Ask yourself

• Is there someone to pray for?
• Is there someone needing counsel?
• Is there someone to encourage?
• Is there someone to hold accountable?
• Is there something to celebrate with someone?
• Is there a need to be met?
• Is there a leadership call to make?
• Is there a conflict to be resolved?

From Rick Howerton at Small Group World

Send an email every Monday morning to both he and his wife and ask them how you can specifically pray for them this week.

Simple.  Doable.  But make no mistake, very meaningful!  How do I know this?  Because 6 months ago (after pastoring my church for 6.5 years) one of our members felt led by God to take this task upon herself to pray for me and my family regularly.  She has been faithful to do so, even while out-of-town.  She sends my wife and I an email every Monday grateful for the previous Lord’s Day, then asks how she can be specifically praying for us both.  Fewer things have made my wife and I feel so cared for and ministered to than this lady’s efforts.

You might be surprised how infrequent the pastor has someone approach him and inquire how they can pray for him.   Though there are many ways you can minister to you pastor, this is one that any church member can do with a little discipline, planning, and consistency.

Therefore, I challenge you to email your pastor this Monday.  Thank him for his labor in the word and the sweet fellowship of the saints the day before he facilitated.  Then ask for specific things from both he and his wife to pray for this next week.  Trust me.   You will bless, encourage, and minister to your pastor and his wife in ways you cannot imagine.

However, when the requests come back to you…make sure you are faithful to pray

From Brian Croft at his Practical Shepherding blog. He has written two books, Visit the Sick: Ministering God’s Grace in Times of Illness
and Test, Train, Affirm, and Send Into Ministry: Recovering the Local Church’s Responsibility in the External Call. Both books are in the Ministering the Master’s Way series from Day One Christian Ministries.

While the subheading for the recent Christianity Today interview with Francis Chan is horrible (Francis Chan says we should stop trying to make people love Jesus, and learn to rely on prayer, elders, and the Holy Spirit instead. Really, he advocated that) the interview is amazing. Chan is consistently one of the most Holy Spirit-aware, Bible-integrating speakers that I listen to. He’s consistently comparing his life and the life of his church against what he reads in God’s Word and there’s little, if any, of his interpretation that I can argue with. Here are some questions and answers from the interview

Q: So the example of the elders and leadership is more important, even in a large church, than having the right programs or preaching?

Absolutely. That is 100 percent true. There are a lot of churches with leaders that aren’t living out their faith together, and they don’t have trust. Instead they’re trying to bring transformation by creating programs. That’s why you often hear of people who say, “I love church but once I got into the leadership, the inner workings, I was so disillusioned.” That’s a terrible indictment.

Q: How can we know if our ministry is being empowered by the Spirit?

Churches that are built through our effort rather than the Spirit’s will quickly collapse when we stop pushing and prodding people along.

Now we should push, prod, and persuade men, but I’ve learned to spend a lot more time praying and asking the Spirit to move and begging God to send forth laborers.

The more you look at Scripture, the more you realize that nothing happens unless God is behind it. Jesus is building his church. I just want to be a part of that. I’ll keep doing my work, but the fruit is up to him. We can only pray, “Please, please, please let us see your Spirit at work. May it be like a mighty wind that moves us.”

Q: Cornerstone is a megachurch by definition. Is the size of the church evidence that a “wave” of the Spirit is happening?

A large gathering where everyone is singing really loud is nice, but it’s not an indication that the Spirit is at work. We don’t see that biblically. If that’s success, then we’d be spending more money on better musicians and better worship leaders. But that’s not how our elder board measures success.

In God’s eyes success is people loving each other deeply, caring for one another, digging deep in each other’s lives, sharing their possessions, and sharing the gospel in their communities. Are they fully devoted followers of Jesus? Is there transformation happening? Do they see themselves as part of something bigger than themselves—a body with a mission larger than the individual?

Our job is not to keep as many people as possible. Our job is to make sure that we’re setting a biblical pattern.

Q: But you have had people get upset and leave.

Yeah, and it’s hard. But Jesus really didn’t have a problem with turning people off if they weren’t ready for the commitment. What I see in Scripture is that’s it’s all or nothing. We are called to die to ourselves; it’s complete death, surrender.

