Pastors and church leaders should seek out and pay attention to the faithful who choose to live a life devoted to Christ, walking in faith and repentance. Even if these people are few, focusing on their development and growth will help your ministries grow. Learn more in this week’s video. Don’t forget to check out the Paradigm One blog; Pastor Joe discusses a discipleship model found in Paul’s conversion and life.
The adversity of life proves the authority and sufficiency of Christ in the life of the believer. Great heroes of the faith demonstrate this truth in the stories of their own lives, and we will see it modeled in our own, in the lives of our ministries, and in the life of our church. Pastors and church leaders then need to steward the flock to fight the good fight of faith, as Paul says, when these adversities come. Learn more in this week’s video, and check out the Paradigm One blog in which Joe discusses the cycle of adversity and faithfulness.
Revival brings great growth, and opportunities to serve abound. If leadership is not careful, in all the hubbub of ministry and activity, the hearts of the flock can begin to grow cold toward Jesus. This heart condition is serious for the church; Jesus made that clear in His letter to the Ephesians. Therefore, there is a great responsibility to steward first love worship of Jesus among the church. Learn more in this week’s video.
What is first love? How do we get back to it if we’ve left it? Pastor Joe responds to these questions in this week’s companion blog.
Previously, Joe discussed how acts of God’s grace are everywhere in a church. Pastors and leaders should seek out these graces and celebrate them with the church body. Moreover, these acts of grace come with a call to action or, rather, a call to faith. When God’s grace moves through a church, we are to respond by faith. This is our first and primary work. Learn more in this week’s video and check out the Paradigm One blog for a study in Habakkuk on faith.
God’s grace can get overlooked when it’s at work in a congregation. It takes a disciplined and intentional leadership to pay attention to the details of God’s movement within the flock. When it’s found, pastors and church leaders should celebrate it with the congregation. Then, there comes the call to steward that grace. Learn more in this week’s video, and check out the Paradigm One blog for key areas in the church where pastors can find God’s grace.
The need for salvation around us is great; how do we know where to start? In Matthew 9, Jesus gives us instruction. Pray to the Lord of the harvest. When we pray in this way, we keep our eyes on Jesus. Then our love for Him overflows in us and spills over to those in the harvest who desperately need it. Learn more in this week’s video, and visit the Paradigm One blog for more discussion on evangelism and the Lord of the harvest.
Praying for the physical needs of those who are living in trials is important, but we often overlook praying just as fervently for the spirits of those in these trials. Praying for strength, grace, joy, and more can rescue prayer meetings from a list of repetitious requests; it can breathe life into those praying and those who need prayer. Learn more in this week’s video.
Also check out the Paradigm One blog as Joe explores this topic in-depth plus Paul’s prayers for the inner man.
When a church prays together, united under Christ, Jesus is free to come in and get glory as He listens and responds to the requests. He is ready to do this, knocking on the door and waiting (Revelation 3:20). Learn more about this powerful mindset of prayer in this week’s video. Then head over to the Paradigm One blog for more discussion on the united prayer.
In John 15, Jesus said that He is the Vine, and we are the branches. He provides us with all the life we need to bear fruit. When we pray with this mindset, we rescue prayer from self sufficiency and the shaky confidence of our own plans. Learn more about this place of prayer in this week’s video. Follow up on the Paradigm One blog with Scripture to help you pray in the Vine.
Whether praying privately or corporately, we should pray with an awareness of where we are . . . or where we should be. We should pray at the cross of Christ. Here, we let go of self-centered ambition, and we embrace the very life of Christ and God’s will. Learn more about this prayer mindset in this week’s video. Check out the blog at Paradigm One for encouragement and Scripture to help you pray at the cross.
Bible Prayer Fellowship 