A true underdog story. Journey with these young leaders as they do church their way. A diner, driving school and an odd jobs company are just some of the ways this group used to build a thriving church. In "How to Knock Over a 7-Eleven and Other Ministry Training," author and senior pastor Michael Cheshire brings real-life stories to out of the box church work. His humor is unmatched and the insights you get will cut to the core as you journey with him and his team as they build a church from scratch. This book takes you behind the scenes of a radically different way to build a church. It's a valuable resource for those planning to launch a new ministry or for leaders wanting to be more innovative in their community. This is not a story of the traditional church. Michael and his team sacrifice more than a few sacred cows in their pursuit of God's calling. If you're determined to pursue a calling in any type of ministry, this book will only make your fire grow.

    In eight stirring meditations, Darrell Johnson shows how the Lord's Prayer sums up the essence of Christian faith and, when prayed in faith, draws us into draws us into the Triune God's work of transforming the world. Darrell W. Johnson is Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. A popular conference and retreat speaker, he has also served as the preaching pastor for a number of congregations in North America and the Philippines and Adjunct Professor of Preaching for the Doctor of Ministry program at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. His other books include Experiencing the Trinity and Discipleship on the Edge: An Expository Journey through the Book of Revelation.

    But sometimes Jesus spoke words that followers then and now have found difficult. He instructs disciples to hate members of their own families (Luke 14:26), to act as if they were slaves (Matthew 20:27), and to sell their belongings and give to the poor (Luke 18:22). He restricts his mission (Matthew 10:6); he speaks of damnation (Matthew 8:12); he calls Jews the devil's children (John 8:44).In The Difficult Words of Jesus, Amy-Jill Levine shows how these difficult teachings would have sounded to the people who first heard them, how have they been understood over time, and how we might interpret them in the context of the Gospel of love and reconciliation.Additional components for a six-week study include a DVD featuring Dr. Levine and a comprehensive Leader Guide.

    However, when the Bible calls Christians to be hospitable, it's calling them to much more. In this book, Rosaria Butterfield invites readers into her home and shows from her own life and experience how "radically ordinary hospitality" can be a bridge for bringing the gospel to lost friends and neighbors—something that she experienced herself on her journey to Christ. Such hospitality welcomes those who look, think, believe, and act differently than us into our own everyday, sometimes messy lives. Christians will be inspired and equipped to use their homes and tables as a way of showing a skeptical, unbelieving world what love and authentic faith really look like.Table of ContentsPreface: Radically Ordinary Hospitality1. Priceless: The Merit of Hospitality2. The Jesus Paradox: The Vitality of Hospitality3. Our Post Christian World: The Kindness of Hospitality4. God Never Gets the Address Wrong: The Providence of Hospitality5. The Gospel Comes with a House Key: The Seal of Hospitality 6. Judas In the Church: The Borderland of Hospitality7. Giving Up the Ghosts: The Lamentation of Hospitality8. The Daily Grind: The Basics of Hospitality9. Blessed are the Merciful: The Hope of Hospitality 10. Walking the Emmaus Road: The Future of Hospitality Conclusion: Feeding the 5000: The Nuts and Bolts and Beans and Rice

    There is no one like you on the planet. But your life has a common thread that is true of all people: you are wired for worship. Not just any worship, but for that of your Creator! That’s what this book is about—discovering your purpose and learning how to fulfill it. Geared for teenagers and college students, Wired is designed with pages that teach, challenge, and connect as you dig into Scripture and learn about your created purpose. This interactive student edition of The Air I Breathe includes a thirty-day worship experience as a guided personal journey that discloses the depth of God’s character and how to know Him more intimately. Ideal for use in small groups, an accompanying leader’s guide is also available. Story Behind the Book“I love teenagers. In fact, while writing this, I’m on my way to spend four days with more than 1500 of them at camp! My passion to see young people awaken to a lifestyle of worship that goes far beyond singing songs, coupled with the need for small-group material, stimulated the idea for Wired. I want to equip youth workers with a resource that can be used in small groups, large Bible studies, or Sunday school classes. I pray that Wired will encourage teens everywhere to a lifestyle that reflects God’s greatness to the world.” —Louie Giglio

    First, that effective preaching without a manuscript is not a matter of talent as much as it is a matter of preparation. Preachers can learn the practices and disciplines that make it possible to deliver articulate, thoughtfully crafted sermons, not from a written page, but as a natural, spontaneous act of oral communication. Throughout the book, the author offers specific examples including a transcript of a sermon preached without manuscript or notes. Second, that the payoff of learning to preach without a manuscript is nothing less than sermons that more effectively and engagingly give witness to the good news.

    For this very end, God has established elders and deacons, members, and congregational authority. This primer on church structure connects the different offices of the church to one another and to the glory of God. In the Church Basics Series, trusted church experts write practical, trustworthy resources on issues like Church Discipline, Church Leadership, the Lord's Supper, and Baptism that every pastor can hand every church member.

    When God Doesn't Listen by Francis Chan- Prayer should not be taken lightly in connection with individual and communal sin. Submission through Prayer by James MacDonald - Prayerful submission enables us to experience God’s grace and peace. Waiting On God by John Ortberg- Waiting on the Lord is the hardest work of hope.Why We Shouldn't Give Up On Prayer by Bill Hybels- We must persevere through hindrances to prayer.

