April 8, 2024
April 14 | Discovery Questions
These Discovery Questions are for use with this week’s Lookout Bible Lesson, “Spiritual Gifts” (1 Corinthians 12:1-11, 27-31), by Mark Scott.
Articles for tag: Church Work
May 1, 2022
Healing Destruction from the Inside
By Laura McKillip Wood Natasha Reimer watched the video flash across her screen, horrified at the view of devastation and death in Ukraine. Lives lost, homes destroyed, orphans created.* She closed her laptop and dropped to her knees. “God, what will become of my people?” she cried. “What can I do to help them?” She prayed this same prayer every night for weeks. Years before, Natasha had attended Kentucky Christian University and eventually earned a master’s degree in diplomacy and international development at University of Kentucky. Although she made her home in the United States, her heart was in Crimea,
April 21, 2017
Safety and Security on Sundays and Beyond
How churches are protecting property and people By Justin Horey On Christmas Eve 2012, thieves broke into Grandview Christian Church in Johnson City, Tennessee, and stole musical instruments and audio-visual equipment belonging to the church”s worship ministry. No one was harmed during the heist, though the theft created additional stress for the church staff on one of the best-attended days of the year. Thankfully, Grandview was able to borrow equipment from another local congregation in time for its worship services that evening, and most of the people who attended had no idea what had transpired earlier in the day. Churches
November 16, 2015
Joe Wilson, ICOM 2015
Joe Wilson, director of the Eastern Christian Conference, describes how church work in the Eastern United States has changed for congregations identifying with the Restoration Movement. See this interview with Mark A. Taylor here.
January 13, 2012
Counting Sheep
By Steve Carr “Of course God cares about numbers. There”s a book in the Bible called Numbers!” “Each number represents a soul, and God desires every one of them.” These statements are simplistic but serve as an apologetic for both tracking congregational size and aiming for larger attendance numbers. They affirm what we seem to know innately””that bigger is obviously better when it comes to the church. It makes perfect sense, doesn”t it? The more people in the pews, the more ministry being accomplished, and the better off the kingdom of God. As a student of the church growth movement,
January 10, 2012
In Just One Year: Love Your City
Nothing challenges us to think about changing times more than the transition from one year to the next. On this first day of 2012, we asked six Christian leaders to think about the church a year from now and to draw a picture of our progress””and our problems””then. * * * By Jon Ferguson Last fall my family moved to the north side of Chicago””we love this city. We love Chicago for its sports teams, architecture, and history, but most of all, we love Chicago for its people: hard-working, unpretentious, and good-natured””as long as you don”t take their parking space
January 9, 2012
In Just One Year: I Pray I’m Wrong
Nothing challenges us to think about changing times more than the transition from one year to the next. On this first day of 2012, we asked six Christian leaders to think about the church a year from now and to draw a picture of our progress””and our problems””then. * * * By Rob Kastens While I pray that I am wrong, my sense is that as the year 2012 draws to a close in the United States, we will be increasingly aware that God”s marvelous church is losing sight of her prime purpose of knowing him, growing in him, and
January 8, 2012
In Just One Year: Momentous Change and Possibility
Nothing challenges us to think about changing times more than the transition from one year to the next. On this first day of 2012, we asked six Christian leaders to think about the church a year from now and to draw a picture of our progress””and our problems””then. * * * By Douglas A. Foster First, I think the church as a whole will continue moving toward an outward focus that seeks out and cares for the marginalized, powerless, homeless, dirty, and helpless. We, the church, will increasingly see the “least of these” as the impelling reason for our very
January 7, 2012
In Just One Year: Tell Me It’s Not Just a Dream!
Nothing challenges us to think about changing times more than the transition from one year to the next. On this first day of 2012, we asked six Christian leaders to think about the church a year from now and to draw a picture of our progress””and our problems””then. * * * By Eleanor Daniel It is so vivid””identifiable people and places, actions, colors, and sounds. The year is somewhere beyond 2012. I see a church that intrigues me. The people include those of all colors, ethnic backgrounds, and languages. Names like Gomez and Vegas, Wong and Hasmani, as well as
January 5, 2012
In Just One Year: The Worst . . . and the Best
Nothing challenges us to think about changing times more than the transition from one year to the next. On this first day of 2012, we asked six Christian leaders to think about the church a year from now and to draw a picture of our progress””and our problems””then. * * * By Greg Nettle It was the worst of times. . . . It was the best of times. As an underlying foundation, I believe that when the circumstances of life are at their worst, the church has the opportunity to be at her best. It was the worst because
