Embracing Shared Ministry


Book Description

Joseph Hellerman (PhD, UCLA) is Professor of New Testament at Biola University. He also currently serves as Team Pastor at Oceanside Christian Fellowship Church. Hellerman's other publications include The Ancient Church as Family, Reconstructing Honor in Roman Philippi, When the Church Was Family, and Jesus and the People of God.




Why We Need the Church to Become More Like Jesus


Book Description

Many of us long to experience the fullness of God and his purpose for our lives. Not a whole lot of us ever do. The reason is that we have departed in some significant ways from the biblical view of Christian life and growth. The New Testament highlights the communal, missional, and eschatological aspects of our walk with God. We grow in our faith as individual Christians to the degree that we are (a) deeply rooted relationally in a local church community that is (b) passionately playing its part in God's grand story of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration, and (c) intently anticipating the summing of all things in Christ when Jesus returns. In recent decades, American evangelicals have traded away community, outreach, and the Bible's teaching about eternity future for the pursuit of individual religious experience in the here-and-now. Why We Need the Church to Become More Like Jesus traces this departure from biblical Christianity through recent decades of popular evangelical trends and reminds us that faith centered on community, mission, and the story line of Scripture remains the key to the spiritual formation of the individual Christian.




When the Church was a Family


Book Description

A study of the early Christian church in the Mediterranean region and its emphasis on collective good over individual desire clarifies much about what is wrong with the American church today.




Philippians


Book Description

The Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament (EGGNT) closes the gap between the Greek text and the available lexical and grammatical tools, providing all the necessary information for greater understanding of the text. The series makes interpreting any given New Testament book easier, especially for those who are hard pressed for time but want to preach or teach with accuracy and authority. Each volume begins with a brief introduction to the particular New Testament book, a basic outline, and a list of recommended commentaries. The body is devoted to paragraph-by-paragraph exegesis of the Greek text and includes homiletical helps and suggestions for further study. A comprehensive exegetical outline of the New Testament book completes each EGGNT volume.




Faith Driven Entrepreneur


Book Description

"I'm excited about Faith Driven Entrepreneur. Anyone who is following the example of their creator God can find echoes of their work in this book." --Lecrae Entrepreneurship can be a lonely journey. But it doesn't need to be. God has a purpose and a plan for all those entrepreneurial dreams and creative gifts he gave you. The work you do today--the company you've built, the employees you work with, the customers you serve, the shareholders you report to, all of it--serves as an active part of what God wants to accomplish on earth. You are not alone in this journey. Join other faith-driven entrepreneurs as, together, we identify the values, habits, and traits that empower us to successfully build businesses, serve our communities, and faithfully pursue a loving relationship with God; read stories that exemplify how those values, habits, and traits unfold in everyday life; and discover the potential God wants to unleash through our work. Each book purchase includes access to the eight-session Faith Driven Entrepreneur video series, a discussion guide to encourage conversation among peers, and an invitation to join a Faith Driven Entrepreneur Group to meet other like-minded entrepreneurs.




Embrace


Book Description

How can you share your faith with confidence and joy?




Embracing Purpose


Book Description

Embracing Purpose is a Bible study and small group process designed to satisfy a God-given longing that most people experience at some point in their lives: we want to make a difference. We want to give our lives away to something beyond ourselves. But we don't know how. The Embracing Purpose package, which includes a workbook, a 10-message DVD series and Leader's Guide, offers everything a church needs to equip women to find, love and live their God-given purpose (and everything an individual needs to discover her purpose). Participants who complete the course will come away with answers to two key questions -Who am I? and What am I to do with the time, talents and treasures God has given me? They will have discovered and labeled their unique design from God, written a purpose statement and developed a purpose plan for walking out their purpose.Embracing Purpose self-discovery workbook has four components--a narrative of the author's own journey toward purpose, a Bible study to explore the biblical foundation for pursuing a life of purpose, self-discovery exercises and stories of women who are living out their God-given purpose. The video messages do not repeat the content found in the workbook but supplement it with additional concepts, primarily focusing on barriers or roadblocks that are common to women.




Teams That Thrive


Book Description

What do the top church teams do to thrive together? Researchers and practitioners Ryan Hartwig and Warren Bird have discovered churches who have learned to thrive under healthy team leadership. Using actual church examples, this coaching tool presents their discoveries, culminating in five disciplines that will enable your team to thrive.




New Life through Shared Ministry


Book Description

In New Life through Shared Ministry, Judith Urban creates a pathway for building a shared ministry system. She assists readers in transforming their congregation into one where members are invited into volunteer ministry; people are matched according to their gifts and interests with ministry opportunities; volunteers are offered support, training, and appreciation; and all grow to spiritual maturity through that ministry. This comprehensive guide is based on Urban's consulting, training, and planning with shared ministry directors and teams the past 12 years, her experience building a shared ministry system in a congregation, and her own studies in the field of volunteer management. Urban observes that shared ministry is a way of being church together that creates a distinctive congregational culture. It encompasses the many ways members of a congregation serve their faith community and the wider community. It is based on the concept that all are called to participate in the work of the church bringing the good news of God s saving grace to the world. It is also a system of interrelated parts that work together to bring the concept into reality. Congregations that grow a shared ministry culture are able to facilitate the unique work God gives each member and the community as a whole, creating a system that supports the people of God as they carry out excellent, effective ministry.




Strong and Weak


Book Description

Two common temptations lure us away from abundant living: withdrawing into safety and grasping for power. However, with the characteristic insight, memorable stories, and hopeful realism he is known for, Andy Crouch argues that true flourishing comes when strength and weakness are combined in every human life and community.