Preaching has many roles. Preaching can fulfill the purposes of teaching, evangelism, discipleship, or a multitude of other functions. However, the preacher has a responsibility in his preaching that is often overlooked. The preacher has a duty to shepherd his people through the counsel of his preaching.
Every once in awhile I get a call from a fellow pastor friend who is nervous about going before a pastoral search committee. After receiving such a call recently, I kept thinking through the kind of questions I would encourage them to ask in order to learn more about the church.
t was one of those Sundays. I had given the message all I had. I had preached the text, I had equipped the saints, and I had exhorted the sinners. I felt that I had nailed the message that morning. The good vibes from Sunday morning continued to carry me as I headed into the office that week. I felt as if I finally had a grip on my preaching and I was excited to jump into writing the sermon for next Sunday.
The assimilation process of a church is vital. If a pastor or the church leadership does not know how the people are to progress from guest to member, it is guaranteed that the guests do not know how to get involved in the church.
For many churches, the assimilation process is ambiguous.
With the recent death of missionary John Chau, there has been a whirlwind of reactions and opinions. Some grieve the loss of life and the tragic nature of his death while pursuing a greater cause; others argue that his death was pointless and could have been avoided.
The past few weeks have proved to be an interesting season for me in ministry. While the season has been fruitful for my congregation, I have received several calls from fellow pastors who are new in their churches and currently facing difficult decisions in their churches.
In SBC life, the concept of church revitalization is gaining momentum among pastors and church practitioners. While the conversations regarding the best ways to return a church to health are needed, there has been a tendency to bring every aspect of church planting and church growth under the umbrella of church revitalization. Which brings us to the question . .
When I first became a Christian I had a great misunderstanding. I believed that short-term mission trips were just vacations for Christians. I pictured how my fellow church members would go to other countries to see the sights and live the life. I even thought my pastor would plan these trips to places that he wanted to go and see for his pleasure.
A church that is evangelizing the lost, teaching their congregants the Scripture, and challenging them to share the gospel with lost friends and family is a church that will inevitably experience growth of some kind.