. We may believe it—even proclaim it. But we also may assume the gospel and become lethargic. In this book Jared Wilson seeks to answer the central question, how do we experience and present the gospel in a fresh, nonroutine way in order to prevent ourselves and others from becoming numb? His answer may be surprising: "by routinely presenting the unchanging gospel in a way that does justice to its earth-shaking announcement." We don't excite and awaken people to the glorious truths of the gospel by spicing up our worship services or through cutting-edge, dramatic rhetoric, but by passionately and faithfully proclaiming the same truths we have already been given in Scripture. Wilson's book will stir churches to live out the power of the gospel with a fervent, genuine zeal. After an explanation of the term "gospel wakefulness," Wilson unpacks implications for worship, hyper-spirituality, godly habits, and sanctification, as well as other aspects of church life. Pastors, church leaders, and all in ministry, especially those who are tired or discouraged, will be uplifted, emboldened, and empowered by this book.

Who's Driving the Purpose Driven Church?

Who's Driving the Purpose Driven Church?
Author: James Sundquist
Publisher: Bible Belt Publishing
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2004-01-01
Genre: Church growth
ISBN: 9780974476452

THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE BY RICK WARREN HAS BECOME A NUMBER ONE BEST SELLER, AND HAS BEEN DISRIBUTED TO OVER 180,000 PASTORS WORLDWIDE. RICK WARREN'S THEOLOGY HAS INFILTRATED ALMOST EVERY CHRISTIAN DENOMINATION. HIS TEACHINGS HAVE COME LIKE A FLOOD INTO A CITY, IN WHICH NO HOUSE IS LEFT UNTOUCHED. BECAUSE OF THIS, IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT WE TEST THE SPIRITS OF HIS TEACHINGS TO SEE IF THEY ARE OF GOD.

The Gospel-Driven Church

The Gospel-Driven Church
Author: Jared C. Wilson
Publisher: Zondervan
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2019-03-12
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0310577888

Many 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.

Baptist Sacramentalism 2

Baptist Sacramentalism 2
Author: Anthony R. Cross
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 309
Release: 2009-04-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1606086014

This second collection of essays exploring various dimensions of sacramental theology from a Baptist perspective includes biblical, historical and theological studies from scholars from around the world. Subjects covered are sacraments and sacramentality, sacrament and sacrifice in Hebrews, the sacrament of fearful intimacy, the church as sacrament, baptism and the Lord's supper for post-Christendom Baptists, Pauline baptism and Roman Insulae, open communion for the contemporary church, penance, sacred space, recovering a biblical understanding of baptismal regeneration, the Lord's supper and the spirituality of C.H. Spurgeon, Southern Baptist eucharistic sacramentalism and soul competency, re-thinking ex opere operato sacramentalism, the sacramentality of the word in Gregory of Nyssa, and searching for a common theology of baptism between Baptists and the Churches of Christ. This volume does not speak the final word on the subject, but is a step along the way toward the recovery and reconstruction of a rubust sacramentalism in a Baptist modality.

Foundations for Fruitful Church Planting

Foundations for Fruitful Church Planting
Author: Ken L. Davis
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 350
Release: 2023-07-28
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1666749176

Church planting is one of the most challenging yet rewarding adventures you can embark on. Often zealous planters and their teams launch their new church prematurely, without taking time to lay a firm foundation for long-term fruitful ministry. Failure to do so often results in a weakened new church, or even the new church closing after a few years. Rather than focusing on methodology, the how to's of church planting, this book gives attention to six foundational concerns wise planters will need to nail down before they ever plant: -Biblical foundations, -Theological foundations, - Ecclesiological foundations, - Missiological foundations, -Spiritual foundations, -Practical foundations. Although helpful for a wide range of planting leaders, this book is particularly written for four specific groups: -those who feel called to plant and are making preparations; -their planting teammates and launch leaders; -those exploring church planting; -those who coach and train church planters. Foundations for Fruitful Church Planting serves as a comprehensive resource that will guide you to think strategically, plan carefully, and prepare thoroughly to birth a healthy, growing, and reproducing congregation. Each chapter includes recommended resources, discussion questions, and follow-through exercises.