Thom S. Rainer's Blog, page 53

4 Ways Pastors Can Celebrate Women In Their Church

On any given Sunday, I see women all across the globe serving, ministering, and using their gifts to further the Kingdom and love Jesus’s bride well. From serving in the nursery, to teaching small groups, to opening the door with a smile, to leading in song, women have been and always will be a vital part of the Church and God’s Kingdom. With evangelical churches often consisting of more than half of its members and volunteers being women, we see the fruit and faithfulness each and every week, and yet when it comes to the conversation about women in the Church it often gets hijacked with arguments around roles, office, and title, and in so doing we miss a bigger conversation around celebrating, equipping, and affirming the roles of women in our churches. As a church leader, you have an incredible opportunity to affirm the gifts of women and utilize their gifts, but it can often be hard to know where to start among the constant needs and demands that you are having to juggle. Here are four quick ways to celebrate and utilize the women in your church. 

1. Teach About Them
One of the most pivotal sermon series I have heard preached was at Christmas time in a series called “She Shouldn’t Be Here.” What was a common storyline for most church members became an opportunity for my pastor to open up the text and give value and dignity to the women in the redemptive story. The way empathy was displayed in Ruth’s story and the courage and grit of Rahab helped to give both men and women a picture of how God uses women to bring about His purposes. Women of the Bible shouldn’t only be studied in the context of women’s events and Bible studies. Teaching and modeling God’s design for mutual mission and worth helps to set a culture of familial partnership alongside one another.

2. Invite Them To The Table

With more than half of our congregations being made up of women, part of knowing your flock is listening to their needs, current circumstances, and viewpoints. Depending on your staff structure and polity you may be limiting the influence of women into some of the most pivotal decisions for your congregation. Invite them into brainstorming sessions for sermon series or meet with them regularly to hear what issues and struggles they are facing. Their feedback on cultural issues, parenting struggles, assimilation needs, and even aesthetics of a room are all things that women can speak into with different insights and viewpoints that make your end result stronger and more rounded to the church as a whole. 

3. Equip Them 

God has gifted all believers with spiritual gifts to edify the church and be a reflection of Himself in communities, schools, neighborhoods, and workplaces. This means that both men and women are equally on mission in their various contexts. Women in the church have been gifted with teaching, organizational, encouragement, and leadership gifts as well as many others. How are you training and resourcing them to further develop those gifts? How are women being built up in their teaching gifts to then lead and teach from an orthodox view of Scripture? In what ways has the church invested in their development?

With our new Church Answers Women’s Initiatives and our new certificate in Women’s Discipleship from Church Answers University coming in August of 2022, we are hoping to help give tools and resources for you to pass on to the women in your church to help them grow and be better equipped. Something as simple as passing on this email, helping pay for their certification, or setting them up with a mentor is invaluable to them and to your church. 

4. Utilize & Celebrate Them

The importance of women being both visible and approachable is a strategic and important step in communicating to your church that there are women available to seek out for counsel and help. Being sensitive to issues such as abuse, abortion, and other injustices and providing a safe avenue for women to receive trained and biblical direction toward healing not only helps to shepherd those in your care, but also communicates to all those watching that the church cares about injustice, restoration, and healing. Women often lead out in compassion ministries and are able to organize, assimilate, and connect people. This is your community engagement, connections, and first impressions teams within your churches. How you recognize, utilize, and then champion women in various roles both from the platform to conversations with members inside your church helps to allow women to feel seen, valued, and empowered to be the disciples God has called them to be.

For  more information on ways that Church Answers can partner with the women of your church please email jking@churchanswers.com or send them to https://churchanswers.com/women/

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Don’t Succumb to the Great Resignation. Make Ministry Meaningful Again.

Not everyone has lost their sense of meaning in ministry. But the Great Resignation is teaching us many people would rather do something else that brings more fulfillment.

What is the Great Resignation? In the United States, people are quitting their jobs at incredibly high rates. As I write, over four million people a month are resigning. These unusually high rates apply to people in ministry as well, but I don’t think most ministers are resigning from ministry. I will call this phenomenon the Great Reshuffling.

How is a Great Reshuffling occurring in the church? Many pastors and church leaders are considering some other form of ministry—a new church, a different geographic location, a new type of ministry, or a different position in ministry.

Is this reshuffling healthy? For some, I’m sure it is. But not everyone considering something new needs to leave their current assignment. What if you should stay? Here are six ways you can renew the purpose of your ministry and make it meaningful again.

