Equip All God’s People

Posted by Matthew in Church, Making Disciples, Quotes on Sep 16th, 2011 | 0 comments

“The goal of the church is never for one person to be equipped and empowered to lead as many people as possible to Christ. The goal is always for all of God’s people to be equipped and empowered to lead as many people as possible to Christ.”

- David Platt

Patient Preaching

Posted by Matthew in Communication, Making Disciples, Public Speaking, Quotes on Jan 17th, 2011 | 0 comments

There is a story of an extraordinary man who lived in the 6th century named Bishop Aidan. Bede tells about him his Ecclesiastical History of the English People (731). Bede records that when another bishop had returned from an unsuccessful attempt to preach to the English people, Bishop Aidan responded,

“Brother, it seems to me that you were too severe on your ignorant hearers. You should have followed the practice of the Apostles, and begun by giving them the milk of simpler teaching, and gradually nourished them with the word of God until they were capable of greater perfection and able to follow the loftier precepts of Christ.”

As a Bible teacher and a public speaking teacher, I value these words of wisdom. I rejoice when I see God’s truth being presented with a heart of love, compassion, and patience.

Church Covenant

Posted by Matthew in Church, Highland Christian Fellowship, Making Disciples on Jan 11th, 2011 | 0 comments

Our fellowship spent a good bit of time studying, praying, and discussing the idea of church membership. In the end, we settled on maintaining an annual church covenant instead of the tradition idea of membership. Here is how I recently described it to our body:

It is not a traditional membership list. One does not “join the church” and remain on the list until they join another church. The covenant is simply an expression of what we believe we already are as a local church. We believe that being a part of the body of Christ provides encouragement and accountability through on-going relationships. Being part of such a body is important for our fellowship with God and the completion of our task to make disciples. We consider ourselves part of the larger body of Christ in our communities and in the world. The covenant is an opportunity to affirm our purpose as God’s people and our commitment to this local fellowship of the Church. God may lead us to different locations, ministries, and local churches over time, so we renew our covenant each year as God continues to lead us to remain in this fellowship together. It may be that there are some who are unable to affirm this covenant at this time. They are welcome to continue in fellowship and ministry with us, understanding that the purposes, goals, and core doctrines have been clearly articulated.

Prayaroundtheworld.com

Posted by Matthew in Making Disciples, Prayer on Jul 1st, 2010 | 0 comments

Please check out this site my friend Clarke Kennedy is building: prayaroundtheworld.com. Here is part of the description of what the sight is for:

This site is a tool for the body of Christ around the world. It is designed to equip individuals, churches, organizations, families, and communities with a very simple but powerful way to increase the amount of prayer that is lifted up for the things they care about and for the things that God cares about.

One of the most powerful aspects of this site is the ability that it gives anyone to create their own prayer forums about anything they care about. A prayer forum is a group of related prayer topics. For example, you might create a prayer forum for your church under the “Churches” forum in the “Prayer Room” forum. Once you have created a prayer forum for your church, you could add topics for prayer related to your church within that forum.

This may be a useful tool for you in your church, ministry, missions projects, particular crises or anything else for which a community might want to pray together.

Second Edition of Making Friends for Christ Available!

Posted by Matthew in Books, Christian Living, Making Disciples on Jun 23rd, 2010 | 0 comments

Here is the description of the book printed on the back cover:

“This is not a gimmick. It is not the next modern evangelism strategy for you or your church to use for a while and then discard when the next one comes along. It is not about pretending to be friends with people to fulfill a hidden conversion agenda.

“Making Friends for Christ is an exploration of loving others the way that Jesus loved us, intentionally, relationally, and sacrificially. The people all around us want to be loved. They need a friend who will listen to them and care for them. And that is just what Jesus wants us to do. As we live in love and truth, his light shines into people’s lives so that they may know Love Himself.

“Making Friends for Christ is a guide for learning how to be a real friend. It offers practical, everyday ideas for touching the people God has already put into your life. You will learn how to be a good listener, overcome common barriers, and invest in relationships. You can turn your home into a place of ministry and effectively tell how Christ has changed your life. You can learn to pray in faith for your friends and family and join with other believers for support and encouragement.

“This second edition of Making Friends for Christ is revised and enlarged for the challenges of the Twenty-First Century evangelism.

“Wayne McDill teaches Communication and Bible Exposition in Wake Forest, North Carolina at Southeastern Seminary.  He has also taught courses in Evangelism, Church Planting, and Pastoral Leadership.  He is author of seven books, including the first edition of Making Friends for Christ, along with books on preaching and personal Christian growth.”

You can order the book from Amazon HERE.