When Your Church Feels Stuck

When Your Church Feels Stuck PDF Author: Chris Sonksen
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 1493407805
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Book Description
Every pastor wants their church to grow, but the reality is that most churches are stagnant or shrinking, leaving most pastors frustrated, weary, and discouraged. They continue to search for answers at conferences, in books, and on websites, but they don't find them. They don't realize that the answers that can actually make a difference in their ministry are the ones they need to give themselves. When Your Church Feels Stuck poses seven unavoidable questions church leaders must answer before they can chart the unique path to growth for their church. These challenging questions address the key subjects of mission, strategy, values, metrics, team alignment, culture, and services, and the way pastors answers these questions will help them discover the real reasons their churches are stuck--and what steps to take to facilitate real growth.

When Your Church Feels Stuck

When Your Church Feels Stuck PDF Author: Chris Sonksen
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 1493407805
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Book Description
Every pastor wants their church to grow, but the reality is that most churches are stagnant or shrinking, leaving most pastors frustrated, weary, and discouraged. They continue to search for answers at conferences, in books, and on websites, but they don't find them. They don't realize that the answers that can actually make a difference in their ministry are the ones they need to give themselves. When Your Church Feels Stuck poses seven unavoidable questions church leaders must answer before they can chart the unique path to growth for their church. These challenging questions address the key subjects of mission, strategy, values, metrics, team alignment, culture, and services, and the way pastors answers these questions will help them discover the real reasons their churches are stuck--and what steps to take to facilitate real growth.

Quit Church

Quit Church PDF Author: Chris Sonksen
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 1493407791
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 126

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Book Description
Let's face it. Church isn't working. We hear sermons about the abundant life Jesus promised, but how many of us are actually living it? How many of our churches are thriving? How many people in our congregations are experiencing God's blessings? Maybe it's time to call it quits. Quit church? Well, not exactly. Drawing from his experience coaching hundreds of churches toward true growth, Chris Sonksen calls on us to quit our casual, cultural commitment to church as we know it. No more half-hearted attempts to win the favor of God and other people by doing the right thing. No more doing things out of a sense of duty. Instead, Sonksen reveals the spiritual habits that release the blessings of God, both on each individual and on the church. He explains why we struggle to put these practices into action and gives practical solutions to move us forward into health, growth, and maturity.

Indispensable Church

Indispensable Church PDF Author: Chris Sonksen
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781540901484
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
"Author and church growth expert provides a step-by-step framework for pastors and church attendees to put their passion into action by taking church outside of its four walls and to serving the local community"--

The Unstuck Church

The Unstuck Church PDF Author: Tony Morgan
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
ISBN: 0718094476
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
Acclaimed church leader, blogger, founder and chief strategic officer of The Unstuck Group, Tony Morgan unpacks the lifecycle of a typical church, identifies characteristics of each phase, and provides practical next steps a church can take to move towards sustained health. Think about your church for a moment. Is it growing? Is it diminishing? Is it somewhere in between? Acclaimed church leader, blogger, and founder and chief strategic officer of The Unstuck Group, Tony Morgan has identified the seven stages of a church's lifecycle that range from the hopeful and optimistic days of launch, to the stagnating last stages of life support. Regardless of the stage in which you find your church, it carries with it the world's greatest mission—to "go and make disciples of all the nations . . ." With eternity at stake the Church should be doing most everything within its power to see lives changed forever. The Church should strive for the pinnacle of the lifecycle, where they are continually making new disciples and experiencing what Morgan refers to as "sustained health." In The Unstuck Church, Morgan unpacks each phase of the church lifecycle, and offers specific and strategic next steps the church leader can take to find it's way to sustained health . . . and finally become unstuck. The Unstuck Church is a call for honest an assessment of where your church sits on the lifecycle, and a challenge to move beyond it.

They Like Jesus but Not the Church

They Like Jesus but Not the Church PDF Author: Dan Kimball
Publisher: Zondervan
ISBN: 0310298547
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
Many people today, especially among emerging generations, don’t resonate with the church and organized Christianity. Some are leaving the church and others were never part of the church in the first place. Sometimes it’s because of misperceptions about the church. Yet often they are still spiritually open and fascinated with Jesus. This is a ministry resource book exploring six of the most common objects and misunderstandings emerging generations have about the church and Christianity. The objections come from conversations and interviews the church has had with unchurched twenty and thirty-somethings at coffee houses. Each chapter raises the objection using a conversational approach, provides the biblical answers to that objection, gives examples of how churches are addressing this objection, and concludes with follow-through projection suggestions, discussion questions, and resource listings.

Ragged

Ragged PDF Author: Gretchen Ronnevik
Publisher: New Reformation Publications
ISBN: 1948969491
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 239

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Book Description
When we mistake spiritual disciplines for to-dos, time slots on our schedule, or Instagram-able moments, we miss the benefits of Christ's continual and constant work for us. In Ragged, Gretchen Ronnevik aims to reclaim spiritual disciplines as good gifts given by our good Father instead of heavy burdens of performance carried by the Christian. Only when we recognize our failures to maintain God's commands do we also realize the benefit of our dependence on his promises. Gretchen uses this distinction on law and gospel, presented throughout Scripture, to guide readers through spiritual disciplines including prayer, meditation, Scripture reading, and discipleship among others. Despite our best efforts, the good news is that spiritual disciplines have less to do with what we bring before God and more about who Christ is for us, not only as the author but also as the perfector of our faith.

