Showing titles in Discipleship

Experience life to the fullest with an intentional alignment to God's rule and power. Bestselling author and beloved pastor Tony Evans writes about the Holy Spirit's power that is within us and how we can release it to greatly impact the kingdom of God both now and for eternity. Tony Evans is...

Whether it's a painful end or a joyful beginning—or even an uncertain middle—theologian and minister Amy Davis Abdallah has found something that helps: rituals. In Meaning in the Moment, she shows why we need rituals to help survive and even thrive through various seasons of life. Starting with the foundation that rituals are a core, and underexplored, part of Christian practice, Davis Abdallah draws from theology, psychology, and personal experiences in creating rituals for herself and others.

Life is sweeter when a hot pot of tea and a lovely talk of faith are shared between a mother and her daughter! From author and podcast host Sally Clarkson comes this keepsake guide filled with simple moments that create lasting heart-connections centered on friendship and discipleship. When you prioritize this sacred work of fellowshipping with your family, you'll also grow in love and wonder for the God who has woven your shared stories into the tapestry of His big-picture plan.

The Bible calls Jesus the friend of sinners, but it's hard to imagine what friendship with Jesus really looks like. We so often don't even know how to do friendship with the people around us, despite all the options we have to connect. So how are we supposed to feel that close to a holy, perfect, and invisible God? How do we see Jesus as the real person he is? And how do we experience true friendship with him when we struggle to maintain true friendship on earth? Join author Jared C. Wilson as he explores what it means to be a friend of Jesus.

"The way of the cross is a magnificent obsession with a heavenly pearl, beside which everything else in life has no value." Following Christ, says John White, is not cheap. The cost is substantial. There will be suffering and loss. But the benefits, rewards and joys that come with our commitment to him are well worth the sacrifices that must be made to answer the call to Christ. Consider the cost. Then take up your cross. And follow Jesus in the only life worth living.

Imagine yourself with Jesus, in a boat on the sea, as a sudden storm fills the other passengers with fear. When the priest read this Gospel story in Mark 4, Marlena Graves didn’t see herself as the terrified disciples, lacking faith. She wasn’t Jesus, peacefully sleeping through the danger. She wasn’t the wind or the waves. According to Graves, “I was the boat! And then it occurred to me that, like Jesus’ mother, Mary, I, too, am a God bearer.” Bearing God is a short and enthralling book that will awaken you as a disciple of Jesus to a sense of adventure in your calling.

Everyone takes little steps toward Jesus before they can take big steps with and for him. This is a process that starts long before people ever enter a church building, especially as the gap between the church and culture grows ever wider. This book will help equip you to handle the early stages of discipling others with care, address the stumbling blocks that hold them back, as well as redefine how you see your own identity as an ambassador of Christ.

The most urgent call upon God?s people is to live as followers of Jesus. The most indicting critique against the church is as simple: its failure to do so. We long to renew our hope for a world broken and hurting. And it is we, God's people living in the power of the Holy Spirit, who are called to become this hope and flourish while in exile. Here is the crisis: we are made and redeemed for this calling, but it slides through our fingers.

M. Robert Mulholland Jr. defines spiritual formation as "the process of being formed in the image of Christ for the sake of others." Compact and solid, this definition encompasses the dynamics of a vital Christian life and counters our culture's tendency to make spirituality a trivial matter or reduce it to a private affair between "me and Jesus." In Invitation to a Journey, Mulholland helps Christians new and old understand that we become like Christ gradually, not instantly.

You've tried it all before. You've done the Bible reading plans until you reached the book of Numbers. You have prayer journals that are half full. You hunger for a deep, meaningful spiritual life, but are so weary of your own personal inconsistencies and life interruptions that it almost feels hypocritical to try again. It often feels like spiritual disciplines are for the privileged few theologians who contemplate God's word while sitting in their studies. But God doesn't ask for your performance in exchange for his love.

