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Tell ‘Em What To Do

What’s the most important thing about your sermon?

Is it the scripture you start with?
The introduction that gets the congregation on board?
The stories they’ll remember for the rest of their lives?
The exposition of the deeper truths of the biblical passage?
The application of those truths to real life?
The invitation?

Let’s agree that they’re all important. A well […]

“Big Church” is for … Whom?

I’m not talking about mega churches or even large churches. I mean, who is your Adult Worship Service designed for?

If your choir is singing in robes, it’s probably for Senior Adults who have lots of church experience.

If your band sounds like Peter, Paul, and Mary with guitars and a keyboard, it’s probably for Boomers. […]

Leap of Faith

One of my favorite movies is Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. In it Harrison Ford’s character is faced with difficult trials in order to regain the Holy Grail, the cup Jesus used at his last supper. One of the tests he has to endure is to make a seemingly impossible leap across a […]

Next Steps?

Carol joined the church a month ago. She’d been attending worship for several weeks and liked what she heard and what she experienced. She’d even made a new friend or two. Joining the church seemed like a good thing to do.

But that was last month. Carol still liked worship, but she was a […]

Make This Father’s Day Service Special

Let’s face it, Father’s Day is the Rodney Dangerfield of holidays. It’s the, “I get-no-respect” little brother to Mother’s Day. Interestingly, the American version of Father’s Day was first proposed in 1909 by a grateful daughter, Sonora Smart Dodd. Her father, a Civil War veteran, singlehandedly raised six children after his wife died in […]

Making Mother’s Day Special In Your Church

I saw a post on Facebook this week that reminded me of a very practical church growth principle. The image said, ’The best gift you can give your Mother for Mother’s Day is to sit with her in church.” Behind only Christmas and Easter, Mother’s Day brings the third highest attendance each year. People […]

Disciple More by Leveraging What You’re Already Doing

Every week, thousands of pastors spend hours and hours creating a sermonic masterpiece that will be heard once by fewer than 60 people.
Every week, tens of thousands of Sunday school classes will meet to educate and ostensibly disciple less than a dozen people.

The same goes for Bible studies, small group studies, and so on.

All […]

Easter Sunday Checklist

It was over twenty-five years I walked into a tent that
would revolutionize the way I would forever pastor a congregation. Soon after
being called to the First Christian Church of Norwalk California, I began
hearing about a church in Orange County that was doing big things. The church
was Saddleback Valley Community Church and I decided to […]

A Church OF Small Groups

Small groups are one of the most misunderstand
ministries I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen them all.  Most small groups are just one of many
programs churches undertake in an attempt to either reach more people, keep more
people, or provide a needed form of fellowship and perhaps some Bible study.
And in every case those small groups […]