Are skinny jeans and fog machines at the heart of your church's growth strategy? Well, who are you turning to for help? And what are the best strategies for growth? Today's show with pastor and author, Jim Cymbala of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, answers your questions. Listen in as he fans the flame to renew your calling to finish the work that you have received.
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In this episode:
- You have been in pastoral ministry for many decades. Can you share a story from a past time of discouragement? How did you find hope during a difficult situation and find a way to move forward? (03:12)
- I had to get alone with my Bible and with the Lord alone (04:00)
- Burnout is the common word used by those who want to quit (04:18)
- In your own life, how do you practice daily renewal? What practices do you recommend to pastors who are feeling the weariness of ministry life? (05:52)
- "Your whole life is one day: it's today. We have to live more focused on today." (06:00)
- You exercise self-leadership in your own daily quest to be renewed by the Holy Spirit. But you are also leading a large church staff at Brooklyn Tabernacle. Are there some specific ways that you and your leadership team have created a culture of daily renewal and refilling among your staff team? What does daily refreshment look like at Brooklyn Tabernacle, as you shepherd those who are leading and serving in all the different ministries of your church? (08:30)
- Pastors meet together once a week: talk, pray (09:11)
- "We have church growth methods that are coming from technicians not men and women of God." (09:39)
- "Jesus put the Holy Spirit in charge of all things pertaining to the church." (09:50)
- As you observe the church today, you are realistic about the different ways leaders and congregations can lose focus on the Good News and get distracted. You describe four “detours” that can pull a pastor and congregation off track: tradition, the latest trends, politics, and culture. Explain how these detours can trip up leaders and churches. (11:30)
- "We're supposed to convert the culture; I think in too many places the culture is evangelizing the church." (12:12)
- "The thinking of the church is carnal and is based on what the world says is hip, what works, very formulaic." (12:26)
- In your book you talk about the need for pastors and followers of Jesus to read and follow the Unabridged Bible – rather than selective Bible teaching. You use the example of Paul in Ephesus, and how he describes his ministry in Acts 20. “You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you. …. I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Why do you think pastors might be “holding back” or hesitating to preach the full story of God and the Good News? How do we get past this hesitation to a clear focus on God’s Word? (18:00)
- Pastors trying to please people instead of pleasing the Lord (19:00)
- Why do you think some of us have lost our way in terms of an emphasis on prayer? How can pastors and Christian leaders re-focus on prayer as a foundational practice? (22:33)
- "We need God, and we don't have to convince him to help us, he wants to help us." (25:56)
- You’ve been a prophetic voice, calling the church in America back to the essentials of following Jesus and living out our faith. What makes you hopeful about the future? Are there places where you see God moving in new, fresh ways? Are there some young leaders you see rising up to lead the next generation of the church forward? (28:31)
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