January 1, 2026
Think Outward
Every church will tell you they have an outward focus because they know that's Jesus' Great Commission, but the truth is that many are not.
Articles for tag: Outreach
November 6, 2025
The Crux of Evangelism
It comes down to this: Do you care? Do you value lost people? Do you have the same compassion for them that Christ had for you (John 3:16; Romans 5:8)?
November 6, 2025
Gone Fishing Lately?
If we’re serious about trying to reach lost sinners and fish for people like Jesus told us to, then it’s essential we understand the beliefs, behavior, and belonging of those we’re fishing for so we can use the right kind of “bait.”
November 6, 2025
Building Out Your Vision by Thinking Outward, Part 1
To focus outward means that the church’s primary concern is the people outside its walls and influence. It means that the church’s assets—its money, its talent, its time, and its facility—are focused toward reaching into that group.
November 6, 2025
This Generation is Now
We’re hearing stories from across the country about college ministries where thousands are giving their lives to Christ and being baptized in obedience to him. There’s something real happening in This Generation.
November 5, 2025
For the One: A Call to Radical Alignment
The Great Commission isn't a random utterance of Jesus. It's the marching orders for the church that still stand today, including you and your church.
November 5, 2025
Taking the Gospel Back to Post-Christian Europe
What if the next great move of God isn’t coming from Europe but is going back to it? At ONE&ALL Church in Southern California, we’re preparing to send hundreds of young adults to replant the gospel in the very lands that once sent it to us.
November 5, 2025
The Missing Piece of the Great Commission
As those who have been charged with carrying out the Great Commission to go to all the world making disciples, let's remember that baptizing and teaching is not complete if obedience is not also taught and modeled by those who claim to follow Jesus.
July 1, 2022
How to Measure Church Health
By Jim Estep I hate going to the doctor. The first thing they ask me to do is step on the scale. Then, they take all the standard measurements: blood pressure, temperature, pulse, and oxygen level, among others. Finally, they ask, “So why are you here? How are you feeling?” I describe my ailment (while trying not to sound like a whiner). Doctors evaluate a person’s health based on some very objective (quantitative) measures as well as verbal (qualitative) descriptions. A church’s health should be evaluated the same way. We need to remember the church is an organism, not an
August 3, 2021
How the Local Church Can Make a Difference in Foster Care
A ministry that serves the foster care system isn't simple. The situations are complicated and the answers are never easy, but it’s been an incredible honor for Christ's Church of Oronogo to be invited into families’ stories.
October 1, 2019
No Town Like Hometown (Part 2): Grace City Church
By Mel McGowan In October’s column, I wrote about two churches located in the beautiful Pacific Northwest town of Wenatchee, Washington, population around 34,000. The roots of Sage Hills Church, which I focused on last month, go back to 1908. A hundred years later, in 2008, Grace City Church was planted. The two churches share an outward focus for reaching their hometown for Christ. This month we’ll look at Grace City. A Gift to the Community Grace City Church has been meeting in the Numerica Performing Arts Center, a restored building in Wenatchee’s downtown industrial district, which has allowed plenty
July 17, 2019
Executive Pastor Online Aims to Fill a Gap for Smaller Churches
By Chris Moon Kevin Stone wants to be the executive pastor many churches want but simply can’t afford to hire. Years ago, the executive pastor at Christ’s Church of the Valley in Royersford, Pa., began thinking about how he could serve small and midsized churches that simply don’t have the capacity to hire ministers to manage their operations and administration. So in 2006, he founded the first iteration of what has become known as Executive Pastor Online. “The site is your online executive pastor,” Stone said. “The idea is to provide that skill set and those fundamental concepts to the
May 17, 2019
Multisite Comes of Age
