Posts Tagged With: Christianity
Stewardship According to John Wesley
An outline of John Wesley‘s Sermon on Stewardship: “The Good Steward” Summary: Wesley uses this sermon to explain that we as God’s Stewards are not the owners of what God entrust to us, but temporary custodians. This applies to our souls, bodies, possessions, time, abilities and opportunities. Wesley states in this sermon that there will [...]
The Danger of Riches
“The Danger of Riches” 1 Timothy 6:9 Summary: As the population of the Methodist grew, the found themselves with more members who were wealthy. Wesley used this sermon to speak on the dangers of wealth and how it could be inlet to sin. He describes how people should gain as much as they can, save [...]
John Wesley’s View on Money
As we begin our sermon series on the use of money, I thought it would be appropriate to give you an outline on John Wesley‘s view of money. This sermon can be broken down to 3 points: Gain All You Can, Save All You Can, and Give All You Can. “The Use of Money” Summary: [...]
6 HUGE Mistakes a Pastor Can Make
I’m now coming up on my 10th year in ministry and I’ve discovered some mistakes (some I’ve made and some I’ve seen) which can greatly limit a pastors ministry. Here is what I have found: Mistake 1. Micro-managing your staff/volunteers. If there is a need to micro-manage because the job may not get done correctly, [...]
What Is It? The Wesley Quadrilateral…
The Wesley quadrilateral is a method of exploring and understanding God. John Wesley adopted and adapted three of these position from the Church of England (Scripture, Reason, and Tradition), and he added Experience to form the quadrilateral. Scripture John Wesley believed as I do, that Scripture must be primary among the other sources. Wesley believed [...]
5 Signs Your Church Underperforms
Great article by Mark Howell Mark Howell serves as Community Life Pastor at Parkview Christian Church in Orland Park, IL. He founded SmallGroupResources.net, offering consulting and coaching services to help churches across North America launch, build and sustain healthy small group ministries. He spent four years on the consulting staff at Lifetogether and often contributes [...]
Dissension in the Church
”Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.” Philippians 2:14-16 NIV I’ve been around a great many churches in [...]
15 Signs Your Church Is in Trouble
Here is a great article which gives some great points. All churches need to keep these in mind as they reach for their goals. Also, a church doesn’t need to have all 15 to be in trouble. One or two could give you an idea. Click on the link below for the article. 15 Signs [...]
This May Step on Some Toes!!
GREAT ARTICLE I read on Christian Post.com My Wife Had a Bad Experience at Chick-fil-A! Fri, Nov. 25, 2011 Posted: 09:09 AM EDT I love Chick-Fil-A! (AND love Tim Hawkins song about it) We eat there at least two or three times a week (not kidding…we’ve actually pushed that number up to 6-7 a few [...]
Communion Questions and Answers
CLICK HERE TO READ ARTICLE ON UMC PAGE Why do United Methodists call this sharing of bread and cup by different names, such as Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion, and Eucharist? Each of these names is taken from the New Testament and highlights certain facets of this sacrament’s many meanings. Calling it the Lord’s Supper reminds [...]
Hold Yourself Accountable (Wesley Style)
I was doing some research today and I ran across these questions that are similar to the ones that John Wesley gave to the members of his discipleship groups. This was over 200 years ago and they are still good questions for Christians to ask themselves today. I challenge you to make these questions a [...]
Communion Testimony: Joshua Allison
Holy Communion is the most amazing, most wonderful thing a pastor can give to his or her people. It is better than anything else because it is the body and blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and a means of grace. We should receive Communion as often as possible; weekly at least. It [...]
5 Types of Church Visitor
One thing pastors love is church visitors. Really, what we like even more is church visitors who become regular church attendee, but that process begins with visitors. It’s always a mystery why some visit a church and never come back. Those reasons may be the subject of another post, but one thing I’ve learned, much [...]
Outside the Wall’s
The teachings of Jesus say that the first shall be last and the last shall be first. He was the greatest model of someone being a servant to others. This is completely contrary to a worldly view where we are taught to put ourselves first. Becoming inward is something that happens quickly in our personal [...]
Keeping X in Xmas
A good friend of mine (Steve West) wrote this on his Facebook page and I thought it gave a wonderful explanation regarding a topic that there is so much confusion about. Surprised at my title, “Keeping X in Xmas“? Many statements come out this time of year by evangelical Christians decrying the use of the [...]
Foundation of Spiritual Growth
Have you ever felt tired in your spiritual journey? My grandmother used to say, “I’m just tuckered out!” I have felt like that and if we are not careful to take care of our own spiritual needs while doing the work of Christ, we will get burned out. Then we are no good to anyone. [...]
Why? Simple Question/Big Answer
Last night we had our annual Charge Conference and it was one of the best that I have ever attended. Instead of it being a “business meeting” that bored everyone to tears, it focused on the work of the Body of Christ. An hour was spent talking to the leaders of our churches about making [...]
Connectional Giving: World Service Fund
The World Service Fund is the heart of our denomination-wide ministriy, underwriting Christian mission and ministry around the world. This fund strenghtenes our evangelism efforts, stimulates church growth, expands Bible studies and enriches spiritual commitment. By giving to the World Service Fund we help God’s children everywhere shape the lives of tomorrow’s leaders and proclaim our Christian faith. The World [...]
Why Lock-ins
Last night our youth had their first lock-in during my tenure as pastor of Union. I was amazed that there were well over 30 youth’s attending. It was quite a site to behold. It was not long ago as we were at our last church that I vowed to give up doing lock-ins. It was [...]
Connectional Giving
As a pastor, I have heard many people’s opinion on Connectional Giving (apportionments) within the United Methodist Church. (For those who are not UM, we are a “connectional” church, which means that all of our churches are connected under the banner of the District that the church resides in. The District is part of the [...]
