Evangelism (Page 15)
Wanted: Female Youth Worker
by Mike Stark One of my overall strategies for the future of the youth ministry at Niddrie Community Church is to have youth work shared between a team of committed leaders. One of the things I have become increasingly aware of in Niddrie over the past 2 years is that I’m incapable of having a significant impact in the lives of young people in Niddrie by myself. A…
Understanding what it means to be a missional church
‘Missional’ has become one of the most overused words in the evangelical world right now. Trying to define it simply has become a bit of a nightmare. It can mean certain things to certain people. Some are sniffily suspicious of it, regarding it as a hip, emergent type approach to life…
How Should the church & Christians respond to our generation?
These words were written by J. Gresham Machen in 1933 in response to growing concerns over the future of the church in the face of a worldwide depression and a growing liberal skepticism. The responsibility of the church in the new age is the same as its responsibility in every age. It is to…
Effective Discipleship For a Non Reading Generation
Great little post here on community-shaped discipleship in youth work by Josh Cousineau. He sets up 2 models of discipleship we might employ in our youth work; 1) giving them a chapter of a good book to read and discussing it together the next week, or 2) living life together in community, allowing…
Gospel Zeal
by Andy Constable Paul writes in Philippians 1:12 “Now I want you to know brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.” There must have been questions flying round the church in Phillipi whilst Paul, their spiritual leader, was in prison. What’s going to happen to the gospel? What’s God doing here? Is Paul OK? But Paul reports that what…
Growing Indigenous Leaders
We’re really blessed on the ministry team here at NCC to have 8 individuals with different gifts, abilities, and backgrounds. We wouldn’t be so effective as a team if we were all the same as Mez. God intends for His church to be a diverse body of believers (Rom 12:4-10, 1 Cor 12:14-31), and the ministry team benefits from a similar diversity. It would be…
Does social action lead us away from the gospel?
Very often I am asked what my ‘position’ is on social justice and the gospel. Usually, I will feign a quizzical look before asking said person, ‘what do you mean by that?’ Generally, what they mean is how do I balance ‘loving people and providing for their needs over…
Taking the risk with your neighbours
I enjoyed this stimulating post on taking risks in reaching out to those around us. Read it here. Not sure of the ‘people of peace’ as a biblical concept but his fears and his approach to life as a Christian still resonate.
Win them with fun!
For the past few weeks I’ve been blogging about an evangelical documentary on youth ministry from the States, produced in association with the National Centre for Family Integrated Churches, called Divided. If you missed my previous posts, you can check them out here: PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 So far I’ve been quite critical about the film but, as I’ve…
Is youth ministry biblical? PART 3
Hopefully by now you’re familiar with the American short film called Divided. It comes from the NCFIC (National Centre for Family Integrated Churches) and it makes the case against segregated youth ministry as it has no basis in scripture and is founded upon pagan evolutionary principles. If you missed my first two posts, you can find them here: PART 1 and PART 2.…