Progress. Create ways to grow every week. Build in time to learn something new. Go back to school. Start reading a magazine in an area of interest. Pursue a self-paced certification to give you fresh ideas about ministry. Even slow progress is encouraging. When you are consistently taking steps forward, you are less likely to dwell on the what-ifs of the past.

Variety. Make work more engaging by varying tasks. Variety can make ministry more interesting. Look at your weekly schedule and shake it up. When the pandemic was at its peak, most people had to change how they worked. But the rhythm from 2020 is not the same one you need now. So, move some items around on your calendar and create a newer, better work pattern.

Significance. Within your congregation, celebrate how each person’s involvement contributes to the whole of the church’s mission. People will feel devalued when they do not understand how their role helps accomplish the overarching objective. Every person’s contribution to the church matters, and they should know how and why. When you regularly celebrate with others, your sense of meaning increases.

Recovery. Embrace your vacation! Use all your vacation days and ask for more if you need them. People are more connected to their work than ever. Winding down each day can be difficult when you see the emails multiplying late in the evening.

Margin. Reserve at least one day a week for free thought. Or build a couple of hours into a day where you do not have anything specific scheduled. We can get so busy with our tasks that we do not allow our minds to roam through ideas. The best ideas often need space to form and time to mature.  

Harmony. Work-life balance is a misnomer. The implication is one will weigh on the other, as if they are competing. I prefer the term harmony over balance. The work of ministry and the ministry of the home should harmonize. There are times when one requires more time than the other, but they should always blend in harmony. Ministry can lose its meaning quickly when you view it as competition to your home life.

Not everyone needs to derive meaning from their work. For some, their sense of purpose is fulfilled outside of their jobs, and the job is a way they can support their outside endeavors. But many in ministry have a distinct need to find meaning in what they do. The call to minister in a church is often connected to the meaning the role provides.

Will a great resignation occur among pastors? I hope not. A return to meaningful ministry is likely to re-energize many who are considering leaving.  

I take a deeper dive into leading your church with hope in my book, The Church Revitalization Checklist: A Hopeful and Practical Guide for Leading Your Congregation to a Brighter Tomorrow. Get a copy today!

 

 

 

 

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8 Changes in Young People I’ve Seen Over 25 years

I’m in my 26th year of seminary teaching, so I’ve been working with young people for many years. Over the years, my sense is that this generation has changed. Here are some changes I’ve seen:

1. They show a stronger desire to be part of a multigenerational church. They genuinely want to hang out with older people and learn from them. They don’t see older believers as old-fashioned; they see them as wise.

2. They want mentors to help them walk with Christ and lead their families. Requests for a mentor are some of the most common requests I hear among young people today. They know they need guidance in life.

3. Yet, they are less relational in a face-to-face way. That, I think, is because their relationships are based on texts, emails, and instant messages. They carry on conversations without spoken words and without anyone else in the room. 

4. They are more open to attending churches with a traditional worship style. They like a return to yesterday, a “retro” experience in worship as long as it’s done well. They even like hymns—if they are theologically strong and well sung.

5. They are more open to serving with churches in the Bible Belt. That’s a significant change from students years ago who had no interest in returning to the lifeless churches of their hometown. Now, they see the same places as a mission field. 

6. They’re more willing to ask their questions, even if those questions suggest doubt or wondering. They live in a culture that questions almost everything Christian. They want to know why we believe what we do and do what we do—including why we trust the Bible is God’s Word. “We’ve just always believed that way” doesn’t work for them.

7. They’re less informed about what’s happening around the world. That’s odd, since they have almost immediate access to global news. They simply don’t share the burden to be aware of the world beyond their own. That’s problematic, in my opinion, because it leaves them uninformed.

8. They prioritize time with genuine, life-on-life small groups. The small group is their primary connection to their church, and they really do share life with others in the group. There, they find friendships, accountability, service opportunities, and prayer support.

So, what does this evaluation say to leaders of a church? We need to invest in this generation, model genuine faith, answer their questions, and help shape them for God’s glory.

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Ten Signs That Your Church Members Think the Church Is a Country Club

When the preferences of the church members are greater than their passion for the gospel, the church is dying.

Paul describes biblical church membership well in 1 Corinthians 12. When you are a biblical church member, you are a functioning church member. You serve others. You encourage others. You put the needs of others before your own needs. The members are not focused on their preferences. They are focused on others. Country club church members are focused on self.

