Christian Unity

Christian Unity
If “We Don’t Go To Church, We Are The Church” Is True, Why Do I Miss Going So Much?
We haven’t ceased to be the church. We’ll never cease to be that. But I miss the gathering.

It’s been a month.

Four full Sundays of worship at home.

And with every week that goes by, I realize more than ever how much I miss it.

No, not the building. You can have the building.

Not even the event. You can have that, too.

I miss the people.

I miss gathering as the church.

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Christian Unity
No, The New CDC Guidelines Are Not A "Win" For Small Churches
We should all look forward to the day when churches of all sizes are able to gather again.

As of today, the CDC has recommended that all gatherings of 50 or more people should be canceled for the next 8 weeks.

Small church win, right?

Wrong.

No one wins in this.

No “I told you so’s”

As a long-time proponent of the value of small churches, you might think ...

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Christian Unity
6 Reasons “Don’t Take It Personally” Is Bad Ministry Advice
When you spend your ministry time with people you know and love, it has to be personal.

Don’t take it personally.”

That may be the worst piece of advice I’ve ever received about ministry. It fails on so many levels.

Here are six of them.

1. Jesus Took Ministry Very Personally

Can you imagine Jesus giving anyone that advice? “Take up your cross ...

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Christian Unity
Why I'll Never Give Up On The Church
I can never give up on the church because I can never give up on people. And because Jesus never gave up on us.

When I hear about people leaving the church, my heart breaks.

Certainly, the church is messy. It’s broken. It’s in constant need of repentance, forgiveness, revitalization, renewal and reappraisal.

That’s how it is with families.

And, because the church truly ...

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Christian Unity
Why We Don't Have To Give In To Hopelessness
Life gets hard. Faith may feel futile. Hope can seem distant. But we can always persevere...

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...because Jesus.

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Christian Unity
Why We Have To Talk About Church Size
Let’s ask the questions that need to be asked, and offer honest, grace-filled answers that tell us what we need to know.

There are two approaches when we talk about church size.

The first one is to use church size and, more specifically, church growth as the main way to tell if a church is healthy, strong and effective. Big and getting bigger? Great! Small and staying small? Not so good.

The second ...

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Christian Unity
Here’s The Best Way You Can Help A Small Church Pastor Today
Ministry is hard. Small church ministry is relentless. Doing it alone is impossible.

Small church pastors labor under a great deal of discouragement.

They work unbelievably long hours (often full-time at a paying job in addition to pastoral ministry) with very little money (many supplement the church from their bivocational pay) and very little encouragement.

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Christian Unity
3 Of The Biggest Complaints Pastors Have About Church Members – And What To Do About Them
It's not about getting people to give, attend and volunteer more. They need to fall in love with Jesus again. And so do we.

People aren’t giving enough.

People aren’t attending enough.

People aren’t volunteering enough.

These are the complaints I hear most often from other pastors when we’re talking about the frustrations they have with church members.

Family Frustrations

Before ...

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Christian Unity
Pastors And Worship Leaders: 3 Ways To Work Together And 2 Traps To Avoid
The most important principle is to keep a cooperative spirit.

Of all the ingredients needed for a healthy church, one of the most important is a leadership team that works well together.

This is true for a megachurch with paid staff, and for a small church working entirely with volunteers.

One of the most visible and influential relationships ...

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Christian Unity
“Small Churches Are Lazy!” “Big Churches Are Compromised!” (5 Steps To Overcome Those Unfair Stereotypes)
Find the good. It’s there. Even in churches that may not be your cup of tea.

There are two big myths about the way we view churches of various sizes.

Myth #1: Big churches got big because they compromised their message, stole sheep or had some special advantage unavailable to other churches.

Myth #2: Small churches stay small because they’re lazy, ...

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