Tag Archives: ministry

The denomination, the pastor and the work of gospel ministry

|

Denominations can be a mixed blessing for the pastor: when they work well, they give your ministry wings; when they don’t, they can feel like a straitjacket. In this Pastor’s brief, we look at how you can work with church structures to ensure that gospel ministry prospers.

A wise colleague once told me that regardless of the nature of any particular form of church government, good people will make it work and sinful people will endeavour to corrupt it to their own ends. In other words, while some structures may be better than others, none are ideal, for none can guarantee our freedom to do the work of gospel ministry.

(more…)

Making the most of retirement

Everyday Ministry

|

Terry Morgan shares his story about how he decided to put Jesus first in his thinking and decision-making post-retirement.

I retired in 2001. Back then, I had to decide how I would use my time and how I would be involved in the life of my local church, St Paul’s Carlingford. But I didn’t want to rush too quickly into new commitments, so I deliberately chose not to do anything new for six months until I had sorted things out. In hindsight, that period was most difficult. Since then, however, I’ve had a ball! Let me explain.

(more…)

Face mask

Ministry in the year of swine flu

Up front, Sola Panel

|

How would your congregation of 120 members continue to function—with no regular church gatherings of any kind, and no small home groups (except for groups the size of three)? (more…)

A truly reformed pastor

Interchange

|

After reading Simon Flinder’s response to Gavin Parkin’s article (‘A truly reformed pastor’, Briefing #365), it occurred to me that Gavin has misunderstood Baxter’s approach to ministry in Kidderminster. Baxter didn’t leave his flock to evangelize; he evangelized his flock. Baxter understood his flock to be the whole town of Kidderminster. This is foundationally different to the way we see church today. Baxter even says he was blessed not to have any dissenters in his town, therefore his ministry responsibilities were clear. (more…)

Borers in the pulpit?

Pastoral Ministry

|

Boring sermons are often the bane of church life. However, it need not be so. Rob Smith offers some reflections on how preachers can minister the word of God more faithfully and more effectively.

(more…)

The tract is back

Resource Talk, Sola Panel

|

Quick quiz: of all Matthias Media’s different resources—now more than 200 of them—which do you think is the all-time bestseller? Is it:

(more…)

Introducing God to my friends

Everyday Ministry

|

‘Jars of clay’ is a column featuring stories about people speaking the Bible’s life-changing word in every situation. In our first-ever instalment, Karen Beilharz reminisces about the year she spent trying to introduce God to her friends. (more…)

Ministry in the military

Everyday Ministry

|

‘Give up your life’ is a column featuring stories about people who have decided to put Jesus first in their thinking and decision-making. In our first-ever instalment, Alison Payne shares the story of James and Sarah Leitch, and what they are doing in the military.

(more…)

A truly reformed pastor

Interchange

|

In Briefing #365, Gavin Perkins wrote an Up Front piece which argued that “the good pastor is actually primarily an evangelist”. He argued for this on the basis that Jesus’ parable in Luke 15 talks about a shepherd who leaves the 99 in order to find the one who is lost, and on the basis that Jesus saw the helpless crowds in Matthew 9 as “sheep without a shepherd”. He also reminded us of the example of our hero Richard Baxter in this regard (author of The Reformed Pastor). (more…)

“What do you say when…?” Bus stop graffiti

Everyday Ministry

|

As promised in Paul Grimmond’s article ‘Where to from here?’ (also in issue #367), we’ve got one more new feature to unveil. As we’ve talked about speaking God’s life-changing word in any and every situation, we’ve realized that there are lots of opportunities to speak God’s truth in everyday conversation—like when your taxi driver complains about the mess the government is making in dealing with the financial crisis, or when your neighbour confides that his work is going pretty badly. But these opportunities are usually gone by the time you’ve thought of something worthwhile to say.

(more…)

Love and the cost of change

Up front

|

There’s a saying in corporate life that goes “change will only happen if the perceived benefit is greater than the perceived cost”. Like most sayings, it makes sense: you’ll only do something new if you think the effort is worth it. (more…)

For us or against us? Working out who to work with

Pastoral Ministry

|

Now that we’ve had a look at judging others, discernment and what the two entail, how do you put these things into practice? For example, how do you figure out whether or not you can work with someone? Guan Un finds some answers in the Gospel of Luke. (more…)

Cold Turkish evangelism

Everyday Ministry

|

The phrase ‘walk-up evangelism’ stirs up, in most Christians, feelings of dread. But, as Ben Pfahlert points out, at the heart of all evangelism lies extremely good news. (more…)