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Showing posts from December, 2022

Reconnected by Grace

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Part 2 of the “Created to Connect” Series Ephesians 2:1–10 by Bart Denny When Life Won’t Click Together Have you ever stepped on a LEGO in the dark? You don’t forget it. But here’s something else about LEGO bricks—they’re not meant to exist by themselves. A single piece might look fine sitting on a table… but it doesn’t fulfill its purpose until it connects. That’s the idea behind this series: God didn’t create you to live disconnected. He created you to connect—to Him and to one another. Last week, we saw that clearly in the words of Jesus: “I am the vine; you are the branches…” (John 15:5, NIV) Life only works when we stay connected to Him. But that raises an honest question: If we were created to connect… why do we feel so disconnected? Why does it feel like we’re trying—but something just won’t come together? When Trying Harder Doesn’t Work If you’re honest, you’ve probably felt this. You know the right things. You’re doing the right things. From...

Successful Revitalization of Small Evangelical Churches Hinges on Leadership Development

My doctoral dissertation, focused on how successful church revitalization pastors act to develop and empower next-generation leaders. A Phenomenological Study of Pastoral Leadership Development Behaviors in the Revitalization of Small Evangelical Churche s Available at https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/4002 Abstract Church revitalization has received renewed interest in the last several years. Rainer (2014) says that a congregation’s failure to develop and empower next-generation leaders is one of the leading contributors to church closure. Likewise, Clifton (2016) and Stetzer (2007) highlight the importance of developing next-generation leaders during church revitalization.  The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the leadership development behaviors of senior or solo pastors who successfully led revitalization in a small evangelical church. This study defined a small church as one averaging 65 or fewer in attendance at the beginning of the past...