Search

Planting a church is one of the most exciting adventures you’ll ever embark on. It’s also one of the hardest. It requires initiative, leadership, strategy, systems, and a lot of prayer. In this second edition of Planting Missional Churches, not only will you find a completely redesigned book with new content in every single chapter, but you will also find several new chapters on topics such as church multiplication, residencies, multi-ethnic ministry, multisite, denominations and networks, and spiritual leadership. So if you’re planting a church, be prepared. Use this book as a guide to build the needed ministry areas so that you can multiply over and over again. For additional resources visit www.newchurches.com/PMC.

Ed Stetzer and Philip Nation are executive editor and general editor of The Mission of God Study Bible. This book is a companion to that study. Understand what it means to be compelled by love. The authors challenge readers to look at love within the context of God, the church, and the lives of individual believers. Compelled provides readers a basic theological grounding and a platform for personal application as they understand that missional living is all about simply the calling to love others. Look at the love of God; begin to truly understand what is at the center of the church’s foundation, commission, and direction; but most importantly, understand your role within the mission of God as you integrate love into all aspects of your missional calling.

A leading national church research expert shares his surprising findings about the younger unchurched audience--ages 25 to 34--and the churches that have found a way to reach them.

The mission of God to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19, HCSB) is a major target of spiritual warfare today. In this new book by International Mission Board president Jerry Rankin and noted missiologist Ed Stetzer, the authors call out Satan’s ongoing strategy to convince Christians that the Great Commission is optional. Through deceit, he is eroding the authoritative mandate of Scripture, leading believers to tell themselves that international discipleship is a task better left to denomination and mission agencies—not the sort of kingdom work that every believer can do. But for every evil success, Rankin and Stetzer point to where Satan is failing, thus encouraging readers to renew their passion to declare God’s glory among the nations. Indeed, by taking up the call to action here, we can be sure that the kingdoms of the world will become the kingdom of the Lord.

How are we doing? The church, that is. And how are we doing it? Congregations have long measured success by "bodies, budget, and buildings"--a certain record of attendance, the offering plate, and square footage. But the scorecard can't stop there. When it does, the deeper emphasis on accountability, discipleship, and spiritual maturity is lost. Ignoring those details, we see fewer lives transformed, Christian influence wane, and churches thin out--a situation that is all too familiar across North America today. It is time to take heart and rework the scorecard. According to Ed Stetzer and Thom S. Rainer, the authors of Transformational Church, "Too often we've highlighted the negative realities of the declining American church but missed the opportunity to magnify the God of hope and transformation." Based on the most comprehensive study of its kind, including a survey of more than 7,000 churches and hundreds of on-site interviews with pastors, Transformational Church takes us to the thriving congregations where truly changing lives is the norm. Stetzer and Rainer clearly confirm the importance of disciple making for all through active biblical engagement and prayerful dependence on God alongside of ever-increasing, intentional participation in mission and ministry activities. As the church engages these issues, the world will see the change: * More people following Christ * More believers growing in their faith * More churches making an impact on their communities The transformation starts now.

Help group members recognize the wisdom and good news in the parables of Jesus.

Compelled by Love: A Journey to Missional Living - Member Book (HCSB) is a 7-session Bible study for adults, mission teams, church mission and ministry leaders. The what of ministry is to declare God's greatness and to call people to respond to the gospel. But sometimes the why of ministry escapes us. We should do the right thing, but we simply don't have the motivation. Based on 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, this course places participants in touch with the heart of God -- the compassion, mercy, and love that drove Him to sacrifice His Son for their salvation. They will discover how they can join God on mission, sharing His love with everyone they meet, everywhere they go. Session Titles: Missional Living Our Missionary God Our Missional Endeavor Making a Missional Impact Missional Spirituality Missional Obedience Launching into Mission Features: Teaches believers how to let love for God and for people guide their daily thoughts, motivation, and activity. Living a biblical love will enable participants to look beyond their wants and preferences to the issues of God's kingdom and other's needs. Believers will be motivated to be on mission 24/7. By gaining a missional perspective on life, participants can make a difference for the glory of God. Believers will learn what it means to be ambassadors for Christ. Authors: Philip Nation is an editor in Leadership and Adult Publishing at Lifeway Christian Resources. He has worked in a number of areas of ministry, including youth minister, single-adult minister, senior pastor, and education minister. Prior to coming to Lifeway, Philip served as a church planter with the North American Mission Board. Ed Stetzer is the president of Lifeway Research and missiologist in residence at Lifeway Christian Resources. Ed has planted churches in New York, Pennsylvania, and Georgia and has trained church planters and pastors across the United States and on five continents. He is the author of Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age and the coauthor of Perimeters of Light: Biblical Boundaries for the Emerging Church, Breaking the Missional Code, Planting Missional Churches, Comeback Churches, and 11 Innovations in the Local Church.

Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age is an instruction book for planting biblically faithful and culturally relevant churches. It addresses the "how-to" and "why" issues of church planting by providing practical guidance through all the phases of a church plant with a missional look at existing and emerging cultures. --

An instruction book for planting biblically faithful and culturally relevant churches, this text address the "how-to" and "why" issues of church planting by providing practical guidance through all the phases, while taking a missional look at existing and emerging cultures.

Join three seasoned church-ministry experts on an insider's tour of the most innovative churches today! Discover a dozen types of innovation, each with profiles of congregations that have implemented that innovation. This is more than a show-and-tell tour, however. Each chapter offers a solid take-away for church leaders on how to learn and apply the appropriate innovation profiled. The authors also offer scripturally based assessments of both the positive and negatives implications of implementing each innovation, providing guidance and wisdom. There are many ways to present the gospel, and this timely book will serve as a springboard for church leaders scratching their heads and asking themselves, "What should we do next?" By learning from a dozen different church types, church leaders can become more intentional about exploring new directions and reaching more of the world for Christ.