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Calling Part 1: How Do You Know if You’re Called to Church Planting? Pastoring?

How do you know if you’re called to plant or pastor a church? Crossway hosted a Church Planting Panel at The Gospel Coalition back in April 2011. Dave Harvey shares some thoughts on calling.

Highlight: At 6:58 he brings up some “diagnostic” questions he’d ask a potential church planter or pastor:

  1. Are you godly?
  2. Would the people around you say that you have a passion for God?
  3. How’d your home? Your marriage? Your family? Your kids? (Invite him and others to examine).
  4. Can you preach?
  5. Do you love the lost?
  6. Can you shepherd people around you? Do you lead and do you care?
  7. Is there an external confirmation to your internal call?

July 4, 2011 | Posted in: Church Planting,Leadership,Preaching and Teaching | Author: Angie Cheatham @ 9:30 am | (5) Comments »

Posted in Church Planting, Leadership, Preaching and Teaching | 5 Comments »

Recommeded Reads for Sermon Prep

Are you getting ready to preach through Colossians? Dr. David P. Craig thinks Sam Storm’s The Hope of Glory could be helpful:
(Original post here).

I chose the book of Colossians as the first book to preach through in the church where I am the pastor of preaching.  A large part of the reason I chose to preach through the book of Colossians is because I read Storms’ book on Colossians and benefited from it so much, that I felt like I wanted my flock to benefit from the great truths to be mined from the book of Colossians.

Colossians’ bottom line is all about Christ being our sufficiency period. As a pastor there is no truth that I want to convey more in my preaching, counseling, coaching, discipleship, and any teaching situation I find myself in. I find that the older I get and the more I experience and see people struggle – that our greatest need is always more of Jesus. It’s not a cliché – it’s just true.

I find that this book is useful as both a commentary and a devotional. Dr. Storms is a gifted scholar, but he is also a pastor and wonderfully balances mining the depths of Christ to be found in the book of Colossians with profound wisdom always leading to personal encouragement and application.

I am reading this book for the second time, and if the return of Christ lingers, I believe this will be a book I return to again and again to be encouraged in the infinite treasures that are to be found in the person and work of Jesus Christ. I highly recommend this book as one you will come to again and again to be encouraged in your walk with Jesus.

Learn more about The Hope of Glory or check other books by Sam Storms:

June 16, 2011 | Posted in: Preaching and Teaching,Reviews | Author: Angie Cheatham @ 9:16 am | 1 Comment »

Posted in Preaching and Teaching, Reviews | 1 Comment »

Interview: The Need to Preach to Yourself

Martyn Lloyd-Jones once asked “Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself?” Our own thoughts—influenced by the world, our sin, or our enemy—can undermine our identity and joy in Christ.

Joe Thorn, author of Note to Self, talks about the discipline of meditation and preaching to oneself. Many people may think meditation is passive, but it’s actually very active. “It should be very aggressive,” Thorn says. “It’s where we’re uncovering our own sin, struggles, and idols and applying the Scripture with great specificity to our own lives.”

So what does it mean to preach to ourselves and what should it actually look like?

June 2, 2011 | Posted in: Interviews,Preaching and Teaching,Pursuit of Holiness,Sanctification/Growth,Video | Author: Angie Cheatham @ 2:00 pm | 0 Comments »

Posted in Interviews, Preaching and Teaching, Pursuit of Holiness, Sanctification/Growth, Video | No Comments »

Video: The Pastor as Scholar and the Scholar as Pastor

If you attended The Gospel Coalition in 2009, you may have had the privilege of hearing John Piper and DA Carson discuss the relationship between scholarship and pastoral ministry in their own lives. Scholarship and ministry are not mutually exclusive, nor should one necessarily be pursued at the expense of the other. Piper and Carson share their own stories in The Pastor as Scholar and the Scholar as Pastor: Reflections on Life and Ministry, now available in paperback.

If you missed this talk back in 2009, you can watch the videos below or learn more about the book.

Piper on the pastor as scholar:

Carson on the scholar as pastor:

May 17, 2011 | Posted in: Preaching and Teaching,The Christian Mind,Video | Author: Angie Cheatham @ 10:19 am | 0 Comments »

Posted in Preaching and Teaching, The Christian Mind, Video | No Comments »

The Aim of Preaching: To Awaken the Dead

“The power of a great sermon does not belong to or emanate from the preacher. “The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword” (Heb. 4:12). All truly great preaching starts with that recognition. Preachers who rely solely on their skill, technique, or creativity may sometimes appear “successful” when the only measurement is human applause. But if the aim of preaching is the awakening of spiritually dead souls and the cleansing and transformation of lives spoiled by sin, then all that really counts is that the preacher be faithful in proclaiming the Word of God with clarity, accuracy, and candor. His people must also be doers of the Word and not hearers only.”
—Truth Endures by John MacArthur

May 12, 2011 | Posted in: Preaching and Teaching | Author: Angie Cheatham @ 10:49 am | 0 Comments »

Posted in Preaching and Teaching | No Comments »