Living “in the world,” we can look for natural opportunities to dispense grace — not just words — to those around us. Gabe Lyons recommends inviting community leaders, whether Christian or not, into church to tell how best to engage with the neighborhood and its problems. As he notes, African American churches have historically done that, finding ways to honor teachers,…
Your Church
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures…
Jackie Robinson: A Fork in the Road
The path was not easier for Jackie simply because he embraced God. He was far from perfect and had a criminal record from his days in the gang, though it is clear that at least some of the arrests were racially motivated. Jackie and some of his friends were dragged off to jail at gunpoint…
The Stuff of God: Making Our Parents’ Faith Our Own
On Sunday nights, dad and the house church men would sometimes take me trot-lining with them. We’d take a couple of boats out and string out the long trotlines, weighted at both ends with plastic milk-jug floaters in the middle and multiple baited hooks. My dad knew just where to go. We’d catch all kinds…
Dive Deeper: Finding Grace and Peace
d.i.v.e means define, investigate, visualize, and embrace Maybe like author Jenifer Jernigan – author of Dive Deeper, a study of the book of Ephesians from the Inscribed Studies collection – you are longing to know more about the Lord and want to study His Word, but feel like you don’t know how! Jenifer uses in her study…
Take the Family Church Challenge
Sometimes I wonder if we are making the most of our opportunities at church. I mean, we go on Sunday morning and smile and ask the people in the row behind us how their week was. We visit a little bit, occasionally checking in on someone that we know is having a hard time. But…
How to Find a Church
Editor’s Note: Launch Your Life is a practical guide for twenty-somethings to navigating life’s twists and turns, and to achieving success in all you do. This excerpt, though, is a great encouragement for people in any season of life who are looking for a local church to call home and a community to embrace as…
Keeping Church for the Unchurched
As committed as our team is to creating churches for unchurched people, we still have to fight the pull toward becoming a church for church people. Honestly, I don’t understand why every church wouldn’t determine to become a church unchurched people loved to attend. Nothing brings this conviction into sharper focus for me than baptism.…
17 Steps Towards an Earth-Friendly Church
Just one of the cool things about churches is they can make anything happen if everyone pitches in. A couple in the congregation wants to adopt a child? Everyone gives a few dollars, and the costs are covered. A family’s going through a hard time? Send around the sign-up sheet, and they’ll have meals brought…
Unity – Answering Jesus’ Prayer
John 17:20-26 Deuteronomy 6:4-9; John 13:31-35; John 3:11-24 Gary couldn’t wait to get to church every week. His pastor’s teacher inspired him, while the friendliness of the people drew him into the life of the church. Although he was just a new believer, Gary understood the importance of gleaning everything possible from his pastor and…
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