“[Your people are] capable, because the power that raised Jesus Christ is sitting in that single mom. The power that raised Jesus Christ is sitting in that young married couple. The power that raised Jesus Christ is sitting in that 60-year-old guy who’s wasted his life making money for himself. You need to find a way to release that…"
Matt Carter is Acts 29 pastor of The Austin Stone Community Church in Austin, Texas.
Matt remembers childhood observations of his parents' practice of Christianity: attending church services, serving in the nursery or greeting occasionally, and doing a few bible studies. "And that was pretty much it," he notes.
He says that young people today are not content with simply partaking in "the attractional church" wherein ...
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Posted in: Leadership, Disciple Making
Tags: church planting, missional, missional communities, equipping the saints, ephesians 4:12, matt carter, dallas boot camp, training, equipping, leadership development, attractional church, model, missiology, ecclesiology
Part 1 found here: Leadership Development
by Elliot Grudem
There are many reasons church planters don’t developing elders as soon as they should. One of the biggest hindrances is the lack of a plan.
To develop a plan for developing elders, you need to begin with the end in mind. That is, you need to answer this question: What kind of men do I want as elders in this church?
To answer that question, you need to think about three things:
Requirements from Scripture (For example, what do 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 say?)
Requirements from your Denomination or Network (For example, what does it mean to be an elder in a Presbyterian, Baptist, or an Acts 29 church?)
Requirements from your context and church (For example, what does it mean to be an elder at my church, at this ...
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by Elliot Grudem
A couple of years into my church replant I was talking to my father about the state of the church. (My father, Wayne Grudem, is a seminary professor who has trained pastors and scholars for Christ’s Church the majority of his life). He asked me when the church was going to get elders.
“I don’t know,” I responded. “It’s going to take some time.”“I don’t think it took Paul that long,” my dad replied.“I’m not Paul.”“I don’t think it took Timothy or Titus that long either,” he said.
His encouragement reminded me of similar encouragement I received from church planter and long-time Pastor Steve Smallman who helped me navigate my first year at the church. He reminded me that God ...
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