A critical assessment of church planting strategies and practices, offering a biblical, theological and historical foundation for this component of mission. Attention is given to the postmodern and post-Christendom context for contemporary church planting. This is really a book on ecclesiology and mission from an Anabaptist perspective, using church planting as a way in to a range of issues.

Condensed into 31 accessible chapters, The Story Bible: The Bible As One Continuing Story Of God And His People sweeps you into the unfolding progression of Bible characters and events from Genesis to Revelation. Using the world’s most popular modern-English Bible, the New International Version, and printed in the exclusive Zondervan NIV Comfort Print® typeface, it allows the stories, poems, and teachings of the Bible to read like a novel. Like any good story, The Story is filled with intrigue, drama, conflict, romance, and redemption—and this story’s true!

Features:

• Selections from the accurate, readable, and clear New International Version (NIV)
• Events, characters, and teachings of the Bible are arranged chronologically
• Short transitions between each chapter to connect the reader to the continuing story
• Timelines of Bible events
• Foreword by Max Lucado and Randy Frazee
• List of characters and who they are
• Discussion questions for each chapter
• Exclusive Zondervan NIV Comfort Print typeface
• 11.5-point print size

Be Equipped to Prepare and Deliver Engaging, Biblical, and Effective Topical Sermons Sooner or later, every preacher will come upon a situation where they need to preach a topical sermon. Yet few are taught to preach topically. Even preachers who are gifted in expositing the Scriptures may struggle to deliver a topical sermon that is engaging, culturally relevant, and true to the biblical text. Worse, many pastors worry these messages undermine confidence in the Bible or its authority, leading to a human-centered rather than a God-focused sermon. But that doesn't have to be the case. In Topical Preaching in a Complex World, Sam Chan and Malcolm Gill answer these objections and chart a path for how preachers can deliver faithful and effective topical messages. First, they address the biblical, theological, and cultural reasons pastors should add topical sermons to their preaching repertoire. Then, they introduce a straightforward, four-fold approach for preaching a topical message and answer important questions like these: How do you approach a topic with the proper interpretative lens? How can you speak to two or more audiences with the same sermon? What should you consider theologically, culturally, and pastorally in your preparation? How do you trace the topic back to Christ? How can you better connect with your audience? Best of all, they help readers craft a message that says something people truly need (and want) to hear! Filled with wit, humor, and wisdom from decades of preaching, this book will equip preachers, pastors, ministry leaders, and students to preach relevant, biblical, and engaging topical sermons. Author Sam Chan says, "Just over a decade ago, I was asked by an organization to speak at their end-of-year dinner. They wanted me to address the topic of being a Christian single, but I had no idea how to prepare and deliver a topical talk. When the night arrived, I preached an old three-point expository sermon and merely changed the ending to include some application on singleness. At best, I got some polite comments afterwards. At worst, people's looks indicated that my biblical talk had little relevance for them. They could not have been less fooled by my disingenuous workaround. I went home vowing never to repeat that poor performance. I felt like the unfaithful servant who had not adequately used what talents had been given to him. As a result, I have dedicated the last decade of my preaching ministry to overcoming and mastering the art of topical preaching. This book is a product of that journey."

Learn to apply the lessons found in the Bible to the struggles of day-to-day life Pastoral Care from the Pulpit connects the head, heart, and soul issues of everyday life, presenting a pastoral care approach to preaching and teaching practical Christianity. This powerful, progressive book gives hope to anyone struggling to survive and thrive as a spiritual person in difficult times. The author, a practicing psychotherapist who is also an ordained minister, explores Biblical stories and passages to find practical motivations for living as a Christian, offering encouragement to those suffering from a lack of purpose, identity, or acceptance. Pastoral Care from the Pulpit makes creative use of counseling and pastoral care principles to serve as a handbook for spiritual survival against life's everyday challenges. The book is an outgrowth of sermons delivered by the author at First Christian Church in Rome, Georgia, creative explorations of the Bible that blend theology with preaching to remain relevant to real life. It can be read a chapter at a time for daily affirmation, or taught one chapter a week as a class study; questions are provided at the end of each chapter to encourage reflection. Pastoral Care from the Pulpit provides positive principles for living and powerful encouragements for transformation during life's journey. The book includes: The Transforming Power of Touch (Matthew 8:40-48) Seeing Possibilities and Potentialities in Your Identity (Mark 10:46-52) Does God Put You to the Test or Take the Test for You? (Genesis 22:1-18) A Not-So-Modest Proposal: Follow Jesus (Matthew 4:18-23) Wandering into Far Countries: With Whom Are You Traveling? (Luke 15:11-31) Finding Freedom from False Assumptions (John 14:25-27) Saying YES to the Way of Jesus (John 10:10) Drinking Out of a Glass with a Hole in the Bottom (Jeremiah 2:1-13) and much more! Pastoral Care from the Pulpit is an invaluable aid for ministers, chaplains, and pastoral counselors working with mainstream Christian denominations.

A major and continuing problem for theological education and the practice of Christian ministry is how to best achieve a genuine integration between theory and practice, theology and experience. The key claim of this book is that theological reflection, beginning with experience, is a method of integration and that pastoral supervision is a vehicle for theological reflection. In establishing this claim, John Paver demonstrates that the model and method have potential to be a catalyst for reform within theological colleges and seminaries. Three different theological reflection models are developed and critiqued in this book, and their capacity to be developed in particular contexts is explored. This book does not stop at ministry, cultural and personal integration, but is bold enough to make recommendations for structural integration within the theological institution.

Learn to balance the professional demands of your ministry with your personal needs No amount of research, study, or planning can prepare pastoral care givers for the stress placed on their personal lives by the demands of their ministries. But Grief, Loss, and Death: The Shadow Side of Ministry can help anyone involved in pastoral counseling close the gap between their professional and personal needs, encouraging them to use the stress, loss, and grief that accompanies pastoral care giving as opportunities to humanize their ministries and reaffirm their faith. This unique book offers comfort and solace to those in the chaplaincy who are torn between professional obligations and the limits and boundaries of the shadow side of their ministrythe human side. The shadow side of ministry shoots a bullet through the brain that does not kill or prevent thinking or feeling. But the bullet creates a hole, a long, hollow, empty wound that thinking and feeling must somehow bypass. The wounded minister does not recover the previous self, cannot remember what the old self thought or felt. Like a veteran of a secret war, there may be a new life after the shameful wound, but no public way to heal. But there is a public way of speaking about it and this may help relieve some of the shame and some of the self-blaming. Author Halbert Weidner Grief, Loss, and Death: The Shadow Side of Ministry can help in your search for the answers to questions you may have already found yourself asking, including: Do I prefer co-workers or friends? How did I lose focus of my original goals? How did I become isolated? How can I share authority without giving up responsibility? How do I cope when family issues arise? The book also addresses issues of illness, death and suicide, funerals, the confrontation between joy and sorrow, and how life's stages are often like the Stations of the Cross. Grief, Loss, and Death: The Shadow Side of Ministry is help against despair. Newcomers to the profession can use the book as a guide to the difficulties that lie ahead, and experienced pastoral care givers can employ it as a catalogue to be consulted when all hope seems lost.

This beautifully designed Amplified Bible with its unique square shape features an easy-to-read typeface and double-column format, giving you the translation you trust in a binding you’ll love.

The Amplified Bible uses a unique system of punctuation, italics, references, and synonyms to unlock the subtle shades of meaning found in the original languages.

Features:

• Complete Amplified Bible text
• Presentation page
• Double-column format
• Gilded page edges
• Two satin ribbon markers
• 12.5-point type size