âThe multisite congregation is the single most profound change in American congregations in the past century.â âThom Rainer, CEO, LifeWay Christian Resources By Jim Tomberlin When I started down the multisite path as a senior pastor in Colorado in the 1990s, multisite was a radical idea. In the first decade of the 21st century, multisite became the cool idea among large, cutting-edge churches. As it approaches the end of its third decade, multisite has become the mainstream idea for healthy, growing churches of all kinds and sizes. This movement is comprised of more than 5,000 denominational and nondenominational churches that
February 27, 2019
Develop These 4 Habits to Increase Your Outreach
By Emily Drayne Iâ™m a missionary . . . and you are too. Missionaries look to make a difference in a community. Itâ™s simply not true that a missionary must relocate to a new country. There are more âhomeâ-based ministry efforts than ever before working in local communities, in inner cities, in childrenâ™s homes, on Native American reservations, and elsewhere. Where can you and the people you lead get involved? This year Iâ™ve personally committed to being a âmissionaryâ where God has placed me. Iâ™ve written out some foundational steps Iâ™m pursuing along this journey that I want to share
February 27, 2019
Neighborhood Church: Creating Connection
By Mel McGowan Forty years ago, Christian residents in a Visalia, California, neighborhood took notice of the children who cut through their yards on the way to meet up with friends. What caught their neighborsâ™ attention wasnâ™t the childrenâ™s chosen route, it was their shockingly foul language. That got the neighborhood folks thinking: These kids should be having innocent fun, yet they are swearing like sailors. Maybe these potty-mouthed children need connection. And what better way to connect with kids than to bake cupcakes for them? Soon, the childrenâ™s parents began coming around. The neighborhood cupcake outreach eventually transformed into
July 19, 2016
An Interview with Mike Cope
Mike Cope, director of outreach at Pepperdine University, talks with Editor Mark Taylor about how he has coped with profound loss in his life, and how we can, too. See this exclusive interview from the 2016 North American Christian Church here.
August 9, 2015
Family to the Family-less
By Danielle Hance Christians are called to love widows and orphans. But there may be other metaphorical orphans within your church or just beyond your church doors. For instance, the university student who is from out of state. The young business professional starting her career in a new city. The foundering 20-something who moved out of his parent”s basement and is trying to make it on his own. It may seem like single young adults have everything going for them. Life is full of possibilities. They are healthy and vibrant. Once you get past the “picture-perfect” exteriors, though, you may
March 10, 2015
Ideas for Easter””or Anytime
By Mark A. Taylor At our annual contributing editor January retreat, someone asked, “Why do churches always make such a big thing of Christmas?” She was reflecting on the fact that Christian Standard almost always puts “Christmas” on a December cover, but sometimes we hardly mention Easter at all. Maybe we”re giving in to the culture on this. For many people, Christmas preparations begin in the summer, and we see Christmas everywhere by the end of October. Christmas concerts, Christmas parties, Christmas gift-buying””they fill the month of December. Indeed, sometimes by Christmas Day, we”re too tired to celebrate. Churches follow
January 6, 2015
The First Answer
By Mark A. Taylor Is your church healthy? Unfortunately, our quest to answer that question may send us looking in the wrong direction. Our tendency is to consider symptoms, not causes, of church health. We analyze statistics about giving or growth or participation, externals that may indicate how we”re doing but don”t tell how to make it better. What can we do to make our church healthier? The best answer””certainly the first answer””is to look in (not out), to cast our gaze upon ourselves. The function of any individual part affects the health of the whole. A quick look at
May 16, 2014
The Measure of a Church
By Will Thomas All churches count “noses” and “nickels.” That”s a good thing. Most of the time, attendance and finances provide a helpful barometer of what”s happening. But other factors also matter. Churches count what they do because they can. The harder-to-measure goals may too often remain hidden beneath the surface. Some churches look beyond the obvious. All churches could. In fact, looking beyond the obvious is probably one of the common characteristics of larger, growing churches. They know numbers for the sake of numbers seldom lead anywhere. Their leaders know a big church needs a big foundation. Churches that
