Just as our discipleship class took place in Re:Train, there have been a number of great posts about discipleship from around the web. Here’s another one from Thom Rainer about the common traits of churches that are more effective at making disciples

• The church has an entry point class that all new members attend.
• Members are expected to attend an open group Bible study. (like Sunday School)
• Members are expected to be involved in one or more deeper studies throughout the year. (like a small group)
• Members are expected to attend a corporate worship service each week.
• Members are expected to be involved in at least one ministry or mission activity a year.
• Members are expected to read and study the Bible daily.

A church in a college town that doesn’t minister to college students falls short of all that the local church is called to be. This doesn’t mean that a church needs to specifically target college students to the exclusion or slighting of non-students, but it should seek, as Paul did, to be all things to all people that some might be saved for the sake of the gospel. (1 Corinthians 9:22-23). One of the challenges at Ambassador will be our willingness to invest in, and minister to, college students while not catering to them.

Justin Holcomb, our dean at Re:Train, has written a list of “the top six things you need to know if you’re doing college ministry.” I pray that churches in college towns would take up the challenge to reach college students for Christ and that lives would be transformed by the gospel.

1. Don’t confuse the gospel with religion
   To prevent doing this, talk about Jesus (who he is and what he has done) all the time. If you don’t, students will think Christianity is really about something else, like morality, philosophy, piety, social justice, or a religious experience. If you start talking more about what they should do instead of what Jesus has done, you’re preaching another gospel (Gal. 1:6-9), which is to put heavy burdens on them (Matt. 23:2-4).
2. Learn about sexual assault
   The prevalence of sexual assault is staggering. At least 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men are or will be victims of sexual assault in their lifetime. And the numbers are much worse for college students. These young women and men feel crippling shame, deep guilt, and painfully alone because of what has been done to them.
3. Teach students how to read and interpret the Bible for themselves
   This means being clear on the relationship between the law and the gospel. The law is “perfect, true, and righteous altogether” (Psalm 19:7-9) and “holy, just, and good” (Rom. 7:12), but it does not effect what it demands (Gal. 3:21). The good news is that on the cross Jesus took our penalty of law-breaking and fulfilled the law, so he could give us his righteousness. God then works in us to will and to do his good pleasure (Phil. 2:13). The very law that condemns us becomes the very thing that God fulfills in us through the power of his Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:18-23), not through our effort (Gal. 3:1-3).>
4. Be prepared to comfort students because of divorce and death
   College students are at a phase in life where their parents seem to get divorced, if they aren’t already, now that their children are leaving home. This is also the age when grandparents begin to die.
5. Study apologetics
   Many students still have brain cells left, and they’ve been reading and thinking about their world. They have legitimate questions about who Jesus is and what he did and why he isn’t just a good example. They want to know why they should trust the Bible as reliable. The immense suffering in the world makes them doubt either the goodness or power of God or both. They think Christians are hypocrites and bigots, so why should they become one?
6. Be prepared to counsel students about what they’re really facing
   You must be prepared to counsel about eating disorders, pornography, cutting, abusive relationships, and the lingering damage of sexual sin. College students tend to be the shock-absorbers of the myths our cultural sells. Idols are brutal slave masters.

Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, KY recently hosted a conference called The Gospel, Counseling, and the Church.  There was also a pre-conference “family track” for leaders in children’s, student, and family ministry.  Patrick Aldridge, Pastor for Children and Youth at Redeemer Fellowship Church, St. Charles, IL, took notes for the SojournKids.com blog and here are some highlights.

Four things that need to be considered when putting together a Gospel centered ministry (Mark Prater from Covenant Fellowship)

1. Know what you are building
   1. Start with philosophy of ministry tied into ministry of church
   2. Craft a clear simple Gospel-centered philosophy of ministry statement and community it often
   3. Write Gospel-centered objectives for the ministry
2. Role of pastor or leader needs to be clearly defined
   1. Scripturally parents are responsible to teach and discipline their children (Deut. 6:5-7 and Eph. 6:4).  Pastors and leaders need to find ways to come along side parents and equip them for their biblical responsibility.
   2. Pastors and leaders need to be aware that they are responsible for the message they present.
   3. The role of pastors and leaders is help parents see their families in the larger community of faith and use that community to help them and their families.
3. Choosing a curriculum., which needs
   1. To effectively teach the Gospel – the message that never changes.
   2. To help equip parents to teach the Gospel at home.
   3. A theological framework that agrees with the theological framework of the whole church
4. Place our confidence in the Gospel

For an example, read how Sojourn keeps their children’s ministry Gospel-centered.

Also included in Patrick’s excellent notes are thoughts on youth ministry and family-equipping ministry. Check out the whole post, it’s incredibly helpful.

A link to Verse Card Maker, a really useful site that, mostly, automates the process of making memory verse cards.

I’ve heard lots of people talk about Family Worship, the process of intentionally setting aside time each day, as a family, to worship God. Rarely have I found much detail on what to do and what’s appropriate. Well, there’s a new website http://familyworshipguide.net that provides everything from the Biblical basis to resources to an actual Family Worship Guide that covers 3 months. I’m hoping to start this tonight. Super excited about this great new site.