I tell people, “It’s great that you’re checking us out and learning, and I pray that you’ll come to understand that God is good and nothing compares to him. I hope at that point you’ll give your life to Jesus and follow him.”

The commitment to follow Jesus is like marriage. It’s a lifelong commitment for better or for worse. And if someone is not ready to make that commitment, then they shouldn’t get married.

Q: How do you respond when someone walks away because they’re not ready for the commitment?

We always have to check our own hearts and make sure we communicated with them in love. Early on when people first started to leave, there wasn’t a lot of love or compassion. We sort of considered it a victory that people walked away. There was some arrogance in us, and that breaks my heart. Even now it’s always hard when a person leaves. And so we rally around each other, encourage one another, and remind each other that this is going to happen but we’ve got to keep teaching it.

Q: Do you ever get accused of being pharisaical for calling people to such a high commitment?

Oh, absolutely. The comment I get is that we’re becoming a cult because we call people to make a commitment. We define cults as communities overly committed to a belief system. By that definition Jesus would have been leading a cult. So today Mormons are willing to ride their bikes around town, Jehovah’s Witnesses will knock on doors, but as Christians we don’t have to do anything. We’ve been taught a watered-down version of following Jesus for so long that people think it’s Christianity, but it’s not biblical.

I have to be honest and say there were so many times I wanted to quit, because it is really painful when friends leave and your loudest fans become your loudest critics. It does get lonely. And it’s hard when leaders who are with you start getting attacked. I get very defensive of my leaders because I love these guys. I don’t want people to think it’s easy to lead the church into greater depth and commitment. It stinks at times. But when you look back to the Word, you realize this is the way it’s got to be, and you have peace.

“We’ve been taught a watered-down version of following Jesus for so long that people think it’s Christianity, but it’s not biblical.” That line is hitting me hard right now. Am I really willing to follow Christ, knowing that it will require complete surrender to Him? Am I really willing to commit, come what may? I feel like some recent events (the twins, financial questions, etc) have put me in a position of needing to wholly depend on Christ and be completely committed. I’m not scared of what is to come. In face I’m really excited that God has called me to Himself through Chris tand that my whole life is an opportunity to give Him His due praise and glory.

From Thom Rainer, president and CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources and senior pastor of four churches.

There are no “do overs” in life and ministry. But there are always opportunities to learn, correct, and improve. So I decided to share with you seven of the key mistakes I made as a senior pastor.

1. I would spend more time in the Word and in prayer
2. I would give my family more time
3. I would spend more time sharing my faith
4. I would love the community where I lived more
5. I would lead the church to focus more on the nations
6. I would focus on critics less
7. I would accept the reality that I can’t be omnipresent

These are good words of warning as I look to plant a church.

This is a prayer for awakening that John Piper is praying for his church, Bethlehem Baptist, while he is on leave. I’m committing today to pray this prayer daily for Grace Bible Church and I’ve adjusted it accordingly. Please join me.

O Lord, as you are often accustomed to do, show your great power as we lack a senior pastor. Send a remarkable awakening that results in…

• hundreds of people coming to Christ,
• old animosities being removed,
• marriages being reconciled and renewed,
• wayward children coming home,
• long-standing slavery to sin being conquered,
• spiritual dullness being replaced by vibrant joy,
• weak faith being replaced by bold witness,
• disinterest in prayer being replaced by fervent intercession,
• boring Bible reading being replaced by passion for the Word,
• disinterest in global missions being replaced by energy for Christ’s name among the nations, and
• lukewarm worship being replaced by zeal for the greatness of God’s glory.

Lord, when Gideon had thousands of men you said, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me’” (Judges 7:2). You stripped his army to 300, and with that you conquered the peoples of the East who covered the ground like locusts and whose camels were like the sand of sea (Judges 7:12).

O Lord, take the mighty 300 of Grace and bless this church beyond anything we have ever dreamed. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

Practical Shepherding is a blog you should read. It’s full of , well, practical posts for pastors and church leaders. Here are a few recent posts on service reviews, which I got to see first hand at a 9Marks Weekender at Capital Hill Baptist in DC.

What is a service review?

