A devotional reflection based on Matthew 4:1-11SUNDAYLenten Season–week oneRead the Gospel passage first, then the devotional reflection thatfollows. The discussion prompts at the end will help prepare you forSunday school and small-group sessions.No ShortcutsOur first steps with Jesus on our Lenten ... Read More about A2F: Week 1 With Jesus in the Desert

A hero usually returns home to a parade, a key to the city, and a street named in his or her honor. Jesus was asked to speak in the synagogue on Sabbath. Having heard about the healings, the miracles, and the massive crowds hanging on his every word, the hometown folk expected a little of the same. ... Read More about Reflecting God: Hometown Hero

If we could reduce the world's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all existing human ratios remaining the same, the demographics would look something like this: The village would have 60 Asians, 14 Africans, 12 Europeans, 8 Latin Americans, 5 from the USA and Canada, and 1 from ... Read More about If the World Was…

Once you've located them and qualified each candidate, here are 20 things I believe you need to do to cultivate volunteers that stick in your ministry: 1. Start slow. Don't dump volunteers in a class with a Sunday school quarterly and say, "Tag, you're it!" Start out new recruits by allowing them to ... Read More about Getting Them to Stay

The presence-driven church may encompass some or all of the above paradigms. However, God's presence precedes and permeates all other models of church growth. Without His presence, church growth is simply a menagerie of methodologies doomed to temporality. A method may work for the moment, but ... Read More about AUTHENTIC CHURCH GROWTH

God’s mission: A phrase that gets thrown around a lot in the contemporary church. It gets tagged to church campaigns for fundraisers. It gets slapped on promotional items for a missionary support service. It gets thrown out in conversations on evangelism, discipleship, worship, and social justice. ... Read More about Participation in God’s Mission

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