10 Key Bible Verses on Serving
Christ set the ultimate example of service and sacrifice when he condescended to us and submitted to death on our behalf.
Articles on Community
272 results found
10 Key Bible Verses on Fellowship
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
2 Simple (Yet Profound) Questions to Ask Someone at Church This Sunday
What does it look like to strike up an intentional conversation aimed at deepening our relationships?
10 Key Bible Verses on Brotherly Love
The faithful, covenant-keeping God asks the objects of his love to love him and other human beings too.
3 Ways Christians Are Sanctified
There are three primary agents in the character formation or sanctification of a Christian—ways that God uses to change us.
10 Reasons to Come Back to Church after COVID-19
Many churches are now resuming our meetings, or will soon. But these new services feel strange. Some believers may feel tempted not to come at all.
10 Key Bible Verses on Community
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens . . .
10 Things You Should Know about Francis Schaeffer
The conviction that the Bible held basic answers for basic question would characterize his life and work.
Practice Hospitality, Especially during COVID-19
Christians know that the dread of death can only be met by the redemption in Jesus Christ, so we need to proclaim Christ into a COVID-19 world.
7 Tips for Confronting a Friend in Sin
Cheryl Marshall, Caroline Newheiser
Scripture speaks directly to the Christian’s responsibility to address or confront sin in the lives of other Christians.
12 Principles for Disagreeing with Other Christians
When it comes to resolving conflict: there are two groups: the weak in faith and the strong in faith.
If the fear of public speaking is the general population’s greatest fear, fear of praying publicly may be its Christian equivalent.
Should Christians Practice Total Abstinence from Alcoholic Beverages?
The issue of alcohol is a personal question, and will vary from individual to individual. It will depend in part on knowing one’s self, one’s personal history, one’s family history, and one’s cultural context.
3 Threats to the Mission of Small Groups
There are some common sins that keep us from living missional lives: apathy, indifference, and fear of man.
There are eight godly attitudes in Colossians 3:12–14 that are foundational to biblical peacemaking.
10 Ways to Fracture Your Church
You only have to be a Christian for a short time before you realize that churches suffer from disunity and splits after seasons of peace as surely as valleys follow rolling hills.
5 Tips for Maximizing Your Singleness
A season of singleness is not the minor leagues of marriage. It has the potential to be a unique period of undivided devotion to Christ and undistracted ministry to others.
10 Questions about Spiritual Gifts
Spiritual gifts are capacities or abilities imparted to Christians by the Holy Spirit to enable them to exceed the limitations of their finite humanity in order to serve other believers to the glory of God.
10 Things You Should Know about Shame
Talking about shame allows the light of the gospel to begin to free God's people from its dark grip.
An Open Letter to the Man Struggling to Form Deep Friendships
It can be difficult for men to find the time and energy to invest in deep relationships with other men. But it’s worth it.
7 Tips for Reading the Bible with Another Person
Reading the Bible, like eating a meal, isn’t only for individual consumption. Some of the greatest joys come when we enjoy God and his word together with others.
10 Things You Should Know about Dating
Instead of making marriage your mission, make it God’s global cause and the advance of the gospel where you are, and look for someone pursuing the same.
Are You a Healthy Church Member?
A healthy church member is deeply committed to and practices particular disciplines within a local church.
10 Things You Should Know about People with Disabilities
When we find ourselves weak, broken, disabled, we find that God shows up in unexpected ways.
Why Does Paul Tell the Church to Deliver Someone to Satan? (1 Corinthians 5)
God’s church must be unleavened or pure. Tolerating unrepentant sexual immorality ruins the whole church’s purity.
7 Bad Reasons to Leave a Church
Before you begin searching for a new church, consider these 7 reasons you shouldn't.
There is a reason to value some gifts above others, but the Bible does not teach that any are more important, lasting, or Christ-centered than other gifts.
An Open Letter to the Hesitant Church-Goer
Helpful reflections and encouragement for believers who are hesitant to return to church for a variety of reasons.
7 Tips for Being a Good Friend
As we emerge from this pandemic, we have a fresh opportunity to embrace essential relationships, not just returning to our pre-pandemic status-quo, but moving forward into something even better.
7 Tips for Loving “Those” People in Your Church
What do you do with “those” people in your church—the ones who drive you crazy? If love at church were easy, how would that testify to the power of his saving work in our lives?
4 Questions You Should Ask When Reading the Bible
What we get out of the Bible largely depends on the kinds of questions we ask when reading the text. But how do we know what are the right questions to ask?
50 Reasons We Appreciate Our Pastors
We recently invited our readers to finish the following sentence: "In the last year, I have appreciated my pastor because he . . ." Here are 50 of our favorite responses.
3 Reasons Why Your Small Group Is Not a Church
Some Christians think their small group is a church. A church is, after all, a people not a place, and small groups do many of the same things that churches do.
6 Ingredients of True Friendship
What essential ingredients do we mix together to make true friendship?
Why Did Paul Publicly Rebuke Peter? (Galatians 2)
This passage clearly teaches that this subtle but very common problem in the church is a serious distortion of the gospel and needs the corrective rebuke of the apostle Paul.
How Radically Ordinary Hospitality Changed Rosaria Butterfield’s Life
Rosaria Butterfield invites us into her home to show us how God can use “radical, ordinary hospitality” to bring the gospel to our lost friends and neighbors.
