Showing titles in Discipleship

Church Is a Team Sport shows proven ways to push believers, new and mature, toward growth as both Christians and leaders. Through this powerful, thought-provoking volume, ministers both in the congregation and on staff will discover how to expand the church one soul at a time. Making disciples is the crux of pastor Jim Putman's message. The plan works. Caring for people, following up on stray sheep, and teaching what it means to love God and obey him.

Fervent passion for Jesus is often one of the first things to fade as we struggle through the daily grind of life, especially after grappling with disappointments and pain. Yet inherent in Jesus's call to return to our first love is his promise to help us never to lose it—to have a heart sustained in joy, delight, and passion for him all of our days. Dana Candler shares her own wrestle with weariness and unbelief, and reveals that a heart fully alive in Jesus is not only possible but is the promise and invitation of God's infinite grace.

God finds ways to reach out to us every day, offering a lifetime partnership filled with guidance on everything from major life issues to small, ordinary problems. The question is, are you listening?

Anyone can start a race, but it takes planning and training to finish it. A good long-distance runner knows the importance of planning his race. As he passes the starting line, he is already considering how he will cross the finish line. As he takes his first easy step, he has planned how he will take his last grueling step. As a Christian man, you are already running the race of life. You are not competing against other people but against the deadly enemies of the world, the flesh, and the devil. How do you plan to maintain your pace throughout this race?

Since a global pandemic abruptly closed places of worship, many Christians have skipped church life, even neglecting virtual services. But this was a trend even before COVID-19. Polarizing issues, including political and racial strife, convinced some people to pull away from the church and one another. Now it’s time to recommit to gathering as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Renowned scholar Dr. Tim Gray masterfully guides you through the tumultuous and inspiring life of Peter - from his call to discipleship to his eventual martyrdom in Rome. Using sacred scripture and tradition, Dr. Gray highlights these important lessons from Peter's life, including how to become a trusting disciple and "cast into the deep".

When building a children’s ministry at a church, there is so much to consider: Which curriculum should we use? How many volunteers do we need? How do we keep parents in the loop? And that’s before we run into stalled check-in computers, missing activity sheets, and floors that need to be vacuumed. Writing from personal ministry experience, Jared Kennedy shares a four-fold approach for gospel-centered, missional children’s ministry: hospitality, teaching, discipleship, and mission.

The first Christians "turned the world upside down" (Acts 17:6) shaking the gates of hell even in the face of severe persecution. The result: People all around "were filled with wonder and amazement" (Acts 3:10).What can give Christians today the same impact? God's Holy Spirit is ready to answer that for us in an awesome way, as Henry Blackaby and his son Mel Blackaby make clear in Experiencing the Spirit.

Biblical discipleship emphasizes encouragement, repentance, and spiritual growth—essential parts of the Christian life. However, well-meaning believers often struggle to follow Jesus, unaware their views are too legalistic, licentious, or individualistic. How can churches and Christians develop a healthy, successful path to disciple-making? In this second edition of Gospel-Centered Discipleship, Jonathan Dodson presents an effective, Spirit-led model for sanctification.

Do you find yourself picking through circumstances like children plucking daisy petals attempting to figure out whether or not God loves you? If you find yourself least certain of his love in those critical moments when you most need to trust him, there is hope for you. Where? At the one event in human history that forever secured your place in the Father's heart - the cross where Jesus allowed sin and shame to be consumed in his own body so that you could freely embrace a relationship with his Father.

Today we are told to be true to ourselves, look within for answers, and follow our hearts. But when we put our own happiness first, we experience record-breaking levels of aimlessness, loneliness, depression, and anxiety. Self-centeredness always fails to deliver the fulfillment we're seeking.

Although the cross is God's decisive deed in human history, the full meaning of it is far too much for a mere human mind to grasp. But through Henry Blackaby's careful examination, the cross becomes not a doctrine, but an experience. You'll be overwhelmed with the utter significance of Christ's death, leading you to a stronger sense of God's power in your daily life.

Celebrity—defined as social power without proximity—has led to abuses of power, the cultivation of persona, and a fixation on profits. In light of the fall of famous Christian leaders in recent years, the time has come for the church to reexamine its relationship to celebrity. Award-winning journalist Katelyn Beaty explores the ways fame has reshaped the American church, explains how and why celebrity is woven into the fabric of the evangelical movement, and identifies many ways fame has gone awry in recent years.

We long for a good life, a beautiful life, a kind life. But clearly that’s not the world we live in. How did we lose goodness, kindness, and beauty? And more important, how do we get them back into our lives? These are the two questions crying out in our streets, homes, churches, and from deep within our souls. Pastor and author Rich Villodas is convinced that only Jesus offers a way of being human that is both strong and tender enough to tear down the walls of hostility we experience daily.

In Walk with Me, you’ll return to the essential biblical practices that help people grow as Christ-followers in simple, slow, and deep ways. Learn how you can connect with your neighbors, coworkers, or anyone you want to reach with the gospel in ways that are relational and Spirit-led. You’ll learn five kingdom principles that will reshape how you can pass on the faith.

In his landmark book The Universal Christ, Richard Rohr articulated a transformative view of what it means to recognize Jesus as "Christ" - as a portrait of God's constant, unfolding work in the world. Now, in partnership with Patrick Boland, a psychotherapist and member of Rohr's Center for Action and Contemplation community, he invites listeners to engage with the themes of the book through spiritual practice.

"Unleash Your Divine Potential: Discovering the Power Above" is an exhilarating exploration of the incredible truths about who believers are in Jesus Christ. This book is designed to empower and inspire you to live a life far beyond ordinary. Packed with extraordinary promises from God's Word, it reveals the pathway to walking and living in the fullness of Christ. Jesus declared that the works He did, we can also do. It's time for God's people to rise up, embrace their divine potential, and fulfill the remarkable purposes for which they were created. This book will serve as your guide, ...

You're not alone. Most Christians yearn to grow spiritually, but many don't know how to begin. Some seek maturity through deeds or doctrine. But Tony Evans reminds us that flourishing faith comes from a vibrant walk with Christ.

In Donald Miller's early years, he was vaguely familiar with a distant God. But when he came to know Jesus Christ, he pursued the Christian life with great zeal. Within a few years he had a successful ministry that ultimately left him feeling empty, burned out, and, once again, far away from God. In this intimate, soul-searching account, Miller describes his remarkable journey back to a culturally relevant, infinitely loving God.

Evangelism and missions are parts of the Christian life often accompanied by fears, insecurities, and cultural pressures. In this addition to the Union series, Daniel Hames and Michael Reeves argue that an individual's relationship with God influences their evangelism and missions more than anything else. Scripture clearly shows that a believer's responsibility is to make God known in the world, but this cannot be done without first knowing and enjoying God.