    These "shepherds" are called to preach, pray, and care for the needs of God's people. But what does it mean to be a pastor? And what is the nature of this ministry, according to the Bible?In Gospel-Driven Ministry, Jared Wilson begins by looking at the qualifications for the pastorate, addressing the notion of a call to ministry and how an individual--and a church community--can best identify the marks of maturity and affirm a call. In each chapter, Wilson looks at one of the core practices of pastoral ministry, including: Preaching SermonsDeveloping a Vibrant Prayer LifeCaring and CounselingPastoring Married and SingleGospel-Centered LeadershipFighting Sin and Spiritual WarfareResolving ConflictPassing on the Ministry to OthersIn addition, Wilson provides practical resources including theological insights on baptism and the Lord's Supper, guidance for wedding and funeral sermons, outlines for leading elder and deacon meetings, tips for interviewing new pastors, questions to ask at ordination, and advice on knowing when and how to leave a pastor role. This is a comprehensive, practical guide to pastoral ministry that prepares new pastors and equips those currently serving for long-term, healthy ministry.

    Housewives and corporate executives. Young professionals and those who are retired. No matter their professions or responsibilities, women of all ages and all walks of life often struggle with an all-consuming issue-self-image. We as Americans are continually obsessed with the grass-is-greener, anything-else-is-better-than-what -we-have philosophy. And that is never truer for women than when it comes to our bodies and our self-images. The media and the world around us tell us that we should be perfect in every way. But this kind of scrutiny and obsession with perfection leaves women feeling unloved, unattractive, frustrated, and even depressed.In The Real Me, contemporary Christian singer and songwriter Natalie Grant is on a mission to especially help young women deal with this struggle and to find acceptance in how God created them. And this struggle is something that Natalie understands fully-she gives the reader an inside look at her own struggle with image issues that led her on the path to bulimia. In acknowledging her pain and sharing her struggle, she offers practical help and hope to women of all ages.

      Todd Wagner invites readers to experience the adventure, goodness, and fullness of life that God has intended for humankind from the beginning of time and especially today through His provision through His people. Weekly meetings of mostly bored adults who regularly attend services have nothing to do with God’s vision for His people. Wagner paints the picture of a perfect Father’s intention to bring His people into an adventurous life full of authentic relationships, powerful transformation, and seemingly impossible significance and meaning.

    Though commonly feared and avoided, these feelings of uncertainty can be your greatest assets on this journey because it is in uncertainty that we probe, question, and discover. According to the ancients, you don't need to be a saint or spiritual master to experience profound awakening and live with God's presence and guidance. You need only to wander.In clear and lucid prose that combines the heart of a mystic, the soul of a poet, and the mind of a biblical scholar, Dr. Eric Elnes demystifies the seven gifts bestowed in the Dark Wood: the gifts of uncertainty, emptiness, being thunderstruck, getting lost, temptation, disappearing, and the gift of misfits.This is a book for anyone who feels awkward in their search for God, anyone who seeks to find holiness amid their holy mess, and anyone who prefers practicality to piety when it comes to finding their place in this world.

    But contrary to the prevailing attitude, might the Old Testament contain relevant and meaningful application for today? Renowned author and scholar Walter Kaiser shows why the Old Testament deserves equal attention with the New Testament and offers a helpful guide on how preachers and teachers can give it the full attention it deserves. Growing out of his teaching material from the last decade, Preaching and Teaching from the Old Testament demonstrates Kaiser's celebrated straightforward exposition. Offering an apologetic for the Christian use of the Old Testament, the opening chapters deal with the value, problem, and task of preaching from it. Following a discussion of the role of expository preaching, Kaiser provides a practical focus by examining preaching and teaching from the texts of various genres. A final chapter explores the relevance of the Old Testament in speaking to a contemporary audience.Bible teachers, pastors, seminary students, and professors will appreciate Kaiser's practical focus and relevant applications. Additional helps include a glossary and suggested outlines and worksheets for expository preaching.

    Written by an Aussie and an Irishman with very different styles who share a passion for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Saving Eutychus delivers fresh, honest, faithful and practical insights into preaching the whole word of God, sunday by Sunday, in an engaging way. This book is a practical distillation of decades of thinking, writing, preaching, failing, humbly praying and seeing God at work, and is an invaluable tool for honing your own gifts to become the best preacher you can be.Includes sermons and mutual critique from each author, a sermon critique sheet, and practical tips and helpful diagrams.

    The author has explored and analyzed and come up with crucial insights and needed terminology with which to further the scholarly discussion and increase the understandings needed in the classroom.... Frank Thomas has contributed much to the meeting of this need, probing celebration to new depths.... This book adds to the corpus of serious scholarship available to instructors for the purposes of a more powerful pulpit, in an era of desperate need in the field". -- Henry H. Mitchell, from the ForewordHere is a book that will change the course of preaching in the twenty-first century. Through the lens of African American preaching, Frank Thomas sheds light on what is "good" preaching -- and on what methods can be employed to achieve it.Celebration in preaching is an important component of any preaching that can be considered "good". Thomas explores the theology, dynamics, design, and guidelines for celebrative preaching and provides sample sermon illustrations as well.