I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die

I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die PDF Author: Sarah J. Robinson
Publisher: WaterBrook
ISBN: 0593193539
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
A compassionate, shame-free guide for your darkest days “A one-of-a-kind book . . . to read for yourself or give to a struggling friend or loved one without the fear that depression and suicidal thoughts will be minimized, medicalized or over-spiritualized.”—Kay Warren, cofounder of Saddleback Church What happens when loving Jesus doesn’t cure you of depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts? You might be crushed by shame over your mental illness, only to be told by well-meaning Christians to “choose joy” and “pray more.” So you beg God to take away the pain, but nothing eases the ache inside. As darkness lingers and color drains from your world, you’re left wondering if God has abandoned you. You just want a way out. But there’s hope. In I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die, Sarah J. Robinson offers a healthy, practical, and shame-free guide for Christians struggling with mental illness. With unflinching honesty, Sarah shares her story of battling depression and fighting to stay alive despite toxic theology that made her afraid to seek help outside the church. Pairing her own story with scriptural insights, mental health research, and simple practices, Sarah helps you reconnect with the God who is present in our deepest anguish and discover that you are worth everything it takes to get better. Beautifully written and full of hard-won wisdom, I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die offers a path toward a rich, hope-filled life in Christ, even when healing doesn’t look like what you expect.

Open Road

Open Road PDF Author: Sue Nilson Kibbey
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781950899210
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 116

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Book Description
What's gone wrong in a perfectly good faith-filled, well-intentioned, settled-in congregation that's instead become plateaued or even started into decline? Maybe like yours, or a church that you know.Perhaps it's happened gradually as the church has become comfortable and complacent over time. Or, maybe the rapidly changing factors of our current community and world environment have resulted in us church-goers hanging on even more tightly to each other, our facility and our budget to just survive? "What's gone wrong?" we wonder. A better question might be to ask, "What is missing?" The answer to that question is straightforward and non-negotiable. In Open Road, Sue Nilson Kibbey seeks to help readers embrace and deploy the missing ingredient anew in their own personal lives and in the life of your church. Sue Nilson Kibbey has been a church pastor, trainer, consultant and author who has been following the Holy Spirit's relentless leading to every part of the country. As a ministry practitioner Kibbey has been sharing with countless numbers of churches, leaders and members a set of simple, practical steps to guide their addition of this mainspring missing ingredient to church life and leadership. As the amazing stories from church after church keep rolling in, the author has also become a storyteller. Kibbey recounts the breakthroughs at churches large, small, rural, suburban, urban, historic, new, multiethnic, multicultural - all bearing witness to the endlessly creative ways God has invited them onward to actively deliver and fulfill the message and mission of Christ. The author's intent is to inspire you about what is Divinely possible, provide you a practical path of steps you can take with ideas you could deploy to add this ingredient and recount a few of the many stories from your sister churches that may add to your inspiration. Testimonials Sue had me at movement. As a part of the district leadership, we have included breakthrough prayer in every initiative of the district and have seen a correlation between a commitment to breakthrough prayer and commitment to the initiative. I am excited to see Open Road as a part of the journey of The Greatest Expedition. Sharing the process and practical examples makes this accessible for every church and church member. This is a must have book! Michelle Holmes Chaney The United Methodist Church in Northern Virginia If it feels like your church is stuck in neutral and even your best efforts can't seem to get you in gear, God has been preparing you for the Open Road. In this power-packed read, Sue Nilson Kibby invites us on a spiritual adventure. With deep truths, real life stories and practical applications, Sue shows us how any church can breakthrough spiritual and organizational blockades to once again become a movement of God. Ronald Bell, Jr. Lead Pastor, Camphor Memorial UMC Starting any new expedition on our knees is always recommended, but certainly we must do so when discerning next faithful steps in the life of the church. Sue provides a clear road map of how to wrap your next high adventure in prayer and allow God to lead and break through in incredible ways. Kay Kotan Director, The Greatest Expedition Open Road unfurls a map that isn't reliant on trendy best practices, big budgets, large church staffs, or fancy technology. Instead, it presents the reader new ways to engage with the one essential element that we all have at our disposal - prayer. Jason Moore Midnight Oil Productions

Center Church

Center Church PDF Author: Timothy Keller
Publisher: Zondervan
ISBN: 0310494192
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description
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 Power to Bless

The Power to Bless PDF Author: Alan Wright
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 1493428772
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 220

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Book Description
Blessed people flourish by a power that transcends human talent or hard work--a mystical grace empowers them to be joyful and fruitful. But does it ever feel like others are blessed while you're stuck? With honesty and warmth, Alan Wright shares his inspiring journey from craving blessing to living the blessed life. The absence of his father's affirmation left him struggling for years with symptoms of the unblessed life: shame, pretense, and drift. But when he grasped the most powerful blessing in the Old Testament--the mysterious, ancient blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh--he learned how to receive blessing and how to bless the lives of his loved ones. And you can too. With biblical insight and practical wisdom, The Power to Bless shows you how to craft a positive, faith-filled blessing. By learning a few simple, biblical skills for imparting life-changing blessings, you'll be more spiritually blessed than you'd ever imagined, and you'll be equipped with the power to bless the people you love.