2016
The primary calling of the pastor is to equip God’s people to do the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12).
But it’s hard to do that when you can’t find any volunteers.
It’s one of the questions I get asked a lot – especially when I’m teaching ...
God’s Word is not a collection of sermon notes.
It’s not a text book, a rule book, or a collection of inspirational quotes.
That’s why I never go to the Bible to find a passage to preach on for Sunday’s sermon.
Ninety percent of the churches on earth are under 200 people. Eighty percent are under 100. There may be no segment of the church that is more normative. But they may also be the most misunderstood.
Here are six truths about small churches that I wish every church leader knew ...
Small churches aren’t just for small towns.
There are thousands of small churches in big cities and sprawling suburbs, too.
But there aren’t enough of them.
Yes, you read that right. The problem with the church in big cities isn’t that we have too many small churches, ...
I’m going to say something stupid soon.
So will you.
When it happens, I hope people will give both of us the benefit of the doubt and assume the best of us, instead of the worst.
Since I hope to be the beneficiary of such grace, I try to live my life by giving the same grace ...
Millennials won't build the kinds of churches their parent and grandparents built.
Because Millennials are not a homogeneous demographic group, as we established in my last post, there is no secret key to unlock their heart and grab their attention.
In a world of unlimited ...
Millennials defy categorization. But that doesn’t stop us from trying to categorize them, anyway.
Especially for Baby Boomers like me. We love categorizing people. It makes ministry easier. Simpler. Safer.
You know, boring.
As I wrote in Why Church Leaders Will Never Understand ...
Oh, the worship wars.
Just when you think they’re gone for good, they pop up again.
The debate is no longer raging, but it's not over. Probably never will be.
- Old music v new
- Hymns v choruses
- Choirs v worship teams
- Organs and pianos v guitars and drums
The subject came up ...
Imagine how different the world would look, if
- over billion people
- transformed by the gospel of Jesus
- strategically placed by the hand of God
- in groups averaging 30 or so
- tucked into every corner of the world
decided to really say “yes” to God.
Small churches are a vital ...
How can one billion people be doing something without the world standing up to take notice?
More specifically, how can one billion people be doing something within a very narrowly defined niche, and the leaders in that niche not value it?
But that’s what has happened in ...
How can we activate the astonishing power of small churches?
As we’ve already seen in the previous two posts in this series (here and here), over one billion people worship Jesus in small churches tucked into every corner of the globe. What could we possibly do to light ...
Over one billion people choose to worship Jesus in small churches.
But the astonishing power of small churches is not just about the numbers. It’s about strategic placement.
This is where our small size becomes our advantage.
Small churches have found their way into every ...
More than one billion people choose to worship Jesus in small churches.
Yes, you read that right. One billion plus.
This has massive implications for the church, the world and how small churches see their role in the kingdom of God.
So many implications, that I’ll be writing ...
What models and methods are we clinging to that make the basic functions of the church harder than they should be?
Serving Jesus isn’t supposed to be easy. Christ told us we had to take up our cross daily. But Jesus made the gospel as accessible as possible. Too easy, according ...
Why don’t small churches grow?
When you run a website, as I do with NewSmallChurch.com, you get to see the search terms people use to find it.
That question is one that pops up all the time. So today I’m going to take a stab at answering it. But before I offer my answer, ...
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