Pastors and church leaders are in need of mature, godly elders to ensure church health, but the training of elders is often entirely missing or badly neglected. What if there were a process to proactively call and train elders?The New Elder's Handbook is designed to equip elders with the knowledge, character, and skills the office calls for. It takes church leaders through the development of a vision for ministry, recruitment of elders to carry out that vision, and specifi...

Relational Preaching is a guide to help achieve greater depth in your preaching through developing a stronger relationship with the Lord, with Scripture, and with your listeners. Its message is direct and down to earth. Its style is devotional and prayerful. Preachers around the world will be blessed as they join the author in soaking themselves in Scripture and reflecting on what these Scriptures mean for them.

Bestselling author and master communicator Charles Swindoll has been effectively speaking to others for over fifty years. In SAYING IT WELL: Touching Others With Your Words he shares his secrets on how to talk so people will listen.Filled with techniques, stories, and models that clearly explain the formulas for successful speaking, Swindoll teaches readers the foundational principles for how to communicate, from preparing for a speech, organizing thoughts, and filtering o...

This is a classic that has stood the test of time. For forty-five years, seminary students and pastors have benefited from the principles found in this book. Two of Koller's popular texts, Expository Preaching without Notes and Sermons Preached without Notes, are combined in a single volume that allows preachers to prepare and deliver sermons without being tied to a manuscript or even outlines or notes. Among the eighteen topics discussed are the biblical conception of preaching, the advan...

Every pastor wants the sermon to be an important tool for maturing those listening in the pews. Having a preaching plan is an essential part of this process. If a preacher's messages are scattered, unrelated to one another, or haphazardly prepared, it can be difficult for those in the congregation to make connections to aid their spiritual growth.Preaching with a Plan encourages and equips pastors to develop a cohesive preaching plan to guide their choice of Scripture, topi...

What is the meaning of grace, of sin, of the sacraments? How are we to understand our dependence on God or relate to the person of Jesus? What roles do the Bible and the church play in our life of faith? Talking about theology needn't be boring or stuffy, the authors argue. Rather, it is exhilarating to explore the why of our faith. Each of 13 key doctrines is explored theologically, scripturally, in pastoral application, and in a sample sermon.

Many pastors are just too busy to fellow the latest theories on preaching and sermon form. In The Shape of Preaching, Dennis M. Cahill seeks both to educate the working pastor on the current issues of sermon design and enable them to use this design in a way that can change their preaching.After first laying the theoretical groundwork with discussions of the theological, cultural, and literary roots of the new approaches to sermon design, Cahill expertly guides the preacher through ...

What if Charles Spurgeon helped you prepare next Sunday’s sermon?Or what if you could talk over your preaching with Joseph Parker, Richard Baxter, Henry Ward Beecher and H. P. Liddon. Do you think it would make a difference to get the input of some of the greatest preachers who ever lived?That’s precisely what Joseph Exell had in mind when he put together the massive series of volumes called The Biblical Illustrator. In what can only be called a Herculean feat, he spent yea...

How can a pastor, whether fresh out of training or with many years of experience, be effective in his ministry?Thomas Murphy, a renowned Presbyterian minister from the late 1800s set out to answer that question in this book.Being effective starts with the pastor's close personal relationship with God, so Murphy spends time exhorting pastors to make their relationship with God paramount in their ministry and teaching them how they should cultivate it over time.Murphy...

We are all spread too thin, taking on more than we can handle, trying to do so much—almost as if we are afraid that if we were to take a moment of rest, we might discover that all our busyness is covering up an essential lack in our lives.But God never meant for us to be so busy. God desires for us to have rest and peace. Brady Boyd shows you how to live a life that embraces stillness and solitude, so you can find the peace that God wants for you.Brady Boyd...

What if Charles Spurgeon helped you prepare next Sunday’s sermon?Or what if you could talk over your preaching with Joseph Parker, Richard Baxter, Henry Ward Beecher and H. P. Liddon. Do you think it would make a difference to get the input of some of the greatest preachers who ever lived?That’s precisely what Joseph Exell had in mind when he put together the massive series of volumes called The Biblical Illustrator. In what can only be called a Herculean feat, he spent yea...

In the life of a pastor, it can be tempting to offer half-truths that make everyone happy and the pastor popular. Speaking difficult truths may anger or alienate church members, but authentic pastoral care sometimes requires it. How can those in ministry speak honestly in the inevitable awkward situations they face?Here a wise and witty pastor-storyteller draws on his church life experiences over the past twenty-five years--including sermons, funerals, and board meetings--to offer ...