Local Church

In the business world many catch phrases and buzz words arise. Several years ago I started hearing about paradigms (pair-a-dimes). I’m a simple kind of guy, an Alabama boy at heart.

In our periodic new member’s class, we teach our church’s purpose—loving God, growing together, and serving others. These are not just talking points, but destinations along the journey of the Christian life.

First Chronicles 29 records King David’s final speech to his kingdom. It was a call to sacrificial giving for the building of the Temple. All of it was to be done from the heart and to the Lord.

Leadership is more than just going somewhere in life. Leadership is taking others along. Maxwell is fond of sharing that leadership is influence, and as we influence others with our lives we are providing direction. It is important that we don’t think of ministry in terms of things we need to get done.

What is the pressing need of our generation? For every Christian to be a reproducing Christian, every pastor to be a reproducing pastor, and every church to be a reproducing church...

The devil loves church planting. Mormon churches, Kingdom Halls, mosques, and doctrinally-weak Christian churches are all fruit of Satan’s plan to twist the true, biblical church-planting model. He inspires false teachers to spread a false gospel and a false church.

It is only as we develop others around us that we permanently succeed. In his final letter to Timothy, Paul commanded the young pastor to make disciples. Timothy was to teach the sacred truths he had learned to the next generation. More importantly, Timothy had to teach in a way that could be repeated. His disciples would need to make their own disciples. We call this process biblical discipleship.

Whenever Christians begin talking about revival, and seeking the Lord for the revival that is needed, criticism of such things comes up among . . .

I am thrilled for this resource to be available. This book will encourage and strengthen independent Baptist pastors and churches to fulfill the Great Commission.

Sunday school teachers and family members make a great team when they apply the following principles.

A quick survey of Acts 2–4 reveals an important priority in the early local church—meeting one another’s needs. We also learn this principle from Paul’s analogy of the church to the human body

Effective teachers know what they want their students to learn, and like a wise builder, they teach God’s Word in an orderly fashion. Their lessons are not disconnected, but they build upon one another, adding . . .

The command to love one’s neighbor appears ten different times in the Scriptures. At Lancaster Baptist Church, we have set aside a special week to devote special attention to following these instructions.

Big days are a lot of things. They are exciting. It is always great to meet first time guests. No doubt about it, you cannot do the work that leads to a special day without expending . . .

Keep a prospect list. This has the names of those you are praying for to be saved. It includes basic . . .

The newest members of our family did not get here by accident! And, they won’t become all God wants them to be by accident either.

There are few things that excite a pastor or Sunday school teacher like meeting a first-time visitor. The presence of a guest breathes life into a classroom or church auditorium.

The care group leader helps his class leader create an atmosphere of belonging within the class, by fellowshipping, contacting, and caring for the assigned members of the class.