Oversee God's People


Book Description

The Bible gives instruction to those called to church leadership, challenging them to shepherd God’s people by exercising oversight. But what does that mean? And how is it done in a way that is faithful to God and effective in enabling growth, individually and corporately? The Practical Shepherding series of guides provides pastors and ministry leaders with practical help to do the work of pastoral ministry in a local church. In Oversee God’s People, pastors Brian Croft and Bryce Butler unpack what the Bible teaches about administration and the necessity of delegation in congregational leadership, offering practical suggestions to improve the structures, process, and relationships among leaders in your church.




Gather God's People


Book Description

“God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). The Bible tells us that we are to worship the Lord, that we were created for this purpose. But what is true worship? What does the Bible teach about the right—and the wrong—ways to worship God? In this book, pastors Brian Croft and Jason Adkins unpack a biblical theology of worship, discuss the practical matters of planning a worship service, and offer suggestions and insights on the best way to lead a worship service that honors the Lord. The Practical Shepherding series of guides provides pastors and ministry leaders with practical help to do the work of pastoral ministry in a local church. In Gather God’s People, you will learn how to apply biblical doctrine and spirituality to the practice of Christian worship.




What's Best Next


Book Description

By anchoring your understanding of productivity in God's plan, What's Best Next gives you a practical approach for increasing your effectiveness in everything you do. There are a lot of myths about productivity--what it means to get things done and how to accomplish work that really matters. In our current era of innovation and information overload, it may feel harder than ever to understand the meaning of work or to have a sense of vocation or calling. So how do you get more of the right things done without confusing mere activity for actual productivity? Matt Perman has spent his career helping people learn how to do work in a gospel-centered and effective way. What's Best Next explains his approach to unlocking productivity and fulfillment in work by showing how faith relates to work, even in our everyday grind. What's Best Next is packed with biblical and theological insight and practical counsel that you can put into practice today, such as: How to create a mission statement for your life that's actually practicable. How to delegate to people in a way that really empowers them. How to overcome time killers like procrastination, interruptions, and multitasking by turning them around and making them work for you. How to process workflow efficiently and get your email inbox to zero every day. How to have peace of mind without needing to have everything under control. How generosity is actually the key to unlocking productivity. This expanded edition includes: a new chapter on productivity in a fallen world a new appendix on being more productive with work that requires creative thinking. Productivity isn't just about getting more things done. It's about getting the right things done--the things that count, make a difference, and move the world forward. You can learn how to do work that matters and how to do it well.




Practical Shepherding Series Complete Set


Book Description

The Practical Shepherding Complete Set provides pastors and ministry leaders everything they need to know about practically and effectively leading their flock. The Practical Shepherding Complete Set includes everything you need to be equipped to lead and serve in all aspects of your ministry. It contains: Prepare Them to Shepherd Visit the Sick Conduct Gospel-Centered Funerals Comfort the Grieving Gather God's People Pray for the Flock Oversee God's People. These seven volumes will give you clear and practical direction to lead and serve those you are ministering to. Each volume will provide easy-to-follow steps to help you better serve your flock in the different aspects of ministry.




Deacons


Book Description

How Can Deacons Mobilize Service in the Church? Deacons are essential to a church's health—yet confusion abounds regarding their biblical job description. What's their God-given role in a local congregation and how do they relate to the church's overall mission? In this short book, Matt Smethurst makes the case that deacons are model servants called to meet tangible needs, organize and mobilize acts of service, preserve the unity of the flock, and support the ministry of the elders. Clearing away common misconceptions, Smethurst offers practical guidance for deploying deacons and helping churches to flourish.




Leading God's People


Book Description

Using the wisdom of the past to address the challenges of the present, Christopher Beeley's Leading God's People presents key principles of church leadership as they were taught by great pastor-theologians of the early church, including Gregory of Nazianzus, Ambrose, Augustine, Chrysostom, and Gregory the Great.




The Invention of God


Book Description

Who invented God? When, why, and where? Thomas Römer seeks to answer these questions about the deity of the great monotheisms—Yhwh, God, or Allah—by tracing Israelite beliefs and their context from the Bronze Age to the end of the Old Testament period in the third century BCE. That we can address such enigmatic questions at all may come as a surprise. But as Römer makes clear, a wealth of evidence allows us to piece together a reliable account of the origins and evolution of the god of Israel. Römer draws on a long tradition of historical, philological, and exegetical work and on recent discoveries in archaeology and epigraphy to locate the origins of Yhwh in the early Iron Age, when he emerged somewhere in Edom or in the northwest of the Arabian peninsula as a god of the wilderness and of storms and war. He became the sole god of Israel and Jerusalem in fits and starts as other gods, including the mother goddess Asherah, were gradually sidelined. But it was not until a major catastrophe—the destruction of Jerusalem and Judah—that Israelites came to worship Yhwh as the one god of all, creator of heaven and earth, who nevertheless proclaimed a special relationship with Judaism. A masterpiece of detective work and exposition by one of the world’s leading experts on the Hebrew Bible, The Invention of God casts a clear light on profoundly important questions that are too rarely asked, let alone answered.




The Power of Favor


Book Description

Learn how declaring God's love will bless you with favor and fulfillment in this uplifting book -- perfect for anyone who is determined to find success and spiritual inspiration. God helps you accomplish what you couldn't manage on your own. With His blessings, you stand out in the crowd and get breaks that you didn't deserve. The psalmist said, "God's favor surrounds us like a shield." That means that everywhere you go, you have an advantage, a divine empowerment, and a key to open up the right doors. With Joel's encouragement, you'll see how God's goodness uplifts you every day. He wants you to reach new levels of fulfillment, new levels of increase, new levels of promotion, new levels of victory. You have been called out, set apart, and chosen to live a distinctively favored life. When you realize you have been marked for blessings, you will feel the force of His favor and overcome challenges that you can't face on your own.




God's Bargain With The Jews


Book Description

The fascinating history of the Jews' covenant with God. "God's Bargain with the Jews (and How They Kept It)" describes Judaism from Moses to today, across cultures and continents. Over three thousand years, how has Judaism interpreted and acted on God's commandments and promise?




Timeless Truths Bible: One faith. Handed down. For all the saints. (NET)


Book Description

Be anchored in the faith “once for all entrusted to the saints” (Jude v. 3) with timeless wisdom shared from church history. The Christian faith is founded upon unchanging, timeless truth. From the days of the early church until the day of Christ’s return, all of Christianity proclaims that “Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:11). This is our unchanging and unceasing confession upon which all our hope and all our joy rests. The Timeless Truths Bible will encourage you through the always timely wisdom of those who came before us. Devotional notes and commentary from trusted theologians and pastors from the second century up to the twentieth will stir your affections. The ancient creeds and confessions of the faith will grow your understanding of what we believe—and have always believed. And artwork created throughout the history of Christianity will deepen your worship of the one we call Lord. Features include: The complete text of Scripture in the New English Translation Margin notes featuring devotional and theological commentary from notable figures throughout church history including Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, Augustine, Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, Origen, John Wesley, Charles Spurgeon, John Bunyan, and John Calvin. Forty-six full-page biographies of church leaders The complete text of some of the creeds and confessions of the Christian faith that have shaped our beliefs for generations, including: The Apostles' Creed The Nicene Creed The Chalcedonian Definition The Athanasian Creed The Augsburg Confession The Belgic Confession The Westminster Catechism The Lausanne Covenant Book introductions for every book of the Bible Line-matched, single-column typesetting Clear and readable 9-point NET Comfort Print