I’m sure you’ve been told before that, as a Christian, you are to ‘be salt and light’ to the world. Because you’re aware of Jesus’ sermon given on the mount, you understand that this means to love your neighbour, forgive your brother from your heart, avoid sin, and love God.
Your personal testimony can be very powerful when speaking with non-believers, so don't hold back on how you've experienced God in your life.
Prayer from God’s children to our heavenly Father is never wasted. Every prayer is heard, and we “ought always to pray” (Luke 18:1-8). Throughout Scripture, though, I have noticed that, whilst individual prayer is vital and significant in the life of each believer, it’s when Christians gather together to pray that God chooses to intervene.
Just as in the big cities, people in small towns need to hear and respond to the good news of Jesus. Here are some tips for any Christian living in a small community, and then some thoughts for those who are pastoring a church.
Vine Journal features longer articles and essays that convey the best of cross-centred theological thinking, applied to real-world evangelical ministry.
Pre-written studies have a place in growth group leading, but they work best when we use them to teach the Bible well rather than just to save time.
Since Christians claim that the Bible is God’s word, we need to give a defence or—to use the old terminology—an apology to the world for this claim.
When the new minister first arrived at this church, it was in serious trouble and not really growing. Seven years later, it’s a thriving body of believers, looking to expand. What changed?
Sometimes it feels like it would be easier to be non-Christians with the freedom to just ignore annoying people. As Christians, however, this ‘freedom’ to cut people off is replaced with a call to treat people with love, honour and respect. But it’s hard work!
Giving someone a Bible when they don’t know Jesus (yet) is a great idea, but by itself it may not be as effective at saving souls as we’d think.