Is it possible, then, to see some warnings before the church becomes a de facto country club? Yes, it is. When you start to see one or more members begin a pattern of making any of the following ten statements, you should hear those statements as warning signs.

1. “I am not getting fed.” While it is certainly possible that the pastor is not providing biblical preaching, most of the time this statement is an excuse to leave the church, to stop contributing to the church financially, or to stop doing ministry.

2. “I am not getting my needs met.” This statement is broad and sweeping. Ironically, we church members get our true needs met when we don’t seek to get our needs met. Serving others sacrificially is the true need of believers in Christ.

3. “I pay the bills of the church.” If you ever hear members talk about the importance of their financial gifts, you know you have a country club membership problem. The members see their gifts as country club dues that entitle them to get their own way. About 2,000 years ago, these people were called “Pharisees.”

4. “I don’t like the way our church budget is spent.” Most of the time, the meaning behind this sentence is, “I did not get my way with the church budget.”

5. “I don’t like the music style.” This statement is a classic preference-driven statement of a country club church member. Since they are paying their “dues,” they believe they have a right to have the type of music that is their personal preference.

6. “I don’t like the order of worship.” Similar to the previous item, this statement reflects an entitlement mentality rather than a servant mentality.

7. “I am leaving the church because I want a better youth/children’s program for my children.” I am grateful for missionaries and their children around the world that are ready to serve in churches outside their cultures. They don’t expect the church to have a menu of fun activities for their children. They want their children to learn to serve in the context where God has placed them. Maybe we should have that attitude in our own churches.

8. “I am mad because I didn’t get to vote on it.” This statement is more likely to be made in churches with a congregational government. Some of the members expect to vote on every decision and every expenditure. Such attitudes bring the ministry of the church to a grinding halt. There has to be a vote for even the small decisions.

9. “I think the pastor makes too much.” In a country club church, the members have the attitude that keeping the pastor poor will keep him humble. Not surprisingly, these country club church members do not want to practice that same humility.

10. “I don’t like the changes these new members are bringing.” That is another classic country club church membership statement. It reflects a concern that the new growth will dilute their power. And if that happens, the longer-term members might not get their way as they have for years.

When the preferences of the church members are greater than their passion for the gospel, the church is dying.

Country club church members are focused on their preferences. What would you add to this list? Let me hear from you.

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How to Create a “Whole Church” Culture of Hospitality

There is a danger that lurks just beyond a healthy guest services team. You can invite the right volunteers to serve on the team, provide excellent training so they understand the why behind the what, and implement foolproof ways for your first time guests to know where to go and what to do. But even when you cover all of those steps, one crucial piece can still be missing. One danger still threatens to derail the guest experience.

Is your entire church hospitable, or is that just a job for the “professional team”?

We fight this every weekend. First time guests consistently comment on the kindness of our volunteers, the ease in finding their way around our campuses, and the generosity of the gift bag. But their overall experience is marred once they get past the gauntlet of volunteers in name tags. In our follow up guest survey, comments like these are not uncommon:

No one attempted to connect with me besides filling out a card [at the First Time Guest Tent].Didn’t really meet anyone after the service. No one came and spoke to us or recognized that we were new.Although the welcoming committee was very friendly, the members were not as much. Although everyone looked nice, nobody said anything to me at all until I went up to the newcomers tent. Part of that is on me because I’m shy so I didn’t reach out, but I filled out my info at the tent on my second visit, so I went two weeks without anyone really welcoming me or trying to talk to me.

In one sense, I get it. It’s not always easy to know who is new at church. Unless your congregation is fewer than 100 people…or you’ve been around for years and lock eyes with everyone every time they walk in the door. Knowing who is a first time guest can be a tricky situation.

At any given time in our churches, there is likely one group of people in the congregation – first time guests – who are sitting in the auditorium, nervously wondering what type of plague they have that would cause everyone around them not to speak to them. Then there is another group of people – regular attendees – who are pretty sure they don’t know the people around them, but are scared to introduce themselves because they may have already introduced themselves multiple times before to that very person. What’s really fun is when two first time guests sit beside each other, each of them thinking, “This guy is so rude! Doesn’t he realize I’m new? He should be speaking to me!” It’s a vicious cycle, I tell you.

