Enduring Churches Podcast with Alan and Trent

Episode 347: How to Lead An Invitation

Episode 347: How to Lead An Invitation

1. Before you ever preach: Spend significant time praying and asking what God wants his people to do.

 

2. The Response begins before the invitation time.

• Ask people to start responding long before you actually give the invitation.

 

3. Don't be too quick - you can take your time  

• Many pastors through in a phrase or 2.  Some end by saying that's all I have

 

4. Let the scripture and the lesson lead to the invitation

• a review or summary from the text

 

5. Lead in naturally - don't stop and start
6. Make it personal
7. Be Clear: Give exact steps - tell your church how they should respond.

• Be Direct - ask them to take a specific action
• Invite them to the community
• Give everyone some way to respond - not just a first-time decision to follow Jesus.

Take away their fears or concerns.

• No one here is judging you - Satan wants people to believe that everyone is judging them - this is a lie.  So remind folks that everyone else is cheering them on.

Keep the invitation open after the service

Encourage prayerfulness in the church

An Example (Michael Gabbert)

Episode 346: How to Keep Volunteers Engaged....

Episode 346: How to Keep Volunteers Engaged....

 

How can we say thanks - Children's minister example

 

1. Words of thanks

 

2. Meaningful personalized gifts

 

3. Experiences with you

• Take them to a conference
• A concert
• A nice dinner

 

4. Ask them what they need to be great - Equipping volunteers shows that you care and want the best for them. It also shows that you believe they are valuable to the ministry

• • resources
  • training events

 

5. Take time to get to know them and what energizes them

• • spiritual gifts inventory
  • personality inventories

 

6. Make a big deal about them in front of the church

• • shows the church that the ministry they are doing is important
  • encourages the volunteer
  • encourages others to volunteer

 

When recruiting volunteers, never say

• • Don't say "This is easy."
  • It won't take much time
  • You won't have to do much

Episode 345: How To Train Sunday School Teachers

Episode 345: How To Train Sunday School Teachers

 

Five steps for Sunday School Growth (Arthur Flake)

• • • 1.        Know the possibilities
      • Church leaders need to put together their expectations
      • What is Sunday School/small groups supposed to accomplish  
        • Evangelism
        • Discipleship
        • Support
    • 2.        Enlarge the organization
      • multiplying classes 
      • Church leaders need to consistently share about the importance of Sunday School/small groups
    • 3.        Provide space and equipment
      • What you will teach
      • Room sizes and capacities
    • 4.        Enlist the leaders 
    • 5.        Go after the people

 

Vetting process

-spiritually mature

-calling

-teachable, coachable

-dedicated

-likable

 

 

Initial training

Technical -how to move beyond reading a lesson

People skills - probably more important than teaching skills

• • how to cultivate interaction
  • how to handle difficult people or situations

Class structure

• • teacher
  • community
  • hospitality

 

Ongoing Training

Must be a priority

Must be budgeted

Must be scheduled

Based on what skills teachers are supposed to be learning and what Sunday School is to accomplish

 

Provide ongoing support

Talk with them

Have teachers meet together to brainstorm and encourage

Resource Them

Tools

Bring in denominational support staff to teach teachers

Episode 344: How to Care For Orphans and Widows

Episode 344: How to Care For Orphans and Widows

 

1. Recognize that you have widows and /or orphans in your church and community. Single Moms (and single dads)
2. Caring For Widows
   1. Be intentional. Assign specific people to serve specific widows. Call them. Send cards. Help them with home and auto repairs. Visit and take meals. Give them a hug. Hold their hand.
   2. Widow and widower banquets
3. Caring for Orphans
   1. Encourage church members to become foster parents. (Example: Amy in Yuma asked God for a sign) Support foster families
      1. How many children in America need foster homes?
   2. Support Christian children's homes.
      1. Don't just assume that the government is going to take care of orphans. Volunteer.
         1. Raise funds.
   3. Consider mentoring programs
      1. Example: The Buzzards (little brothers). Pair up a man with an orphan boy to teach them what a dad would teach.
      2. Encourage mentoring Programs - Fathers in the Field
   4. after-school tutoring projects
4. Single moms are another area of need
   1. physical, emotional, and financial burden
      1. car repairs
      2. school supplies
      3. care groups

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Episode 343: How to Disciple

Episode 343:  How to Disciple

 

Ingredients of Discipleship

• Build a relationship. Discipleship always happens in a relationship.

◦ First pray and ask God to show you someone who needs to be discipled.

• Read the Bible together

◦ Simply ask them, “Will you read the Bible with me?”

• Do Ministry together

◦ Train up the person who will replace you

 

Discipleship always happens in relationships.

 

Who has God placed in your life?

 

What is their learning style?

Visual

Auditory

Kenesthetic

 

4 Discipleship Questions (ask these each time you meet for discipleship)

• Where have you seen God working recently?
• What have you been learning from your own Bible reading lately?
• Who have you been praying for to share Jesus with?
• Are you too busy to be discipled?

3 Discipleship stances

• • Discipleship needs a consistent process.
    • • What is your plan?  90 percent of pastors said they had no plan for discipleship
      • Survival kit
      • New city catechism
      • Disciplemakingstages.com
      • The Lost Art of Disciplemaking by Leroy Elms
  • Discipleship needs evaluation
    • • We have to have a way of measuring progress.
  • Discipleship needs to be reproductive
    • • Can we move more and more people into it?

Episode 342: The Rise of the Generations

Episode 342: The Rise of the Generations

https://www.barna.com/research/young-adults-lead-resurgence-in-church-attendance/

 

Millennials and Gen Z lead the way in church attendance?

 

Good news for our future, why?

• The world's systems don't work
• Softening of the heart
• Changing the landscape of the church
• An opportunity

How we interact...

1. Sincerity - our actions should represent
2. Simplicity - our operations and systems
3. Significant - our purpose
4. Small - intimacy matters

Episode341: Our Interaction on 13 Things You Should Never Say from the Pulpit

Episode341: Our Interaction on 13 Things You Should Never Say from the Pulpit

 

 

Link to Joe McKeever's 2015 Article

Episode 340: More on Technology: 5 Questions to Consider

Episode 340: More on Technology: 5 Questions to Consider

1. Websites versus social media?
2. To app or not to app?
3. To go sermon snippets or full length?
4. To AI or not to AI?
5. Hard lines or Cell phones?
   1. 911 service requires a hard line for accurate location services

Episode 339: Multi-tasking in Ministry

Episode 339: Multi-tasking in Ministry

1. Take your family with you to a meeting or hospital visit but include a dinner or ice cream date after.
2. Discipleship on the road.  Take a person you are discipling on the road with you.  In the car = captive audience and allows for some great conversations.
3. Use Evernote or another software to work on sermons or plans while waiting somewhere  or use notes on your iphone
4. Read on the go.  Audible is a great tool for allowing you to "read" a book by listening as you drive
   1. Use library apps to read books or listen to books
5. Strategic working lunches.

 

2 Reminders

• Make room for divine interruptions
• There are times when multi-tasking is not appropriate!!!!

Episode 338: 5 Areas in Need of Critical Training

5 Areas in Need of Critical Training

 

1. Deacons
   1. more than an oversight board
2. Sunday School Teachers
   1. lack of care
   2. lack of interaction
   3. lack of outreach
3. Children's and Student Ministry leaders
   1. generational changes
   2. new challenges
4. Safety teams
   1. not just about getting to "carry" at church
5. Finance committees
   1. could pick several specific committees, but this one is greatly needed