10 Questions to Ask at Your Thanksgiving Gathering
Here are some questions designed to spark not only conversation, but also dialogue relevant to the season.
4 Questions about the Lord’s Supper
When we understand that the church is a family, we more clearly perceive the biblical emphasis on the Lord’s Supper as a family meal, to be celebrated by the church as Jesus’s family.
Hospitality is not a gift unto itself, but a means through which other spiritual gifts are displayed: mercy, serving, giving, and evangelizing.
3 Questions about Small Groups
We should be asking ourselves if we act like family members of the church and whether or not our participation in the church strengthens or weakens it.
Why John Owen and Richard Baxter Didn’t Like Each Other
When we see other people, we do so through a filter that operates on the basis of the only evidence we have: what we see them do and hear them say. It’s easy to get that wrong.
4 Ways Christians Can Navigate Cultural Confusion around Gender in the Coming Decade
The question of transgender identity looks set to be significant for Christians both in matters of public life and pastoral care for the foreseeable future.
10 Things You Should Know about Infertility
Infertility is a more common experience than some realize affecting 7–10% of couples.
I’m passionate that every Christian display the gospel in their lives, which is why I’m passionate about church membership.
Help! I Don’t Know How to Initiate Meaningful Conversations
Cheryl Marshall, Caroline Newheiser
Whether speaking with strangers, acquaintances, or those we dearly love, we sometimes realize that we and they would greatly benefit if we would talk about God. But how?
Why We Need to Gather as a Church
Collin Hansen, Jonathan Leeman
The push toward the virtual church, we fear, is a push to individualize Christianity. It trains Christians to think of their faith in autonomous terms.
5 Tips for Being Disciplined without Being Legalistic
God is not counting our failures against us, and we are not building a treasury of merit with our successes. We are simply trying to live a disciplined life that pleases our loving Father.
An Open Letter to Those Who Feel Unqualified to Offer Counsel
The Lord specializes in using people who feel weak in themselves, and your sense of inadequacy will probably protect you.
6 Gospel-Centered Leadership Values
If the primary driving force of leadership in local churches around the world was the gospel of Jesus Christ, we could avoid so much sadness in the lives of church leaders.
How Can You Show Radical Hospitality as an Introvert?
What is most lacking in this Christian world is not the need for more extroverts, but the need for more discernment.
6 Ways to Fight the Debilitating Power of Doubt
In your suffering, doubt is a battle worth fighting. Remember, you never fight this battle alone but with the strength that is yours because of the presence and power of Christ.
Consensus is hard, especially in an individualistic culture where “have it your way” consumerism is the air we breathe. Sometimes it’s just easier to say, “You do you, I’ll do me.”
6 Questions about the Book of Job
The book of Job is realistic in the sufferings it sets before disciples of Jesus and full of glorious hope because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Help! People at Church Are Driving Me Crazy
Who isn’t discouraged by conflict at church? After all, church should be as close as we get to heaven on earth, right?
How to Pray When Your Heart Feels Cold
Many Christians experience seasons of spiritual apathy when the heart seems miles behind what we know to be true in our minds.
Prayer is oxygen for the Christian. It sustains us. So it follows that prayer must be a source of life for any community of Christians.
3 Tips for Starting a Bible Study
If you're hoping to start a Bible Study, always incorporate these three vital aspects: structure, accountability, and predictability.
5 Reasons You Did Not and Cannot Reinvent Yourself
You are not just an individual. You are not your own creation. You did not invent yourself. You exist in a web of relationships. You are a social animal.
10 Questions to Ask at Your Christmas Gathering
Here’s a list of questions designed not only to kindle a conversation in almost any Christmas situation.
The Son of Man Came Eating and Drinking
The meals of Jesus represent something bigger. They represent a new world, a new kingdom, a new outlook. But they give that new reality substance.
10 Things You Should Know about Your Smartphone
How much do you really think about your smartphone? Here are 10 things you should know.
A Category You Won't Find in the Bible: The Churchless Christian
The New Testament apostles can't conceive of anything called a Christian that's not connected to Christ's body.
The Awkward and Essential Challenge of Christian Community
This new book calls us to embrace the uncomfortable aspects of Christian community, whether that means believing difficult truths, pursuing difficult holiness, or loving difficult people.
7 Tips to Help Introverts Connect at Church
In our individualistic, consumer-minded culture, it can seem acceptable to conclude that, if you’re an introvert, church just isn’t your thing. But the Scriptures tell a different story.
Music is a gift meant to bring glory to God; don't let it become an idol.
Communion Is a Meal of Remembrance
As we eat the bread and drink the cup, we remember him, just as he told us to. We look back with thankful hearts to the cross.
What Is a Healthy Way to Leave a Church?
Leaving the church is painful for Christians and pastors, and we've seen a lot of it over the last couple of years through COVID, election crises, and racial crises.
5 Things to Remember about Worship
Music can be a part of worship, but it was never meant to be the heart of it.
An Open Letter to the Hesitant Host
Are you busy? Are you important? Do you work on a tight schedule? Are your boundaries well-fortified?
What Does a Committed Church Member Look Like?