So how do we move guest services past the pros in the name tags? How do we foster an organic culture of hospitality in our entire congregation? I certainly don’t have all the answers, and it’s something that we are obviously still working through, based on the above comments. But I think there are a few ways that we can reclaim an “others focus.”

1. “We” has to start with “me.” 

If I want my congregation to get better at welcoming guests, I have to get better at welcoming guests. I have to structure my Sunday so that I can “walk slowly through the crowd” (thanks, John Maxwell) and meet people I haven’t yet met. That means I have to come to the morning with my game face on. It means all of my tasks have to be checked off before people show up. And it means that I have to pray in preparation…not only that God will give me the grace to be others-focused, but that he’ll lead me to the exact people who need someone to focus on them.

2. We need a “tell.”

/tel/ verb. To reveal information to someone in a nonverbal way. Our tell is our first time guest gift bag. It is an almost foolproof way to know that someone is new. When I see that bag, I can confidently introduce myself, because I know they’re within their first few weeks of church attendance. Your tell should be communicated to everyone in leadership and all of your regulars. It needs to be the universal signal that people should talk.

3. We have to embrace the awkwardness.

This weekend I had two back-to-back conversations with people I knew, but forgot I knew. One has been at our church for eight years, but we’ve only interacted a couple of times. The other moved away several years ago, and it took me half the conversation to work that out in my brain. The point? It’s never easy to have conversations with people you think you might know but aren’t sure you know…or people you know you know but you’re blanking on their name. Just suck it up. My favorite line is, “Hey I’m Danny…I’m not sure that we’ve met yet. Remind me of your name again?” And yes, eventually you’re going to really embarrass yourself when you introduce yourself to someone who started attending your small group four weeks back. It’s okay. They’ll survive. You will too.

4. We need to serve as connectors.

In his book The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell defines a connector as a person who enjoys building relationships between other people. “…while most of us are busily choosing whom we would like to know…they see possibility.” One of the greatest gifts you can give a new friend is…another new friend. Don’t just settle for meeting them, help them to meet someone else. (“Oh, you’re in the nursing program at Duke? Have you met Stacey? She’s in her final year there.”) When we connect people to people, we not only help the guest, but we model to our members what relationship building can look like. (related post: Get in the Zone)

5. We need to build in “forced friendship.”

I am admittedly not a fan of the “turn and greet your neighbor” moments that many churches have, for three reasons: (a) Usually people just talk to those they already know, (b) invariably there is someone standing alone while a party is going on around them, and (c) germs. So I’d like to offer an alternative proposal. Instead of forcing friendship in the middle of the service (usually to cover a really bad on-stage transition), why not build it in the moments after the service ends? This Sunday, try this: “As we leave today, let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room. Every week you come in here and sit down beside people you might not know. Or maybe you’re afraid you do know them, but you’ve forgotten their name. Right now, glance to your right, your left, in front of you, and maybe even behind you. Can we all just raise our hands and confess together that we don’t have a clue who we’re sitting beside? (This will get a laugh.) So let’s fix it today: I want to challenge you as soon as the service is over, look at the person beside you and just own it. Tell ’em you don’t know them and you’ll probably forget their name by next week, but you at least want to try. Got it? Alright, prepare for an awkward conversation in 3…2…”

[related post: 7 Reasons Not to “Turn and Greet Your Neighbor” ]

6. We need to push people to other environments.

It would be wonderful if all of our weekend gatherings could foster deep relationships, but you know it ain’t necessarily so. After a service ends, people need to grab their kids, they need to get to their volunteer position, they need to get to grandma’s birthday lunch. And if you’re in a church with multiple services, usually the auditorium needs to be reset for the next service. I get it: those things may not be ideal, but they are reality. What that means is that we need to redouble our efforts to get people into environments where relationships are fostered: small groups. A newcomers gathering. Serving on a volunteer team. Give people the place and space to get to know other people, and they’ll carry those relationships back into the larger environment.

What are the ways you hard-wire a hospitable culture?

 

This post originally appeared on dfranks.com .

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If Your Church Attendance is Stagnant Right Now, It’s Not All Bad

There are times when a church attendance plateau is a victory. I believe many churches are in a season of stagnation, and it’s not all bad. But first, a few caveats. Stagnation is not the goal, but a plateau can point to a future growth climb. Also, churches can be in denial about declines. Leaders should never ignore problems.

