In many circles today, the church bulletin—or worship folder, as some prefer to call it—has been relegated to relic status. It’s often seen as a leftover from a bygone era, something traditional churches cling to while more “cutting-edge” congregations go completely digital. Some church leaders proudly announce that they’ve ditched the bulletin altogether. Thom Rainer believes that is a mistake.
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As much as we’d love to think so, longevity in ministry doesn’t just happen. I’m not sure anyone really sets out to quit when they begin youth ministry, but the list of those who exit somewhere along the way is long and painful. The challenges and difficulties that await us when we surrender to ministry are greater than we could imagine. Often, overcoming these challenges comes down to having the right mindset and perspective.
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Tensions can get high on a pastoral staff. Chuck Lawless offers the most common reasons he's seen through years of consultation.
We are living in a day when societal acceptance of gambling is beyond anything we would have thought possible in our times. I have seen statistics that reveal there are as many as 48 states in the U.S. that have some form of legalized gambling.
I am living in my favorite season of life so far. Last November I turned 60 years old and found myself pleasantly surprised by that reality.
If you have been preaching long enough to have become comfortable with the rhythms of producing weekly expository sermons, you do not have to acquire some different skill set to be able to preach a good funeral sermon. If you have reached the point that you can pull together a good sermon from most places in the Bible, then you can write a good expository funeral sermon from more places in the Bible than you might realize. The sermon you preached last Sunday might easily have been developed into a funeral sermon, depending upon whose death the funeral marks.
I recently conducted the funeral of a good friend. Only 65, he had suffered from early onset Parkinson’s for years and then developed dementia. He died much too soon. Preparing for his funeral, I found the perfect passage for his service: 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.
Every parent and every church share a God-given assignment – to leave behind a legacy of Gospel-rooted believers who will carry the mission of Jesus long after we’re gone.
None of us want to end a worship service in an awkward way. Here are 12 suggestions for a meaningful transition.
For reasons beyond the scope of this post, my younger self went many years without reading anything not at least indirectly related to pastoral ministry or my Christian growth. Commentaries, works of theology, homiletics, and church leadership comprised the bulk of my reading. Biographies had to be missionary biographies…unless they were biographies of Christian athletes.
A bit of wise, if somewhat cliche, advice suggests, “God is in control, but He doesn’t expect you to lean on a shovel and pray for a hole.” The proverb suggests that the Lord’s sovereignty does not absolve people of their responsibility. And it is right.
Should we plan and prepare, or should we trust and obey? Yes, we should! As we seek to serve the Lord, any dichotomy we place between the two is a false one.
This spring, Lifeway Research released the results of a study on how Protestant churches welcome first-time guests. The results, as they say, speak for themselves.
For every Gospel minister, the New Testament letters of 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus are to be lifelong companions. The Pastoral Epistles are letters we return to again and again, guiding us on our journey of life and ministry. Indeed, I know of no better way to ensure ministerial faithfulness than for the minister to live in these three books.