There are many marks of true discipleship, but one mark is singled out as signifying to the watching world that we belong to Christ.
7 Practical Things You Can Do for People Who Are Grieving
There are simple ways that we can demonstrate a deep sensitivity to the pain of grieving people.
Some people have good friendships, some don’t. Friendship—true friendship—requires intentionality and even skill.
5 Questions about the Local Church
Ultimately, the local church makes visible what is invisible, and reflects in words and deeds the kingdom life that is to come.
Help! I Don’t Like Praying in Public
Prayer can get repetitious, feel rote, rambly, or distracted. For these reasons, many are reticent to pray in public. How can we overcome our fears and misguided thinking?
You can be in community with any number of people, but not actually have any true friends.
Why Mentoring Is Better than Asking Alexa
In our digital age, it’s helpful to remember the importance of real-life relationships and the benefits of older believers in the faith who can offer us wisdom, presence, and pursuit.
7 Tips for Becoming a Better Encourager
Because Christians are called to encourage one another, we must make sure that we are crystal clear on who we are called to encourage, how we are called to provide help, and why we are called to do so.
Podcast: Why You Probably Need a Digital Detox (Tony Reinke)
Tony Reinke reflects on how to do a digital detox, why we should be careful with our social media habits, and what the massive success of the new Avengers film can teach us about our media saturated world.
3 Things to Avoid When Ministering to Those Suffering from Mental Illness
We make many mistakes in what we say to sufferers. Partly because of ignorance, discomfort, or fear, we end up saying nothing, or nothing helpful, or everything wrong.
What to Say to Someone Suffering like Job
The book of Job does not directly tell us how to address Job-like suffering. But I think we can sketch what a helpful answer would be, if we take an approach exactly opposite from the friends.
4 Ways to Look for the Good in Others
All of us can see the good in our friends. Scripture, however, authorizes us to see the good and enjoy it in all people, even when most of us are not always so good.
Learn to Say “Help” to the Lord
It is not always easy to talk openly to the Lord. We need help, but it is difficult to actually ask God for it. Why is it so difficult? Why do we sometimes resist speaking to him?
Building a Culture of Spiritually Intentional Relationships
Most Active Does Not Equal Most Fruitful Could it be that the most active members of your congregation are the least fruitful? Consider for a moment: in God’s sight, not all activity carries equal value. …
What to Look for in a Spiritual Mentor
A spiritual mentoring relationship is one where a younger believer is tethered to a more mature believer for a season so that he or she might grow stronger in faith and be equipped for ministry.
Words That Mark a Gracious Woman
Cheryl Marshall, Caroline Newheiser
The words of a gracious friend are self-controlled, wise, and hopeful, and those who hear her speak are the better for it.
3 Privileges of Intimacy with the Father
As God's children, we inherit God’s glorious new world. But more than that, we inherit God himself.
Jesus explicitly identifies himself with the gathering because the gathering makes his kingdom visible and active through their mutual agreement and testimony.
What Does Radically Ordinary Hospitality Look Like?
Those who live out radically ordinary hospitality see their homes not as theirs at all but as God’s gift to use for the furtherance of his kingdom.
4 Reminders for When You’re Hurt by Someone at Church
We live in a fallen world. As glorious and wonderful as life in the church is, God’s people have not yet been fully delivered from the effects of sin.
Godly growth and change happens through 5 influences and circumstances: God, Scripture, wise people, suffering, and you.
7 Checklist Items for Your Next Church Search
Consider these seven key items to look for and prioritize when you embark on your next church search.
15 Strategies for Men to Strengthen Their Friendships
Men, you were made for friendship. You can forge deep relationships and cultivate a culture of brotherhood around you. Here are 15 strategies.
Struggling in Your Faith? Isolation Isn’t the Answer
The hardest thing for struggling Christians to recognize is that church is exactly the community they need.
3 Principles of Self-Denial for Every Christian
The blindness with which we all rush into love of ourselves is such that it seems to each of us that we have good reason to elevate ourselves and to despise all others in comparison with ourselves.
How Can I Love People Even When They’re Wrong?
Paul told us in Romans 12:9 to “abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.” But what happens when we disagree on what’s “evil” and what’s “good?”
Loving Others through Political Difference
Jonathan Leeman, Andrew David Naselli
What is wisdom? It’s a capacity of mind that combines the fear of the Lord with the skill of living in God’s created but fallen world in a way that yields justice, peace, and flourishing.
Why Youth Ministry Can’t Function Like Little League
The job of a youth pastor involves equipping the whole church to invest in the whole lives of young people.
Feeling Alone in a Crowded Congregation
We are social beings, and human connection is essential for our brain functioning, physical health, and emotional well-being. Loneliness is the unsurprising symptom of an individualistic society.
2 Big Barriers to Christian Hospitality
Too often, we're not honest with one another about where we hurt, how we struggle, and what we need.
10 Things You Should Know about Shared Church Leadership
God loves patience, so he imposes a way of governing that requires humble listening and trust that he is working in the lives of others. God loves humility, so he gave us plurality.
9 Notable Quotes from The Gospel Comes with a House Key
The Bible teaches that hospitality is not an option, but a requirement, for Christians. In opening our doors, we have the opportunity to shine the light of Christ in dark places.
Good deeds matter to God in regards to their purpose for the church, the world, our sanctification, and God’s glory.