The first step on the plateau is to recognize where you are. Unfortunately, churches and leaders can tend to lack self-awareness. Don’t call declines a plateau. The definition of being on a plateau is an extended season of not growing or declining. Be self-aware. You can’t move forward if you don’t know where you are now.

At Church Answers, we’re seeing a trend of larger churches operating at about 60% of pre-pandemic attendance and smaller churches operating at about 80% of pre-pandemic attendance. And many churches are stuck right now at these levels and will likely remain there for the foreseeable future.

It’s not all bad. Here’s why.

The Great Reshuffling is producing strong headwinds. Millions of people every month are quitting their jobs. The headlines scream of a “great resignation.” People are making big changes en masse. This phenomenon influences churches. Churchgoers are moving to different places and considering other churches. I don’t like the idea of church resignation, so I use the term reshuffling. Whether or not it’s spiritually healthy is yet to be determined. But the reshuffling is occurring. Holding your own right now with attendance is a victory.

Attendance frequency returns slowly and over time. One of the most common trends among churches is decreasing attendance frequency. People are coming less often to church.

Attendance frequency measures how often a person comes to church. For example, an “active” member was once considered someone who came twice, or even three times a week. Today an active member is considered someone who comes twice a month.

Consider a church that has 400 people attending four out of four weeks. This church has an average weekly attendance of 400. Take the same church with the same people but change only the attendance frequency—lowered to two out of four weeks. The church’s average weekly attendance is now 200. As attendance frequency declines, the congregation will feel smaller while getting larger. The people coming less frequently still email, call, and set up counseling appointments. They still ask you to do funerals and weddings and come to the hospital.

Stagnation in attendance figures likely points to more people being part of the church due to declining attendance frequency. Any gains in attendance frequency will occur slowly and through deliberate strategies to get people into a weekly rhythm of attendance. This better pattern of more consistent attendance is what pastors should pursue, but the effort will take months, if not years.

There is a replacement issue with the older generation. I hope your church members live a long time! But the reality is that the older generations—with more consistent church attendance patterns—are passing away. Attendance stagnation over time means the church is gaining new people, just not at a rate faster than those who are leaving or passing away. Growing younger as a church can create a plateau effect. It’s always a good sign when the median age drops in a church. But in many cases, you need two new people to replace one older person to retain attendance levels because the older generation tends to be at church more often.

Sickness has come in waves the last two years. I hope we’re able to pull out of the pandemic soon. The reality is each wave of the pandemic is a blow to church attendance. As soon as you get any momentum, it seems another variant hits. People get sick and don’t all come back at once—an understandable problem but an entirely frustrating one. If you have consistent attendance patterns through these waves, consider it a victory.

Stagnation is frustrating. But right now, it’s not all bad. Churches need to grow, obviously. But sometimes, the plateau is not a bad place to be for a season.

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Five Lessons Churches Can Learn from Wordle

No, this article is not about the gospel according to Wordle. This article is also not about compromising biblical truths for secular methodology.

Instead, this article is about better understanding the world in which we live and the context in which we minister. Churches have often responded to culture in healthy ways. If one of your church’s worship services starts between 10:00 am and 11:00 am on Sunday, your church is part of a legacy of congregations that adapted well to the agrarian era of our culture. Your services met the contextual needs of the farmers.

Wordle is a recent example of a fad that reflects cultural realities. While churches should not emulate culture for imitation’s sake, we can learn a lot about the mindset of those we seek to reach. Indeed, Wordle can teach our churches five important lessons.

1. Simplicity beats complexity. Wordle is so simple even I can understand it. Many of our churches have so many programs, ministries, and activities that we appear to be worshipping a busy calendar. We mistakenly equate busyness with effectiveness. It takes five minutes to learn how to play Wordle. Sometimes we can’t understand how our churches function even if we are members for five years.

2. Rhythms are important. Wordle is a daily game. It is only a daily game. You can only play one time per day. You get in the Wordle rhythm pretty quickly. Churches that provide and encourage rhythms of weekly worship services, small groups, and giving are often the healthiest congregations. When your church members add the spiritual disciplines of a rhythm of daily prayer and Bible study, your church becomes healthier every week.

3. Expectations are set. The countdown clock on Wordle beckons you back for the game the next day. This game is not one that you can easily ignore once you get started. Unfortunately, many churches have low to zero expectations. We expect little from our members, so we get little. High expectation churches tend to be healthy churches.

