Category: Uncategorized
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A Year of Sermons- 2024
2024 was such a fun year for our student ministry. Besides camp dares and high-ropes courses, we had several fun, formative sermon series for our group. From a study on the character of God in Exodus to building courage and confidence in Revelation, God used these series to move our students closer to Jesus. And…
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Every Leader is Hungry
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” – Matthew 5:6 The first four beatitudes, of which this is the last, all speak to the blessings of dependence. To be spiritually poor is to depend on God for everything you need. To mourn the brokenness of this world and…
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Blessed are the… meek?
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” -Matthew 5:5 Power is the common currency of leadership today. Leverage your influence with financial power. Make the sale with persuasive power. Protect your authority with institutional power. Protect or conquer land with military power. All attempts to order their world for their own purposes…
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Mourning and Ministry Leadership
Young ministry leaders typically have more experience celebrating than mourning. After 9 years of college and youth ministry, I’ve been to many more graduations, baptisms, and weddings than hospitals and funerals. While I’ve seen my share of tragedy and brokenness, the life events of my people skew to the happier side and there’s nothing wrong…
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Spiritual Poverty and the Ministry Leader
“Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 5:3 The Sermon on the Mount is the kingdom manifesto, the first major speech that Jesus gives to explain the way of the heavenly kingdom. He begins not with the details of its riches, but rather an upside-down paradigm of…
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Youth Choir: Is It Worth it?
As a brand new Christian teenager, I was so excited about this new “Jesus thing” that I said yes to anything church-related. I wanted to be there whenever I could, so when my friend invited me to his Sunday night worship service, I hopped in the car without question – with a catch. I had…
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Infusing Momentum into a New Season of Ministry
“And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:47) I often find myself in awe with the book of Acts for both its grandiosity and its simplicity. What begins with a ragtag group of about 120 Jesus-followers leads to a continent-crossing movement that turned the world upside…
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The Call to Follow First
“If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.” – John 12:26 On occasion, a spiritual leader will have a conversion experience. Someone who has been earnestly serving God’s Church find themselves becoming a part of the…
Follow First 