Jesus did not come to make our ministry teams more effective. He came to seek and save the lost. Yet the church is his body, and it is designed by him such that we all must depend on one another. Thus we must work in teams. And because He is Lord of it all, all …
Last Sunday night at Cornerstone we discussed the concept of deacons. If you were there, I trust it was a fruitful discussion. If you could not be there, I invite you to get the perspective of someone who was there. But here are a few salient points. I went out of normal order – I …
Yesterday Sacramento County shifted its strategy of dealing with the spreading coronavirus, from one of containment to one of management. Essentially, they advise: if you have coronavirus, limit your social contact. If you do not have it, but have been exposed to someone who does have it, then take precautions – see below, and see the …
We can see our “main thing” from different angles: To the elders of Acts 6, “Prayer, and the ministry of the word” is the main thing. This is because PRAYER, the WORD and our FELLOWSHIP are means TO the main thing: the receiving of grace, the undeserved GIFT of God, that is IN Christ Jesus. …
It has been well-documented by others that what’s called “tolerance” these days is actually a form of intolerance. (See D. A. Carson’s excellent book, “The Intolerance of Tolerance”.) The word “tolerance” has been highjacked by our culture and totally turned for a use completely antithetical to its definiton. You see this in calls to accept …
Luke’s record of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Luke 12) – probably preached by the Lord in more than one more place and time – directs us helpfully, in our church’s present season. First, we see the singular importance of prayer. Jesus prays all night – v. 12 – just before making the big decision of …
Sometimes love drives faith and hope – our church has had “Love” as the first word in our mission statement. This is not wrong. But there are plenty of times in life when we should not assume we have the requisite love for some action. Often there is something upstream from love that we currently …
This past Sunday, someone mentioned the importance of soliciting feedback in ministry. Yes! Our individual disciplines are important, but there is growth that comes only in community. So then, developing godly “feedback loops” is crucial for Grace Church. What then, practically, do godly “feedback loops” look like? Humble. Yes, of course. But it’s always worth …