Dwight Zscheile, Michael Binder, and Tessa Pinkstaff build on Scripture, theology, and the latest leadership and change theories to guide church leaders on a journey toward grassroots, participatory spiritual growth. This faithful innovation begins with a three-step process: listening to God and to each other, acting so we can learn, and sharing our stories in community. Real-life stories and supportive spiritual practices make each step toward effective change accessible and actionable.

In Planting by Pastoring, author Nathan Knight challenges our view of church planting and centers the goal of pastoral ministry on a basic biblical foundation: a church plant is in fact a church, and a planter is in fact a pastor. A healthy church plant is not measured by size, speed, or level of self-sufficiency but by good pastoring that produces faith, fruit, and a flourishing community. Once pastors and church leaders redefine their plant as a church, their ministry will begin to align with Jesus's mission to shepherd the flock and bring glory to God alone.

In this world of frantic activity and constant entertainment, it can be hard to identify and embrace the rhythms that lead to true flourishing. Your spirit longs for a stronger connection to the divine, a clearer sense of personal spiritual growth, a closer relationship with your creator and redeemer. But how do you integrate this kind of inner growth into the realities of your outer life? If you long for a deeper experience of God as you journey through this life, Spiritual Practices for Soul Care offers forty ways to help you put the spiritual disciplines into action each day.

The church often lacks maturity and missional impact because discipleship is at its periphery. In order to get discipleship to the center, leaders need a locally rooted, culturally contextual discipleship pathway to tether disciples who are disciplemakers to the neighborhood or network around them. Pastor and discipler E. K. Strawser shows that when discipleship becomes central to your leadership and community, then discipleship becomes central to congregational mission and cultural renewal.

We are made for community. Deep within the heart of people is a longing to both know others and be known by them, and groups ministry has the opportunity to meet these needs in every church. Groups are an art, not a science. There's no one-size-fits-all formula for designing transformational groups that God uses to mold people into the image of Christ together.

Featuring Bible verses for many of life's questions, it will guide you through various Christian living from worship and loving your neighbor to fear and vulnerability. Drawing on their own experience of the Christian life, well-known TV personalities, Church leaders, and mentors, David and Carrie Grant offer compassionate insight and wisdom, alongside contributions from other trusted Church leaders and writers, for anyone seeking to follow Jesus and be His disciple but unsure where to start.

Jesus told his followers, “Go and make disciples of every nation,” but a lot of us stop before we start―because we feel like we don’t have what it takes. But Jesus didn’t ask spiritual superstars to make disciples. He invited ordinary people into the adventure of following Him. Jessie Cruickshank learned how to be a disciplemaker in the wilderness. When she connected her training in outdoor adventure ministry with her Harvard degree in neuroeducation, God showed her a pathway for ordinary disciples of Jesus to experience profound spiritual growth.

Change carries us into uncharted territory. We can often feel adrift in such borderlands. Scripture, however, offers rich resources for navigating these times. The biblical narrative of the great fifty days from Easter to Pentecost, forms a map for the adventure of spiritual growth. Tracking the tumultuous and deeply human journey of the disciples through these days, Borderlands is for all who are experiencing periods of transition or who seek to progress in their faith.

Spend the next 30 days reaching your community in prayer and learn what it means to be a Great Commission Christian. Pray & Go is a profound and easy-to-use tool that empowers church members to focus outward and learn how to pray regularly. It’s a 30-day journey of praying and going, waiting for God and then going outside the church’s four walls in obedience to Jesus’ command.

You may sense your loved ones need to hear biblical encouragement or advice but, feeling inadequate for the task, you might simply commiserate or say nothing. God calls you to something more. In When Words Matter Most, Cheryl Marshall and Caroline Newheiser help you discern spiritual needs and give biblical, heartfelt guidance. Through real-life stories and carefully chosen Scripture passages, they model what to say to those who are worried, weary, wayward, or weeping.