Glory

Lee Campbell

John 17:1-24

The Father glorifies Jesus by making him king; Jesus glorifies God by giving eternal life. Self-glory blinds us to God's glory, ruins relationships, and steals glory from God. God's glory results in an eternal relationship with God and an eternal relationship with others.

Balancing Home Life and Ministry

Patrice McCormac

John 17:1-24

When kids come into the picture, the temptation to decrease our involvement in ministry and fellowship raises immensely. In order to guard our own hearts from falling into this temptation that our culture feeds, we must recognize why we involve ourselves with ministry in the first place. It makes us better parents, it models healthy relating (both to people and to God) to our children, it teaches our kids valuable lessons, and ultimately it is because of the great joy of being made new in Christ! With this understanding, we can equip ourselves with some practical suggestions for how to schedule our lives in such a way that we minister to both our families and to the others God has placed before us.

Leading Home Group Evangelism

Doug Patch

John 17:1-24

Home group evangelism is a balance of outward movement with inward growth. Learn about the steps of challenging a group to generate a new focus on evangelism, including how to anticipate resistance. Each step is rooted in getting members to become outward-focused and to fight against staying in a small comfort zone.

Incorporating New Christians into Community

John Cleary

John 17:17

Incorporating new Christians into community is important but not necessarily easy. First, our own growth in the gospel is essential, because it ensures that people are settling into a growing community. We also need to emphasize our relationship with new believers instead of focusing more on the meeting. This often means we must bring the community to the person we are hoping to incorporate. Along the way, we must recognize Satan's attempts to thwart our efforts and fight to ensure the believer is exposed to the Word and growing in their own personal learning about God. Finally, we must keep in mind that we are only assisting God in his moves to incorporate believers into the body of Christ. \r\n

The High Commitment Church vs. The Low Commitment Church

Dennis McCallum

John 17:17

Creating a committed ethos in a church involves theology, application of truth, expectation, and making judgment calls. Ultimately, the ethos is where your theology meets your value system. The elements needed for a committed ethos include: strongly held and clear convictions, clear points and counterpoints, being relational and practical, encouragement, and honesty. Against these, there are many ethos killers to look out for.

Intro to the Xenos Home Group Model

Phil Franck

Acts 2:46

Xenos' structure is centered around small Bible study groups called home churches. This model is Biblically based. The New Testament gives multiple examples of the early church operating "house to house." Countless New Testament principles such as the "one another" passages also indicate that the church must provide smaller group settings where relationships can grow between members so that they will be able to discover and meet one another's needs. Home church leaders should be developed before selection and then selected on the basis of character, knowledge, relationships, and ministry. Leaders should have four areas of focus: 1) their own growth in God's grace, love, and sanctification, 2) outreach to non-Christians, 3) Biblical community, and 4) discipleship. This teaching discusses a typical home church schedule and meeting format. Evangelism is often a weakness in adult home churches, for a variety of reasons. But it is also a vital part of a healthy home church's ministry. Evangelism can be done in two ways - "come and see" stepping stone events, where the lost are invited into Christian community to experience fellowship, and "go and be" evangelism, where Christians go out into the secular community to witness. Several examples of these types of events are given. This teaching also plays a video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMyTMTmJU6E) in order to comically show how shallow some small groups can be. The remedy to shallow community is discipleship. The product of successful discipleship is multiplication on both an individual and home church level.\r\n

Wisdom in Interpersonal Conflict

Jim Leffel

James 4:1-12

Wisdom in dealing with interpersonal conflict is given by contrasting worldly friendships with spiritual friendships. Worldly friendships are based on self-centered needs, inordinate desires, and expectations, i.e., "I want things my way or else." Spiritual friendships are rooted in God, honor doing things God's way, and are based on grace.\r\n

Welcome One Another

Gary DeLashmutt

Romans 15:7

All Christians are called to welcome one another. This includes welcoming people who have significant sociological differences. Welcoming does not mean passive acceptance or tolerance; and it does not mean snobbery or prejudice. To welcome means to actively and personally invite someone into your life. Welcoming one another is compelling evidence that Jesus is the living Lord. Christians can learn to welcome others by thanking God regularly for His undeserved welcome through Christ.\r\n

Encourage One Another

Gary DeLashmutt

John 13:34-35

All Christians are commanded to regularly give and receive biblical encouragement. This "one another" command is foundational for three reasons: 1) it is the most used of the "one another" commands; 2) all of the other ?one another? commands work best within an encouraging relationship; and 3) experiencing Jesus' encouragement is central to biblical Christianity. To become an effective encourager you must commit to have regular face to face meetings with the other person and also think carefully and prayerfully about that person. Four practical ways to communicate God's encouragement to others are explained: 1) affirm others' value and potential in Christ; 2) recognize and praise others' steps of faith to follow Christ; 3) remind others of God's comfort and faithfulness to those who are suffering; and 4) exhort others to take scary steps of faith to follow Christ.\r\n