Unity Is Not the Same as Total Agreement
There is an extreme view of Christian unity that is found among those who will work together only with those with whom they agree on everything—doctrinal and practical.
5 Ways for Ordinary Christians to Engage in the Mission of Christ
God’s redemptive mission is vast, touching every part of life in a fallen world. For ordinary Christians, that call can feel daunting.
Podcast: Is the Church Facing a Discipleship Crisis? (Ajith Fernando)
Has the church neglected one-on-one discipleship? Why should an emphasis on this kind of intensive discipleship be recaptured today?
Conflict is inevitable, so how will we handle it?
Love for the church ought to be a fundamental characteristic of our lives. You have a people. They are your local church. And our love ought to mirror God’s love in three important ways.
12 Prayer Ideas for New Believers
Praying regularly is hard work. So how do we develop the discipline of a healthy prayer life?
4 Guiding Principles for Cultivating Friendship
It may be true that you are too busy for friends. But that doesn’t mean you should be. We always make time for what we treasure.
10 Key Bible Verses on Friendship
Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel. Do not forsake your friend and your father’s friend . . .
4 Ways to Practice Theological Humility
Our zeal for theology must never exceed our zeal for our actual brothers and sisters in Christ. We must be marked by love.
A Call for Theological Humility
There are plenty of issues over which Christians will be tempted to divide. We must even be willing to make sacrificial adjustments for the sake of our unity with others in the body of Christ.
A Brief Biblical Theology of Friendship
In the beginning, we walked with God in friendship. Then we walked away. But now, God is befriending us again.
Can We Have Jesus without the Church?
Being in fellowship with a church is integral to participating as a part of the body of Christ.
Why Do We Need to Keep Praying “Forgive Us Our Debts”?
If you want to be happy in the church (or simply not give up on the church), you need to learn forgiveness. You need to grant it, and you need to receive it.
Are You Losing Your Gospel Mind?
I don’t know about you, but in the rush and press of life I can lose my mind. No, I’m talking about a subtle form of insanity that often inflicts me and a vast number of my Christian brothers and sisters.
3 Reasons We're Addicted to Digital Distraction
Author Tony Reinke explains how we use digital distractions to escape people, situations, and thoughts that make us uncomfortable.
God saves people for a purpose. Salvation in Christ begins a life spent growing into being like him and serving him faithfully.
Why We Desperately Need the Body of Christ
Why do I need the daily intervention of the body of Christ? The answer is as simple as it is humbling.
Teens Need Something They Can’t Find Online
It is vitally important today for all of us to prioritize our local church even as the rest of the world moves more of life online. The body of Christ is essential to spiritual growth.
An Open Letter to Women in the Church
Sister, don’t try to follow Christ alone. There is no substitute for your commitment and service to your local church.
5 Myths about Counseling and the Church
We come to Jesus as people in need, and we continue in Jesus as people in need.
Hospitality: What It Is and What It's Not
Hospitality, biblically speaking, means love of the stranger. What hospitality is not is fellowship.
A faithful response to sin involves drawing near to God in faith through confession, repentance, and trusting the forgiveness of Jesus Christ.
How to Help Others Understand and Apply the Bible
Helping others understand the Bible and apply it to their lives is a great privilege and a great responsibility.
7 Tips for Improving Your Ministry Team
Jesus does not mean for his followers to go about their work alone. He is the one singular leader in his church. No peers. The rest of us follow his example together.
Mentoring is a discipleship relationship that focuses on equipping younger believers for the work of ministry so that they grow in maturity and unity in the faith with the ultimate goal of glorifying God.
An Open Letter to the Churchless Christian
It is impossible to have a faithful walk with Christ and Christian life—biblically or practically—without committed participation in a local church.
You Don’t Get the Church You Want, but the One You Need
Collin Hansen, Jonathan Leeman
You have many reasons not to go to church. That’s why we see this moment in history as an opportunity to rediscover church.
Help! I Don’t Know If My Words Are Helping or Hurting
Cheryl Marshall, Caroline Newheiser
As you have conversations with those who are suffering, remember how the Lord’s healing words have strengthened and sustained you in your own times of trouble.
Asking people for help makes calling out to the Lord seem easy by comparison.
The Promise Jesus Offers to Those Who Leave Everything Behind
Jesus is always honest, even blunt, about the cost of discipleship. He never buries suffering in the small print. He wants us to know that following him will be hard.
Podcast: A First Step toward Racial Reconciliation (Mark Vroegop)
How does the biblical practice of lament offer Christians from different backgrounds a common language for productive, God-honoring conversations about race?
10 Things You Should Know about Love
We often say “love” when we mean sexual intimacy, or romantic love. But real love is far bigger than that.
A church’s commitment to prayer is one of the greatest determiners of its effectiveness in ministry.
The 5th Commandment Is for Adults Too
The fifth commandment is found in the middle of a list of commands clearly addressed to adults, targeting issues that are, developmentally speaking, primarily the concerns of adulthood.
Revival Is a Corporate Blessing
Revival is a work of the Spirit, it is extraordinary, and it comes to a group of people.
Who’s in Charge at Church? 3 Ways the Answer Is You
The whole congregation has the responsibility for its health, its preaching, and its membership. All the members together are responsible.
