At Sonlife, we’re all in on equipping youth ministry leaders to develop disciple making ministries that reflect the character and priorities of Jesus, informed by the chronological movement of his ministry as recorded in the Gospels of the New Testament. That’s a good summary of us. We can sometimes be lampooned as people who preach …
In my church tradition as in many others, there’s a deep concern about the future of church leadership. Where will the pastors come from? Recently, a friend shared with me insights from Barna’s latest tour on the State of the Church (https://stateofthechurch.com/ ) that contain these two research responses that speak to the issue: “It …
It doesn’t take long in ministry to figure out that the only way to expand your influence is to multiply your impact through others. This can be a scary realization, bringing you to the point of asking, “Is my life in Christ worth imitating?” This is an essential question, because Jesus assumes those in spiritual …
In the Gospel of John, chapter 2, Jesus got in trouble for cleaning his room. Of course, we’re not just talking about a bedroom toward the back of Mary and Joseph’s house in Nazareth. We’re talking about the massive stone Temple in Jerusalem. He didn’t go about it with a swiffer and vacuum in hand, …
(adapted from How Jesus Made Disciples by Doug Holliday) If you run a Google search of the word “discipleship,” you’ll find 19,800,000 results. Google “disciple-making” and you’ll find 33,200,000 results. Needless to say, there is a lot of content and conversation about disciple…stuff. Most of us would probably agree that this is an important topic, …
“And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs.” Mark 16:20 NLT The disciples often seemed slow to understand Jesus’ purpose and plan. They grabbed for power. They hungered for national freedom, liberation from the tyranny of Rome. Yet when the time came for His departure, …
“When they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them—fish cooking over a charcoal fire, and some bread…. “Now come and have some breakfast!” Jesus said. None of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Then Jesus served them the bread and the fish… After breakfast Jesus …
“As evening approached, Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea who had become a follower of Jesus,” Matthew 27:57 NLT The Gospels are full of unlikely, unnoticed disciples. When we hear the word “disciple,” or when we think about the disciples in the Gospels, we generally only think of the Twelve. But there were others… One disciple …
“The crowd watched and the leaders scoffed. “He saved others,” they said, “let him save himself if he is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”” Luke 23:35 NLT Was Jesus the Savior? Another word for Savior would be Deliverer. Was Jesus the Deliverer? The long awaited, eagerly anticipated, desperately hoped for, promised Messiah. Was Jesus the One? Jesus …
Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!” Matthew 26:41 What is this concept of “watch and pray” that Jesus challenges the disciples with? What are they to watch for? Is He speaking about the guards who are coming to arrest …