Service review takes place as a round table discussion with one primary facilitator to evaluate the public gatherings for that Lord’s Day.  For our church, it works best to have this time 15 minutes after our evening service with duration of forty five minutes – one hour.  There are two main benefits:  First, everyone is already at church to meet before going home for the day.  Second, the gatherings for that Lord’s Day are fresh on everyone’s minds and hearts, which produce a more engaged evaluation.  This time also provides wives and children the option to stay and fellowship with one another while the men meet.  Sensitivity to families waiting is why this meeting should last one hour maximum.  Anyone is invited to attend, but is primarily attended by those men who participate in leading and preaching in the public gathering, or aspire to do so.  Those leading and preaching that day, as well as current pastoral interns are required to attend.

What is the purpose of a service review?

The primary role of service review is two fold:  First, service review is a safeguard to maintain biblical fidelity within the public gatherings of the church.  Secondly, service review is a tool to cultivate the skill of giving and receiving sincere, helpful, and godly criticism, which does not come naturally.  It must be learned, taught, and molded into believers.  Within these two chief purposes, there are several other purposes to be accomplished in setting this time aside to evaluate:

• To provide an opportunity to speak words of encouragement as well as correction if needed into the lives of those who led and preached in the public gathering.
• To create a culture of evaluating the public gatherings, not by preference or style, but biblically, theologically, pastorally, and practically.
• To create an environment to evaluate critically what is important and what is not important in regard to sermons and services.
• To create an environment for those participating and observing to learn, grow, and mature in the various roles discussed.
• To learn discernment in what are helpful, instructive comments—and what are not.
• To create an environment of humility, trust, fellowship, and openness with our lives to those present.

What is the process of a service review?

The facilitator’s role is much like a moderator or chairman.  He is to keep the discussion progressing in a helpful direction and protect the group from digressing in a negative manner.  The facilitator asks a question about the service or sermon and goes around the table soliciting thoughts and comments about that particular question.  Here are a few examples:

• Did the service run on one continuous theme that led into the preaching?
• What encouraging comments do you have for those who led the service?
• What could have been done better?
• Any theological concerns with the songs chosen?
• Did the congregation seem to sing well? Why or why not?
• What was one truth prayed in the service that was particularly meaningful to you?
• Was the Lord’s Table administered in a biblically appropriate way?
• Were there any distractions that need to be mentioned?
• What connections did you see to the scripture readings and the sermon?
• What is something new you learned in the exposition of the text?
• What application from the sermon was particularly meaningful to you?
• Was there any portion of the sermon that you would suggest amending?
• Were there any errors spoken, or clarifications that need to be made by those who led or preached?

The facilitator can also use this time to have a short discussion about a topic if he feels it would benefit the group.  Topics could include approaches to preaching a certain text, factors in determining songs, methods of applying texts edifyingly and faithfully, good templates to think through when praying publicly, and techniques for communicating effectively (e.g., voice inflection) are useful conversations to have with those leading, preaching, and aspiring to do so in your congregation.

This approach should leave those involved challenged to think through different issues in regard to the public gatherings of your church, but ultimately this time should encourage those who labored in leading and preaching, unless a particularly poor job was done.  If you find these meetings have a more critical feel than mutual edification, you need to consider whether this time has taken too critical a direction and adjustments need to be made.

As I look to plant a church, I’m very upfront with my plans and vision so that people don’t think I’m trying to poach members from Grace. I’ve also reached out to all the evangelical pastors in town to initiate dialogue about any way I can serve them in their efforts to plant churches. So far, only Kirk at 2|42 has responded, but I am committed to working to build up the other evangelical churches in town while I look to plant a new church.

J. D. Payne recently posted proposed Ethical Guidelines for Church Planters, which are quite helpful. These guidelines touch on issues like transfer growth, church unity, long-term commitment to planting, family care, personal spiritual disciplines, and integrity.