Podcast: The Church's Leadership Crisis (Paul David Tripp)
What is the church's leadership crisis and what is the solution?
An Open Letter to the New Christian
Now that you're a Christian, what do you in the days, weeks, months, and years ahead? Here are a few practical suggestions as you seek to follow the Lord.
2 Ways Our Motives Can Be Twisted in Discipleship
When Christians discuss any given topic, our aim should be to align our thoughts with God’s thoughts, not his thoughts with our thoughts.
11 Notable Quotes from Everyday Faithfulness
What does Christian faithfulness look like when life feels unpredictable, hard, or just plain ordinary? Be encouraged by these quotes from Everday Faithfulness by Glenna Marshall.
God's Intention Was a World Full of Diversity
Where do our differences come from? How should we think about them? And what do we do with them when we meet them? To answer those questions, we need an origin story.
An Open Letter to the Church on the Issue of Infertility
Recognizing that many couples in your church community are infertile will invariably change the way you think about your community.
6 Purposes for Plural Leadership
Leading in community puts us under a holy spotlight. But it’s all part of God’s plan and protection.
How Is the Church Doing at Caring for One Another?
Are we caring for one another the way the Bible instructs us to do so?
You Were Made to Love Your Neighbor
Just because the Bible says that not all men are our brothers, it does not follow that we are not to love all men as our neighbors.
Unpacking “Look inside Yourself”
Knowing who you are and being true to yourself has never been more important. They are seen as signs of good mental health and well-being and the keys to authentic living and true happiness.
How to Love People Who Feel Impossible to Love
Easy love rarely shows off gospel power. But love that stretches beyond what’s possible is a stage, set to display the glory of God.
Podcast: How to Pursue Meaningful Mentoring Relationships (Melissa Kruger)
What are some core aspects that should be in place in every mentoring relationship, and how can we build relationships that actually help others follow Christ?
3 Tangible Ways to Care for Widows
For the widow, a needed gift, a consumable gift, or a sentimental gift are some of the most significant gifts she can receive that often uniquely minister to her.
It is deeply wounding to be accused falsely and to be treated as if you dishonored the Lord when you haven't.
How to Pray for Unity across Denominations
Jesus prayed that our unity would also be a testimony such that “the world may believe you have sent me” (17:20).
6 Ways Parents of Estranged Adult Children Can Find Help at Church
Despite the struggles of parents experiencing pain in their relationships with their adult children, there is help for parents through the local church.
The Biblical Foundation for Church Partnerships
In thousands of cities across the globe, churches large and small haven’t considered the amazing things God could do through them in partnership with others.
Help! My Small Group Is Not Working
When we say community isn’t working, what we are really saying is that our expectations were not met.
Why Hospitality Is for All Christians
Radically ordinary hospitality—those who live it see strangers as neighbors and neighbors as family of God.
Ask for Grace and Go to Church
The reasons you don’t feel like going to church might be good, bad, or ugly. But, as a fellow sheep loved by the same Shepherd, I’m asking you to trust God, ask for grace, and go.
Why Listening to a Podcast Is Not a Substitute for Going to Church
Going to a church has many benefits. If you are physically able to attend a church, you should make it a priority.
It is impossible that our Divine Lord could have had fellowship with us unless He had given to us from His own abounding wealth and had become poor so as to make us rich.
What is the Goal of Community Groups?
In order to have a vision for community, we need to understand the purpose of community.
We don’t need more information. We need God’s revelation.
Help! I’m Struggling to Connect with my Church Family During COVID
The pandemic has stripped away many of our opportunities to connect with the people in our congregations.
Podcast: Are You Aware of Your Own Blind Spots? (Collin Hansen)
What problems with our lives, priorities, and even theology do we not recognize? What would it look like to wake up to our own blind spots and to lovingly engage with those with whom we disagree?
Two of Prayer’s Essential Ingredients
The resurrection is the most important thing to behold in God’s word to fuel our desire to pray. But really, we need all of God’s word. We also need God’s people.
Casting off the old self and walking in love is only possible through God's work in us as new creation.
What Makes Pastoral Ministry Enjoyable?
Pastoral ministry—while having its unique challenges—is also filled with particular, and sometimes unexpected, joys.
12 Practical Ways to Be on Mission This Halloweeen
Halloween offers opportunity to engage in new relationships or to revisit old ones with missional intentionality.
Giving Thanks Is Better Together
Thanksgiving is not simply a thank-you card, sealed in an envelope and intended only for the eyes of the divine addressee. Thanksgiving is an open, public declaration.
One way we waste our waiting is by not realizing that God invites us to pursue it with other people, to integrate waiting into the normal life of the body of Christ. We need to wait on God together.
Why Men Need to Be Transparent with Each Other
One of the best ways men can encourage each other with the gospel is simply with honesty and transparency.
When defining the term “missional community,” I often take time to clarify what it’s not.
Podcast: Prayer as an Invitation, Not an Obligation (John Onwuchekwa)
In this episode, John Onwuchekwa discusses how prayer can deepen our relationship with God instead of being a source of guilt.
Introducing the ‘Reactivity’ Podcast with Paul Tripp
Join Paul Tripp in this new podcast as he encourages Christians to think wisely about their social media interactions and to be a beacon of light in an age of toxicity.