4. Purpose is clear. My pastor is clear about the purpose of our church: “We exist because everyone needs the hope of Jesus.” All of our ministries and activities center around bringing the hope of Christ to others. Wordle has a clear purpose. Players have six attempts to guess a five-letter word. That’s it. Nothing else. Many of our congregations are not healthy because they don’t know why they exist. Thus, they don’t know what they are supposed to do.

5. Community is vital. From a handful of players in October 2021, the Wordle community grew to millions per day in just three months. Wordle is now a community phenomenon. Many users share the emoji grid on social media every day to show their results. Wordle has connected people all over the world. Our churches must have small groups and ministries that create an opportunity for community. Churches without small groups are already at risk. Christianity is not meant to be a solo act. The body of Christ is meant to minister together and love one another.

Wordle is not the next greatest development in history. It is, however, a phenomenon worth watching. And we who lead and minister in churches could learn some important principles from this game.

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Three Quick Questions to Get Clarity for Your Church’s Marketing

When I attended seminary, I never attended a class on marketing. Yet, despite that absence in my graduate education, I’m called on to do it every Sunday for my church. So like any good life-long learner, I’ve read countless marketing books and attended seminars to determine who best to market our church and get the people in the pew to participate in the life of the church.

What I’ve realized in the last twenty years of doing this work, is that if you can answer three simple questions, marketing can be quite easy. These three clarifying questions will help you point you in the right direction and eliminate needless headaches for you and your church. Here they are…

Do you know who your audience is?

Your initial reaction may be “Of course, I know who my audience is! I see them every Sunday and I can name every single one of them.” However, there’s a big difference between knowing the names of the people who make up your church and knowing who they are. For example:

Do you know where they shop?Do you know where they go on vacation?Do you know where they get their news from?Do you know their motivation for coming to church?

Of course, that’s assuming you’re marketing to the people in your church. You’ll also want to be able to answer these questions for people who live in your community but don’t attend your church.

These are the types of questions you need to answer about the audience you’re marketing to. The answers to these questions will help frame everything from the tone of voice, the aesthetics, and feel of your marketing. This will also ensure that the marketing hits the audience where they are.

To be clear, we’re not advocating for bending of scripture or the gospel to culture, but we’re looking to think as Paul admonishes us in 1 Corinthians 9:22 to “become all things to all people.”

Do you know what you’re asking them to do?

This is one of the easiest questions that churches overlook. Do you have a clear idea of what you want people to do? Yes, you want them to register for your event, but have you made it clear how to do it? Often, we’re clear with what we want people to do (join a small group, go on a mission trip, become a volunteer), but too often we leave out the “how” part of our request.

This results in people having a desire to do what we ask, but being confused about the process. This confusion then leads to doubt, which will inevitably lead to people not acting, and instead result in failure.

Make sure you clearly spell out not only what you want people to do, but also how they can do it. Anything you can do to demystify the process will help your audience do what you want them to do.

Will you know if they’ve done it?

This will seem like a no-brainer, but you would be surprised at the number of times a church asks their congregants to do something but doesn’t evaluate if people have actually done it. Without a clear way for you to tell if your marketing is working, you won’t have the ability to pivot and change what’s not resonating with your audience.

By clarifying the effectiveness of your marketing, you’ll be able to build feedback loops that not only help with your current marketing efforts, but also help you shape future endeavors.

That’s it. Those are the three questions you need to ask. Ask those three questions and you’ll create an effective way to market to your church and your community.

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A Bible for All Times. Yes, Especially Times Like These

Life is a gift from God. It is beautiful yet unpredictable. Everyone experiences good times and goes through difficult situations in life. But in the last two years, there have been especially debilitating and serious challenges caused by COVID, which has caused a wide range of realities from deep disappointments to real-life tragedy to widespread fear.

As you face continuing and persistent problems, or as you help people in your family and churches to carry on and even to prevail in these times, there is a Bible that can be of great help. It’s the bestselling study Bible of all time: the Life Application Study Bible, available in a new, updated Third Edition.

To show how it helps today’s Bible readers, we looked at the 10 problems and fears that researchers have found trouble us the most. For each, we’ve provided Bible verses that address the issue along with notes from these passages from the new Life Application Study Bible, Third Edition. Here’s a free digital copy of Facing Our 10 Biggest Fears.

Here’s an example that explores a common problem: Anxiety and Depression.

Anxiety and depression are on the rise among Americans, and whether they personally suffer from these conditions or not, most people today see them as major problems among their peers.