• Guideline #1: Since the global need for the gospel is so great, unless God reveals otherwise, we will begin our ministry among people with the greatest need andwith a high level of receptivity to the gospel.
• Guideline #2: Since the world consists of four billion unbelievers, with two billion who have never heard the gospel, our strategy will involve the use of highly reproducible church planting methods.
• Guideline #3: Since biblical church planting is evangelism that results in new churches, we will not prioritize transfer growth over conversion growth by designing ministries that will primarily attract believers.
• Guideline #4: Since unity among churches in a geographical area is a powerful witness to the gospel, we will be concerned with other evangelical pastors laboring in the same area as our team, and will take the initiative to meet with them to share our calling, vision, and ethic.
• Guideline #5: Since we desire to respect other evangelical pastors in the area, and desire sanctification in the lives of any transfers from local churches, we will have a systematic plan to respond to the transfers who want to become part of the new church.
• Guideline #6: Since our calling to this ministry, people, and location is from God and not based on money, we will not end our church planting ministry in this area simply if our financial support ends, but rather will make appropriate plans for the future of our personal finances.
• Guideline #7: Since the biblical model for church planting is a team approach and many liabilities come when working as a solo church planter, a team will be developed before the work begins.
• Guideline #8: Since one of the most critical issues in missionary circles is that of the stress on the family, we will not neglect our families for the sake of church planting and will begin our work with a strategy for nurturing our family life while serving as church planters.
• Guideline #9: Since we are Kingdom Citizens, we will not neglect our daily devotion time with the Lord by allowing ourselves to be distracted by the numerous tasks to be accomplished in the ministry.
• Guideline #10: Since the task of missionary work involves effective communication, we will work diligently toward contextualization rather than bringing our preferred church traditions to the people.
• Guideline #11: Since integrity and accuracy are important when reporting statistics related or our missionary labors, we will strive to report only those numbers and descriptive details which are truly reflective of what the Holy Spirit is doing in our context.

Here are some recent posts about elders. Daniel Montgomery of Sojourn Community Church writes of their elder installation process in 2 parts (part 1 and part 2). Kevin DeYoung of University Reformed Church describes how congregational care works at his church and the role that elders play. Here are some highlights of each post

Elder Installation (asked of each elder)

1. Do you believe the historic Scriptures to be the inerrant, inspired Word of God, the only infallible authority on Christian faith and practice?
2. Do you whole-heartedly affirm the historic Christian faith – the gospel, the church and God’s mission – as taught by the elders of this church and as lived out in the practices of this community; and if at any time you come to disagree with any of the fundamentals of the gospel, the church or God’s mission as your fellow elders hold firm, through the Scriptures, will you take initiative to make known your change in views to your fellow elders?
3. Do you affirm Sojourn’s constitution, her government and church discipline practices thoughtfully drawn from the general principles found in the Bible?
4. Do you promise a heart of peace and unity toward your brother elders and your church family?
5. Do you affirm that you have been driven, as best you know of your own heart, to desire the work of an elder in this church by your love of God and a sincere desire to see Jesus’ gospel transform everything?
6. Do you promise to be faithful and diligent in the exercise of all your duties as Christian men and elders in this church, as an individual and in community, privately and publicly; and to strive, by the grace of God, to put on Christ while putting off sin in your life and to walk above reproach before God’s church and a watching world?
7. Do you now willingly take leadership in this church, in response to God’s call on your life and your own desire; do you promise to faithfully discharge the duties of a pastor in this community to the best of your ability, and even beyond, by the grace of God in your life?

Elder Installation (asked of the congregation)

1. Do you, the members of Sojourn, profess your readiness to receive these men, as they answer the call to be your pastors?
2. Do you promise to receive the word of truth from these men with submission and love, following them as they follow Christ, and receive their encouragement and admonishment as they shepherd you in your Christian faith?
3. Do you promise to encourage these men and joyfully take part in all their work as they lead this church?
4. Do you promise to support them, with acts of service and generosity, with your time and talents and with your finances as Scripture calls you to do so; to supply them in their needs for the sake of their work for the gospel on your behalf, on the behalf of your city and on behalf of the nations?

Congregational Care by Elders

The elders are essential to congregational care and oversight. This should be obvious, because elders, by definition, ought to be caring for the sheep and exercising oversight. Our elders do this in a few different way.

First, we pray for people. We pray when called up. We seek to pray for people when they need help. And we pray for our people at our elders meetings and retreats.