Watch for Faithfulness in Those around You
As you spend time in the local church, observe how the believers around you follow Jesus. Watch for people who radiate the life of Jesus and spend time with them.
Why You Should Join an Imperfect Church
We need the body of Christ to grow and to know what it means to be a mature Christian.
Conflict: When Desires Become Demands
What are the kinds of things—perhaps good things in and of themselves—that can rule our hearts?
What Jonathan Edwards's Daughter Can Teach Us about Friendship
Our culture is not one that provides great encouragement for the nurture and development of deep, long-lasting, satisfying friendships.
What Is the Best Question to Ask a Hurting Friend?
There are lots of good questions to ask someone who is hurting, but I think one of the best questions is this: "How are you doing today?"
Is There a Silver Bullet of Sanctification?
Sanctification isn't a one-size-fits-all process—God guides different people in different ways.
How Do You Pursue Neighbors Who Continually Avoid Your Invitation?
Here are a couple of barriers you can remove to make people feel loved and welcomed.
Podcast: Learning to Love the Local Church (Megan Hill)
Why is the local church so important and essential for our spiritual growth as Christians—especially in the time of COVID-19?
Your Physical Presence Is an Irreplaceable Gift
We need to realize that being embodied means that we are designed to relate to one another physically.
Free Download: Printable Verse Cards Tracing God's Unfolding Grace
Download these free printables for memorizing and meditating on God's word.
How to Make Your House a Home Base for Mercy
Can I let you in on an embarrassing secret? When I hear someone at the door, my instinct is to breathe a frustrated sigh as numerous thoughts race through my head.
Podcast: Sourdough Starters, Daily Bread, and the Goodness of Jesus (Abigail Dodds)
A discussion with Abigail Dodds about what the mixture of flour, water, and yeast can teach us about God, the Bible, and what it really means to be satisfied by our Savior.
3 Activities That Help Us Maintain Evangelical Unity
We must be deliberate about several activities if we are to maintain unity among ourselves as God’s people. Here are a few of them.
Podcast: Where Is God in Suffering? (Ligon Duncan)
How can Christians can face profound life-changing suffering with their faith intact and find encouragement from God's word in the midst of a season of intense pain?
The Vicious Cycle of Idolatry and Loneliness
Escape from difficult circumstances can easily turn into idolatry and unhealthy coping mechanisms. But God always provides a way out.
Are Authority and Submission Inherently Flawed?
Lewis uses the Great Dance as a way of talking about the patterning, ordering, structuring, and interlocking of reality.
Foreign Missions in Your Own Hometown
Engaging with your local community can provide numerous opportunities to practice international missions close to home.
How the Gospel Transforms the Teen Years
To live a life transformed by the gospel means that everything in life changes.
Dear Pastor . . . You Have Wonderfully Unique Opportunities to Counsel
Pastoral counseling is unlike any other form of counseling because of the many unusual opportunities a pastor has to engage lives. Here are seven unique facets of the pastoral life that open doors.
Growing a Disability-Effective Church
How can churches become equipped to be disability effective? By living transparently with weakness and allowing these weaknesses to issue forth in fruitful labor in Christ’s church.
Why It’s Easier to Show Regular (Not Sporadic) Hospitality
It’s much easier for me to practice daily hospitality than it would be monthly because I don’t have to do something different.
You’re Needed, No Matter What Life-Season You’re In
Without trying to be somebody you're not, think about how you can be hospitable to those around you in your current season of life.
Don’t Neglect Worship to Enjoy the Earth
Our lives ought to be structured by regular rhythms of direct and indirect godwardness, moving back and forth between direct interaction with God himself and active engagement with the world.
Your Words Will Change the World Today
Do you ever consciously and deliberately set your words to work, sending them off into the world and into someone else’s life to do them good?
There Are No Unimportant Parts of the Church
The Spirit gives exactly the right gifts in exactly the right measure at exactly the right time to exactly the right people for the well-being of the local church.
We Need Gospel Community, not a Behavior Modification Program
It is dangerous and tempting to change behavior without also changing heart and mind.
Read-Aloud Video: ‘Meg Is Not Alone’
Watch a video and enjoy hearing this children's story read aloud by its author about the importance and blessing of the local church.
How to Develop a Heart of Thanksgiving
Focusing on what I don’t have or what I can’t do is a common detriment to practicing biblical hospitality.
The Priesthood of Believers: A Lens for Viewing the World
As we live in our identity as a priest—which means that we are near to God—there are a couple of things that emerge as we look out into the world.
Read the Bible for the Sake of Others
Sermons, classes, and small groups aren’t the only ways the church teaches us to read Scripture. We’ll also become better Bible readers by investing in relationships with fellow members.
Lament: An Open Door for Racial Reconciliation
Most Christians are not sure what to do about racial reconciliation. There are some whose hearts are sinfully closed, but I think most Christians simply lack the tools.
3 Practical Ways to Love Your Neighbor
In 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12 the apostle Paul gets very practical about what brotherly love should look like.
A Surprisingly Unhelpful Promise for a Hurting Friend
For many of us, asking for help goes against every fiber of our being.
Why Sin Wasn’t Humanity’s First Problem
It’s not good to be alone. Why? Because God made us for friendship.