Michael Mckinley recommends a booklet that helps people learn how to listen to sermons. It is written by Christopher Ash and is entitled Listen Up! A Practical Guide to Listening to Sermons.The fact that society has many fewer opportunities to listen to spoken word for long times almost necessitates a book like this be required reading for all church attendees.

Jesus tells us to be careful how we hear (Luke 8:18).  Yet many Christians approach the Sunday sermon with little to no game-plan for listening well.

To address that problem, Christopher Ash has written and outstanding booklet: Listen Up! A Practical Guide to Listening to Sermons.

The booklet is very accessible.  It is short (only 31 pages), well designed, and written in an informal, catchy style.  And the content is pure gold.

It is broken into several sections.  The first and longest part is devoted to seven ingredients for healthy sermon listening.  They are:

1. Expect God to speak.
2. Admit God knows better than you.
3. Check the preacher says what the passage says.
4. Hear the sermon in church (as opposed to solely listening to sermons on the internet).
5. Be there week by week.
6. Do what the Bible says.
7. Do what the Bible says today — and rejoice!

Each of these “ingredients” comes with practical examples and a list of “practical steps to take” at the end.

The second section deal with listening to “bad” sermons, particularly dull sermons, biblically inadequate sermons, and heretical sermons.

The final section reminds us that congregations often get the kind of preaching they tolerate and encourage, and then provides seven suggestions for encouraging good preaching,

I found this booklet very, very helpful.  If you are a preacher who wants to train your people to listen well to God’s Word, this is the booklet you want to use.  If you are a regular hearer of God’s Word, this booklet will give you a great perspective and a ton of practical strategies for improvement.

Sojourn Community Church in Louisville is doing great things for the glory of God. I really enjoy reading their SojournKids Blog. This was a recent post about changes to their programs.

Beginning with our Infants classes, our Sojourn babes will be prayed for and loved on intentionally through blessings we have been taught in the Bible.  Beginning Labor Day weekend, our servants will find prayers and blessings for children posted throughout the nursery for servants to say or pray while changing a diaper or when snuggling in a rocker (and especially to pray when children are wailing!).

Also, with our oldest Nursery group, the 12-24month class, we will introduce a curriculum that tells 4 basic Bible stories to the young children over and over again throughout the year.  Repetition is the key to learning–especially at this young age, and our teachers will also learn creativity as they tell the same stories over and over.  If you are interested, there is an opportunity to “adopt a story” by serving in the 12-24 months class once per month.  If  you are serving the first week of every month, for example, you will tell the first of the four Nursery stories every time that you serve.

Their focus on repetition is especially valuable as that’s the way young kids learn. It’s unfortunate that more church curriculum isn’t geared specifically to the different learning styles of age groups.

The process of preparing a sermon is fascinating, at least to me. Josh Harris did a series on his blog last year where he got sermon notes / manuscripts from Mark Dever, Mike Bullmore, C.J. Mahaney, Ray Ortlund, Jr., Tim Keller, Mark Driscoll, and his own. It’s a very interesting look into these men of God both pastorally and personally.

Mark Dever, Senior Pastor at Capital Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC, recently posted the evolution of his outline for a message on Revelation 20. Seeing how his thoughts became clearer, and more concise, is helpful as I look toward a day of preaching regularly, Lord willing.

#1

20:1-3 The Binding of Satan
20:4-6 The Thousand Years—Christ Reigning with His Saints
20:7-10 The Final Defeat of Satan
20:11-15 The Final Judgment of the Dead

#2

20:1-3 God is Sovereign over Satan
20:4-6 Christians reign with God & Christ
20:7-10 Satan will appear to flourish but will be judged
20:11-15 The dead (and death!) are judged. Everyone will be judged

#3

Christians need not fear persecution 20:4-6
Christians need not fear Satan, 20:1-3, 7-10
Christians need not fear death, 20:11-15

#4

Christians need not be scared of Satan, 20:1-3, 7-10
Christians need not be scared of death, 20:4-6
Christians need not be scared of God, 20:11-15

#5

Don’t let threats intimidate you 20:4-6
Don’t let lies deceive you 20:1-3, 7-10
Don’t let death fool you 20:11-15

#6

Christians will be blessed 20:4-6
Satan will be defeated 20:1-3, 7-10
Everyone will be judged 20:11-15

#7

Common myths:
1) Christianity isn’t worth it. 20:4-6
2) Who’s to say? 20:1-3, 7-10
3) People get away with stuff 20:11-15

#8

Don’t worry 20:1-3, 7-10
Make sure 20:11-15
Praise God 20:4-10

They touch on grace, legalism, mercy ministries, hiring staff. Fabulous stuff.

From Thom Rainer. This is excellent advice of things I should do when, Lord willing, I pastor.

1. I would spend more time in prayer.
2. I would spend more time in the Word
3. I would spend more time loving my critics than worrying about their criticisms.
4. I would spend more time with the people of the church.
5. I would spend more time with the unchurched.