Second, our elders oversee our growth groups. Ben is the point man, but most of our elders–a couple elders are excused because they are involved in our executive committee–are responsible for overseeing a few growth groups each. This does not mean they lead a group in their home, though they can if they want.  Oversight means two things. One, it means that the elders come to the every other month growth group leaders training session and meet with the leaders under their care. This is a time to trouble shoot, hear how things are going, and pray. Two, oversight means that the members of the leaders growth group (see previous point) are in the elder’s district (see below).

Third, we divide the church into elder districts. The district is first of all assigned by growth groups. So if Larry oversees two leaders, Moe and Curly, then Larry has all the members of Moe and Curly’s growth groups in his district (man is that a rough district). The elder district also includes members not in a growth group and regular adherents of the church who, for whatever reason, have not joined. These names, non-growth group members and adherents, are assigned alphabetically. The elder is responsible to pray regularly for his district, and he must make contact with each person in the district at least once a year.

We do not expect the elders to personally disciple the people in their districts or know everything going on in their lives. This is why we have growth groups. But the elder usually has a good feel for the major issues that have surfaced. Our elders meet twice a month. The second meeting of the month is our normal business meeting. At this meeting we always ask “who is in need of spiritual help and/or is not making faithful use of the means of grace?” Follow up calls are usually assigned based on the district someone is in.  Three times a year we do a thorough review of our districts as an entire elder board.

I’ve read in many places about the power of the preaching of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. I’m looking forward to reading the 2 volume biography of him (David Martyn Lloyd-Jones the First Forty Years 1899-1939 (v. 1),David Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The Fight of Faith 1939-1981 (v. 2)) that I recently purchased to get a better account. Here’s a quick summary from both J.I. Packer and Dr. Lloyd-Jones’ daughter of Dr. Lloyd as written on the 9Marks blog

1. The man deeply felt his conversion.  Dr. Lloyd-Jones never got over the Lord’s mercy to him in saving him and this was clear in his preaching.
2. The underlining issue behind his preaching was the glory of God.  Behind all of his preaching the main point and main issue was always that God be glorified and exalted.  He never treated the Lord casually.
3. He had the presence of a man who dwelt with the Lord in prayer.  When he preached, he sincerely preached as a man that had consistently lingered truly humbly before the Lord and had dwelt on the Truth of God in Scripture.  He brought those meditations and that posture to the people.

As a past, and future, community group leader, I know that sometimes the discussion flows and sometimes it’s like pulling teeth. It’s the responsibility for all members of a group to participate fully in the discussion, but sometimes people don’t know how they should participate and what makes a “good” community group member. Coram Deo in Omaha has provided these helpful indicators in “evaluating your participation as a healthy MC member”

LISTENING

• Lots of people can talk, not many are skilled at listening. If people are listening well, the following indicators will come much more naturally.
• Do you find yourself easily distracted, thinking about other things, or pondering what you are going to say next?

SPIRITUAL INQUIRY

• Put simply, this is following up, digging in, and inquiring into how people are doing spiritually.
• Does the way that you respond to people draw them out and encourage deeper conversation?

ENCOURAGEMENT

• If you see that someone handled a situation in a spiritually mature way, make note of that by encouraging him or her. If you see that someone is taking a step of faith in a new area of their life, encourage them with words of affirmation.
• Do people feel encouraged by you during a Missional Community discussion?

PRAYER

• One of the ways to model the Gospel to Christians and non-Christians is by revealing your dependence upon God and the unique relationship you have with God as your heavenly dad.
• Do you stop in the middle of your MC discussion to pray for what is being shared?

CHALLENGE/REBUKE

• Speaking truth in love while confronting others with a spirit of humility, calling them to turn from sin and trust in the finished work of Christ.
• Is your Missional Community tolerating unrepentant sin?

STUDY SCRIPTURE

• 2 Tim. 3:16-17 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”
• Do you talk about the Bible naturally in the context of conversation?

GOSPELIZE

• Helping each other apply the good news of Jesus and the work that was accomplished on the cross. The Gospel is for Christians and non-Christians alike and is a message that you will never outgrow or mature out of.
• When someone asks for insight or counsel, do you respond with good advice or good news?