6 Questions about Finding a Mentor
We need mature believers to help us resist sin, grow in godly affection, and to persevere in faith.
Lacking Assurance of Salvation? Join a Church
You don’t join a church in order to be saved, but you may want to join the church to help you in making certain that you are saved.
What If Your Church Were Filled with People Just like You?
When we love in ways that we can only love by the power of God’s Spirit, we show him to be sufficient. We show him to be good and glorious.
11 Notable Quotes from A Place to Belong
Though our congregations are made up of ordinary people engaged in predictable practices, we are an outpost of heaven itself.
Union with Christ When You Don’t Fit In
Jesus was excluded by all and abandoned by his friends in a time of need so that we could always be welcomed into relationship.
How to Host a Summer Bible Club
A home-based club that can and has been literally life-giving are children’s Bible clubs.
Why Your Church Is Not Exempt from the Work of Church Planting
It is important that every local church find some way to focus their ministry efforts on church planting.
3 Ways You Can Ignite a Passion for Church Planting in Your Church
If you desire to spread a passion for church planting in your church, go to Scripture, partner with other churches, and pray, pray, pray.
A Personal vs. Private Relationship with Christ
As we've prioritized our personal relationship with Christ, we've also privatized it.
#yourewrong - Our Problem with Self-Righteousness (Reactivity Episode 3)
Paul Tripp talks about the self-centeredness and self-righteousness that work together to deceive us into believing we’re always right and about the humility that cures this selfishness and radically changes us.
5 Myths about Being a Follower
Joanne J. Jung, Richard Langer
Followership has few (if any) positive perceptions in contemporary culture. Let us not only leave behind simplistic stereotypes but also think more deeply about some of our more subtle and hidden misperceptions.
A Personal vs. Private Relationship with Christ
As we've prioritized our personal relationship with Christ, we've also privatized it.
The means of grace—the Bible, prayer, and fellowship—are regular channels by which we can experience God's grace.
Why Men Should Memorize the Psalms Together
There is something sweet that goes beyond just repeating the words of Scripture to each other but actually living in the good of God’s Word together.
How to Mobilize Your Small Group for Mission
Jeff Vanderstelt offers some practical ideas for mobilizing your small group to be on mission for Jesus.
How We Can Best Pray for Our Hurting Friends
Rather than just telling people you're praying for them, pray aloud for them in their presence.
Podcast: Are Christians More Divided Now Than Ever? (Rhyne Putman)
How should Christians think about theological diversity and gracefully disagree within the body of Christ?
How Community Helps When Battling Loneliness
Church relationships, fellowship with other believers, and being involved in a local church are crucial.
What Our Physical Diet Says about Our Spiritual Appetite
He has prepared food for us. The food he has prepared is himself. He serves us himself through his holy word—the Bible.
Podcast: What's Happening to Evangelicalism? (Michael Reeves)
Michael Reeves discusses the term “evangelical,” the different ways it’s used in our culture today, and how we should respond to the cultural baggage often associated with the term.
How to Handle Conflict: Part 3
How does God want us to handle our desires that grow into demands? A simple alliterated outline provides a plan: recognize, repent, refocus, and replace.
How to Cultivate a Culture of Adoption
When we adopt—and when we encourage a culture of adoption in our churches and communities—we’re picturing something that’s true about our God.
Preaching Can't Love You Back (but People Will)
I love expositional preaching. It re-centered my ideological world, exploded my love for Jesus, and opened my mind to the wonders of the Scriptures. But expositional preaching has never loved me back.
We all need help and we are all helpers—that’s part of being human.
When Christians Misunderstand Christians
Sam Storms draws on Paul's interaction with the church in 2 Corinthians 1:12-2:4 to provide some wisdom that we can apply as we seek to grow in godly communication.
What someone shouldn’t immediately offer to the couple struggling with infertility is a set of solutions to the problem.
How to Love Those Who Care for the Hurting
We recently ook a survey of almost 15,000 people on the topic of caring for those who are suffering. Here's what we found.
Love Emojis and a Taste of Reality
Behind the exclamation points and cupids lie all the normal stuff of everyone’s life: sickness, heartbreak, rejection—and loneliness.
Podcast: How to Find a New Church (Edward W. Klink III)
Mickey Klink talks about what you should look for in a new church, what factors should impact your decision, and what warning signs to be on the lookout for in your search.
Podcast: How to Have Hard Conversations with Those You Love (Caroline Newheiser and Cheryl Marshall)
Cheryl Marshall and Caroline Newheiser discuss how to have hard conversations with others that put the focus on what God has said, not their own opinions.
Podcast: How to Lament after Two Years of Loss (Mark Vroegop)
Mark Vroegop considers what it looks like to lament the COVID-19 pandemic—and how that lament can help us heal, both individually and as churches.
#toxic - Why Is Our Culture So Reactive? (Reactivity Episode 1)
Paul Tripp discusses the toxic culture of reactivity full of anger, mockery, and disrespect that is so common to see on social media but also bleeds into our everyday relationships.
Counsel for Pastors Intimidated by Counseling
The call to counsel can be a bit intimidating. But having wise conversations with God’s people is something he intends for us to do.
Podcast: The Most Important Thing Our Churches Have Forgotten to Do (Paul Miller)
Paul Miller deepens our understanding of prayer by highlighting why we need to pray with one another if we really want to experience the full blessing of prayer.