Scriptures and Notes

Romans 8:38-39, NLT: “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Life Application note: 8:38-39 Powers are unseen forces of evil in the universe, forces such as Satan and his demons (see Ephesians 6:12). As believers who have Jesus’ power available to us, we will experience great victory both now and for eternity (Romans 8:37). Hold these two verses deeply in your heart and mind. Claim them for yourself so you will never doubt God’s love and care for you, especially when you are facing great adversity.

Psalm 46:1-3, NLT: “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!”

Life Application note: 46:1-3 The fear of mountains or cities suddenly crumbling into the sea as the result of an earthquake or a nuclear blast haunts many people today. But the psalm writer says that even if the world were to end, we need not fear. In the face of utter destruction, the writer expressed a quiet confidence in God’s ability to save us. It seems impossible to consider the end of the world without becoming consumed by fear, but the Bible is clear—God is our refuge even in the face of total destruction. He is not merely a temporary retreat; he is our eternal place of safety and can provide strength in any circumstance.

Philippians 4:8, NLT: “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

Life Application note: 4:8 What we put into our minds determines what comes out in our words, desires, and actions. Paul tells us to train our minds to focus on thoughts that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and worthy of praise. Do you have problems with impure thoughts and daydreams? Examine what you are putting into your mind through movies, the Internet, books, conversations, television, video games, and magazines. Replace harmful input with wholesome material. Above all, read God’s Word and pray. Ask God to help you fill your mind with good and pure thoughts. This takes practice, but it can be done.

Free Gift: PDF download of Facing Our Biggest Fears using Scripture and notes from the Life Application Study Bible

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Renewed Hope: How to Kickstart the Process of Church Revitalization

Hope is a term often used in a context of doubt.

When we say, “I hope my team wins,” there is a hint of disbelief. When we say, “I hope my church grows,” you know it’s not guaranteed. When I peer into the freezer and say, “I hope there is ice cream,” the grim knowledge of my kids’ appetites adds an element of doubt.

Biblical hope, on the other hand, conveys confidence and security. When the Bible uses the word hope, there is no inclination to doubt.

As we venture into 2022, let’s invest in biblical hope. Just because national trends point to a decline in the North American church does not mean your church must decline. Leaders cannot resign themselves to negative influences and outcomes. Pessimism is a self-fulfilling prophecy and has no place in the church.

Embrace optimism and abandon pessimism. Pessimism is a weight. Optimism is an investment. Not all optimists are leaders, but every leader must be an optimist. As a leader in your church, you have a responsibility to convey a hopeful message to your congregation. Leaders take people to a better place. And this year can be the start of a hope-filled journey.

Get out in front and show the way with evangelism. If an entire church is stuck, then someone must be the first to get unstuck. Why not you? There are plenty of stories in the Bible and in church history where God used one person to begin a movement. Lead by example, especially in sharing your faith. The Great Commission is largely absent among believers and in churches. It can be present again with you!

Raise the bar of expectations within the church. Our first impressions director prints a lanyard with someone’s name on it before asking them to serve. She then hands the lanyard to the person and says with confidence, “I believe you would be an excellent addition to this ministry. Will you help us?”

Too many ministry leaders assume people do not want to serve and make the ask as if serving is a burden. You can refresh your church just by refreshing the way you ask people to serve! Start with the assumption people will live up to high standards. Challenge them to do more, not with guilt but with encouragement.

Focus on outreach at least once a quarter. The healthiest churches inwardly are the ones most focused outwardly. Make sure your church is moving outward at least once a quarter. Host a neighborhood party. Create a prayer walk initiative. Serve a local school or non-profit. If people stay inside the physical walls of the church and inside the physical walls of their homes, then they create spiritual walls between them and their neighbors.

Emphasize high levels of hospitality with guests and with neighbors. Hospitality is one of the most underrated spiritual gifts in the church. It’s not enough to be friendly from a distance. Hospitality is more than handshakes and smiles. True hospitality invests in the life of someone. Have a family over for dinner. Limit what you say about yourself. Genuinely dig into their hopes and demonstrate that you care about them.

I’m optimistic about this year. You should be as well. A renewed church can happen. Hope does not need to come with a measure of doubt. The hope God gives is reality.

I explore much more about how to kickstart church revitalization in my book, The Church Revitalization Checklist: A Hopeful and Practical Guide for Leading Your Congregation to a Brighter Tomorrow. Get a copy today!

 

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