A Leadership Crisis in the Church

Jim Leffel

Romans 1:16

Christian leadership is all about facilitating and having vision for the work that God is doing. For the church to move forward in God's work, their knowledge of what is going on in culture needs to be understood. Leaders must be able to maintain and spur the church on with the biblical mission, the biblical message, and the biblical means of communication.

God's Heart For People

Dennis McCallum

Jonah 1-4

Jonah was a prophet who initially ran from what God called him to do. After some discipline and repentance, God uses Jonah to show characteristics of His heart: 1) His love goes out to needy and confused people, and 2) God has a lot more compassion than we do. This book can lead the readers to consider if they have answered the call to reconcile the world to Him that God has given all believers.

Praying As Jesus' Representative

Gary DeLashmutt

Colossians 4:2-6

As Jesus' representatives, believers can pray for God's help in representing Him well. Gary DeLashmutt focuses on three types of requests we can make of God based on the prayer in Colossians: 1) create opportunities for me to share about Jesus' love; 2) show me how to demonstrate Jesus' love through my actions; and 3) enable me to express Jesus' love in this conversation.

The Life of a Spiritual Ambassador

Dennis McCallum

2 Corinthians 5:14

Paul explained that as Christians we are ambassadors of Christ, we can either be a stumbling block to the watching world or we can reflect God's love to them. Being an ambassador for God is difficult, but is also deeply satisfying, because it is rich with meaning. God will empower us to do His work, the question is whether we are willing to do it?

What Motivates Christians?

Dennis McCallum

1 John 5:15

Paul explained that when someone accepts Christ's reconciliation for themselves they have a new identity. They become a citizen of heaven and a child of God; this new identity is something we can share with others. Christians who understand this are motivated to go out and share God's message of reconciliation as His ambassadors to this world.

Background and Lessons

Dennis McCallum

2 Corinthians 9:1-2

Paul was willing to share his faith in a culture that was full of immorality and greed. He knew God's message could speak to a people that was at the end of themselves. Paul wanted to win people to the Lord in this culture without giving way to the world system.

Christians and Their Neighbors (Part 3)

Dennis McCallum

Colossians 4:4-6

Three ways to reach out with the message of God: 1) prayer; 2) lifestyle; 3) words. Five main components to consider when using our words to share God's message include: 1) sender; 2) message; 3) encoding/decoding; 4) receiver; 5) noise. Most effectively this is done through relationship with an emphasis on grace. The point is to communicate God's message of grace in a way that the receiver can hear best. This is an exciting part of the Christian life! All Christians should look for ways to be part of what God's doing around us.\r\n

Reaching High School and College Students

Tom Dixon

Ruth W

Colossians 4:4-6

Reaching high school and college students for Christ is essential for a healthy, growing church. Learn from Tom and Ruth some of the reasons behind why it is important, what is the first step, and practical ways to reach them. They emphasize having a plan for evangelizing to students including: getting all the members of your group involved (not just the leaders) and how to get members on board with that vision. Practical ideas include: encouraging any efforts, teaching Biblical principles of evangelism, and evaluating your meetings to see if they are seeker friendly, among others.

Leading Home Group Evangelism

Doug Patch

2 Timothy 2:2

In this XSI teaching the teacher explains principles to leading home church evangelism. Evangelism is a lifestyle and not a hobby and it is done by all members. The leaders need to invest in the Christians in order to help them evangelize. It is a priority to win consensus of God's perspective of the mission of the church; to disciple and to reach the lost. This can take time and isn't automatic. God causes the growth and the leaders need to stay engaged in leading their groups through the six principles taught in this teaching.