John Piper lists why we should affirm others.
Ask a Pastor's Wife: Friendships
Gloria Furman responds to Pam who writes, "How do you have friendships that are open and honest when you are having marriage problems?"
Sproul on the Foolishness of Elevating a Spiritual Gift
In R. C. Sproul's St. Andrew's commentary on Romans, he warns readers not to be jealous of other people's spiritual gifts or elevate our gifts over the gifts of others. "During my forty-plus years of …
Demolishing the Walls of Your Comfort Zone in Practicing Hospitality
In a recent interview, Pat Ennis challenges readers to demolish the walls of their comfort zone and to be counter-cultural even within their own communities to be intentionally hospitable.
3 Ways Pastors Can Promote Gospel Fluency in Their Churches
Pastors can speak the truth of Jesus into the everyday stuff of life by preaching, training, and ministering.
Church Exists to Advance the Gospel
We should prize conversion and spiritual growth over church structure. And the Great Commission should be uppermost in our minds, but should we pit church structure and conversion against one another?
Do We Spend More Time Correcting or Affirming in Relationships?
What does it look like to restore a pattern of affirmation to a relationship?
Podcast: Our Pastors Are in Crisis, and You Can Help (Peter Orr)
Peter Orr talks about why he thinks we're facing a pastoral crisis and what regular Christians can do to help stem the tide of pastoral burnout.
What Those Who Care for the Hurting Need Most
This book is not for one who is necessarily suffering physical trauma or depression. Instead, it is a book for everyone.
Church Is More than a Building
Pastor Jeff Vanderstelt questions our understanding of the word "church," helping us recapture a biblical vision for the body of Christ in community and on mission.
What Can Small Churches Do Together?
In what ways might God be calling your church to partner with others?
When the Podcast Preacher Isn't Enough
We need more than a podcast to truly grow in our walk of faith.
The Cure to Our Frustration in Caring for the Hurting
Let's discuss the emotions we often feel when caring for the hurting.
Podcast: Answering Your Questions about Parenting Adult Children (Gaye Clark)
Gaye Clark answers several listener-submitted questions about how we should handle the difficult dynamic of cultivating a relationship with our adult children.
Ask a Pastor's Wife: Community
Gloria Furman responds to Annie who writes, "How do a pastor and his wife have transparent accountability in a small group setting?"
Building the Foundation of Community
It is essential to lay a foundation for building a life-giving and life-sustaining community within your church.
Gospel Community: Imaging God to One Another
In Disciple: Getting Your Identity from Jesus, author Bill Clem explains that Christian communities serve as witnesses to show what the kingdom of God is supposed to look like.
Podcast: Why Did God Put Difficult People in My Church? (Jamie Dunlop)
Jamie Dunlop explains how unity—not necessarily uniformity—in the face of diversity glorifies God and strengthens the church's witness.
4 Reasons to Read Echoes of Eden
David Moore highlights four things to like about Echoes of Eden.
Pastor Jeff Vanderstelt explains why it's important to realize that God has called the church to be in community and on mission.
#QandA - Paul Tripp Answers Your Questions about Social Media (Reactivity Episode 8)
In this final episode of the Reactivity podcast, Paul Tripp answers questions submitted by listeners related to how Christians should think about social media and its impact on us.
Podcast: The Problem with Church Planting in the US Today (Nathan Knight)
Nathan Knight talks about his journey to pastoral ministry, why he's concerned about the way that church planting is often done today, and what he sees as a better way based on the New Testament.
#meantweets - Our Problem with Anger (Reactivity Episode 2)
Paul Tripp talks about the normalization of emotionally driven responses and especially reactions filled with fear and anger, two of the primary emotions that drive the culture of toxic reactivity.
#fightme - Our Problem with Craving Controversy (Reactivity Episode 5)
Paul Tripp talks about the difference between the love of truth and the love of controversy, which is no longer motivated by the two great commands to love God and love your neighbor.
#antisocialmedia - Our Problem with Individualism (Reactivity Episode 4)
Paul Tripp discusses the message of individualism in our culture that is destructive to our relationships and is an enemy of the community that God carefully designed for us to live in.
Podcast: How to Radically Pursue Justice While Living in the Suburbs (Amy DiMarcangelo)
Amy DiMarcangelo discusses how our lives can often look relatively comfortable, and she shares her own story of learning what it means to live sacrificially for God in the midst of everyday life.
#fail - Our Need for Grace (Reactivity Episode 7)
Paul Tripp talks about the differences between a culture of condemnation and a culture of redemption, and he makes an honest confession.
#thosepeople - Our Problem with Tribalism (Reactivity Episode 6)
Paul Tripp talks about our culture of tribalism in which we associate primarily with those who agree with us and find it easier to react to anyone who isn't in that group.
Podcast: When Your Kid Needs a Friend (Trillia Newbell)
Trillia Newbell unpacks how God has designed all of us for friendship—both with one another and even more importantly, with himself.
Podcast: How the Sacraments Help Us Know Who We Truly Are (Kevin Emmert)
Kevin Emmert explains why the sacraments are so central to our lives as believers and why their shaping power is more relevant than ever in a world obsessed with identity and self-expression.