https://youtu.be/q197M0M46FY

Consider the genius of God’s plan. The first generation of Christians was a tinderbox of contrasting cultures and backgrounds. At least fifteen different nationalities heard Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost. Jews stood next to Gentiles. Men worshipped with...

https://youtu.be/XwcNda_jtGk

Long before the church had pulpits and baptisteries, she had kitchens and dinner tables. “The believers met together in the Temple every day. They ate together in their homes, happy to share their food with joyful hearts” (Acts 2:46 NCV). “Every day in the Temple and...

Issue a genuine invitation. Let your guests know you want them to come. Call them on the phone, or step over to their desks at work. Are they neighbors? Knock on their doors and say, “We’d love for you to join us at our dinner table tonight. Please come.” People...

Remember, I want you to bless at least one member of your church and one person who is not a Christian. This means the blessing ricochets around your church, as members are affirming, gifting, and performing acts of kindness for each other. It also means church...

https://youtu.be/j8d9er2J0XA

https://youtu.be/6Io7gN6Zjog

https://youtu.be/9hM7e9Ue_Es

A Leader Is Available to Meet the Need Himself. "Make me successful. Grant me compassion in his eyes." Nehemiah recognized the need clearly. He got involved in it. He took it to God. Now he was available to meet the need, if that was what God desired. A genuine leader...

A Serious Leader Goes First to God with the Problem. In verse 5 we hear Nehemiah say, "I beseech Thee, O Lord God of heaven." He prayed. What is your first response when a need comes to your attention? I can tell you what it is because it's usually my first response...

Nothing will keep a Christian more immature than trying to keep a list. In a church a woman was knitting, waiting for the service to start. She had been there forty-five minutes. Some other dear woman said, “Oh, honey, we don’t do that in the house of God.” Well, what...

IMAGINE is a great word in teaching, as Andy Stanley says… It is a moment of inspiration. It is the point in the message when you paint a verbal picture of what could be and should be. In this closing moment you call upon your audience to imagine what the church, the...

https://youtu.be/v_Fm92a7U4Y

I heard about a fellow who attended a legalistic college where students were to live according to very strict rules. They weren’t supposed to do any work on Sundays. None! Guess what? He spied on his wife and caught her hanging out a few articles of clothing she...

However, there is one book, written about 425 B.C., that looms as a classic work on effective leadership; yet it is strangely obscure and virtually unknown to people of today. It was written by a man who was prominent in business and politics in the ancient Middle...

https://youtu.be/waKCjppiGfc

One of the most serious problems facing the orthodox Christian church today is the problem of legalism. One of the most serious problems facing the church in Paul’s day was the problem of legalism. In every day it is the same. Legalism wrenches the joy of the Lord...

What do we mean when we use the word leadership? If I were asked to define it in one single word, the word would be "influence." You lead someone to the measure you influence him. The late President Harry Truman often referred to leaders as people who can get others...

In contrast to yesterday’s thoughts on liberty, what does it mean to say that legalism puts people under bondage? Legalism is an attitude, a mentality based on pride. It is an obsessive conformity to an artificial standard for the purpose of exalting oneself. A...

The eighth and last characteristic of the radical disciple which I have chosen is death. Let me explain. Christianity offers life—eternal life, life to the full. But it makes it plain that the road to life is death. It underlines this in at least six areas, as I will...