This first interview is with Wallace Tinsley, pastor of Filbert Presbyterian Church in Filbert, S.C. (See the lead article by Tinsley).
Where are you located? We are located three miles outside a town of 8,000 people.
Church Leadership
Joyful Servant Leaders
By Wallace Tinsley
God’s people are sheep. They always have been. They have always needed a Shepherd. From the first time Jacob voiced his recognition of this comforting truth in Genesis 48:15 to the repeated imagery in the book of Revelation, we sheep know the security of having a sovereign, heavenly Shepherd.
God’s people are sheep. Moses, a sheep-shepherd for the second third of his life and a people-shepherd for the final third, knew the burden of serving and leading God’s people. At the end of his life, he pled with the Lord to continue to lead the people through a human leader. Otherwise, he said, the congregation of the Lord would be “like sheep without a shepherd”(Numbers 27:17).
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God’s people are sheep. But so is their Shepherd. In Revelation 5, John has his gaze directed to the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, but, as he turns around, he spies “a Lamb standing, as if slain.” What joy there is in knowing that our High Priest can sympathize with our weaknesses!” (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus is not only the powerful, just, victorious Lion, but is also the Sheep sacrificed for sinners. Jesus is the Servant-Leader. We stand amazed.
The Amazing Provision of Elders
Amazed at the total provision for all our shepherding needs in glory, we stand equally amazed at the Lord’s provision for servant-leadership here on earth. He has directed us to have elders in every place (Titus 1:5), not just in Ephesus under Timothy and in Crete under Titus.
Elders are repeatedly called shepherds in the Bible and are held accountable as such. Remember the Lord’s charge through Ezekiel: “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves!” (Ezekiel 34:2). The Greek word for “elder” is “presbyter.” Being Presbyterian means being convinced that the biblical form of church government is that which is conducted by a group of elected elders. Human shepherds, obviously, are also sheep. They are not spotless or undefiled. Their sacrifice can purchase no one’s pardon; nevertheless, they serve by shepherding fellow sheep. As an earthly reflection of a heavenly reality, they, too, are servant-leaders.
How Can This Be?
How can this be, since we are sinful? First, the Lord makes a man into a man of God. He must “be” before he can “do.” Second, the Lord places the forgiven sinner into a functioning plurality of elders, placing the burden of servant-leadership squarely upon their collective shoulders. Third, it works beautifully because it is God’s plan; it is what the Bible tells us to do.
Who? What Must an Elder Be? The Elder’s Qualifications, Short Form
What, then, is required for a man to be qualified to serve as an elder? He must be above reproach, the husband of one wife (a one-woman man), temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine, or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, and free from the love of money. He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity. He must not be a new convert. He must not be conceited. He must have a good reputation with those outside the church (I Timothy 3).
Wow, that’s quite a list! The requirements are inescapably difficult. There is no Form EZ. There is, however, a Short Form, a way to summarize these qualifications: this is a man who is becoming like Jesus. This is a man whose life is being conformed more and more to the image of Christ. This is simply a picture of a maturing Christian man. Now think about this question: How is this description any different from the hopes and expectations for any normal Christian man? Do we want any Christian man to be imprudent? Inhospitable? Warlike and pugnacious? Did you want your dad to be intemperate or ruled by a love of money? Did you want your dad to be conceited?
Looking back on it, do you wish your dad had let you run wild? The man qualified to be an elder is simply a normal Christian man, a maturing Kingdom disciple.
How? What Must an Elder Do? An Elder is an Elder is an Elder
Once an elder is recognized by his congregation and set apart for service, how should he expect to function as one of a group of elders or “session”? On the one hand, there are no elders who are “first among equals.” In Church history, super-elders became bishops. The super-bishop, first among his equals, was the bishop of the most powerful city. That city became Rome, so the bishop of Rome became the papa-bishop or the pope. No, we cannot allow ourselves to take that road again. Elders may have different functions, some concentrating their efforts on teaching and some on ruling, but they are all simply and equally elders, as described in the Bible.
On the other hand, there are elders. That is to say that there are elders in the Church in the Old Testament, and there are elders in the Church in the New Testament. There are elders depicted as gathered around the throne in glory, twelve representing the O.T. Church and twelve representing the N.T. Church (Revelation 4, 5, 7, 11, 14, and 19).
Why are these two factors important? It is because God has designed the shepherding of His Church in a marvelous way. Shepherding does not fall onto the shoulders of one man, as a super-elder or bishop. Nor is shepherding left to the sheep. The responsibility for human guidance of Christ’s Church is placed neither in a manmade hierarchy nor in a man-made pure democracy. Both tyranny and mob rule are biblically prevented.
The burden of church leadership falls on the shoulders of a group of godly men, forgiven sinners, living in the world but not of it. Clearly, this responsibility is too much for them, as husbanding a wife or parenting a child is clearly too much for any man. Without the work of the Holy Spirit, the job is not only overwhelming; it is impossible.
Part of the genius of shepherding by a group of elders is that it takes into account Romans 7, along with I Corinthians 3 and 6. In Romans 7, the Christian man so struggles against sin in his life that he cries out, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” The maturing Christian man cries out in humility day by day how much he needs Jesus! On the other hand, he relies upon the truth of I Corinthians 6:19, that the Holy Spirit lives in him and that, by His power, he can flee immorality and live a godly life. More than that, the elder takes I Corinthians 3:16 seriously, believing that the Spirit indwells the Body of Christ, the Church. He believes that God’s leadership among a group of forgiven sinners is possible.
The Elder and Practical Servant-Leadership
Therefore, the elder is willing to step up to the plate. On behalf of his sheep and on behalf of his Shepherd, he is willing to stand there and take the pitches thrown at the Church by the world, the flesh, and the devil. First, he will not pass his responsibility off to a hierarchy above him, to a super-elder or bishop or CEO of the Body of Christ. He will not consider “rubber-stamping” someone else’s viewpoint. Second, he will not demur and wait for the whole congregation to get together and say what they think so that he cannot be held responsible.
Instead, recognizing his feebleness and tendency to sin and selfishness, he will share the burden of leadership with the rest of the sin-scarred set-free shepherds the Lord has raised up in their particular flock. He will be eager to speak his conscience. He will be “quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger” (James 1:19). He will have the Philippians 2 mind within him, copying Jesus. He will war within himself against selfishness and empty conceit. With humility of mind, he will consider the other elders as more important than himself. He will simply be living out the gospel as a maturing Christian man among maturing Christian men, dealing with a burden too heavy for them to bear, but placed upon their shoulders by their Best Friend and their Good Shepherd. It takes courage, but Jesus gives it. It destroys pride and causes humility to blossom. It is part of a long, hard, uphill race, but what joy awaits the faithful servant at the finish line!
Why? The Elder and Confidence
Proceeding in this manner, the elders and the congregation can rest assured in the Lord’s leadership of His Church. The elder can vote his conscience and rest in the confidence that the Lord is leading through this process He ordained. Voting in the minority is no more of a problem than depending upon the God-ordained process of husband-wife decision making. If, as Henry Krabbendam recommends, the wife has her full say and her husband has the final say, then the couple can rest assured that the Lord will lead their home (A Biblical Pattern of Preparation for Marriage, 2001, Ninth Edition).
Similarly, the pastor, as one of the elders, can rest assured of the Lord’s guidance. He consciously sets aside any goal of getting his own way. Having no “yes men” on his session, he seeks none. He, as one of the elders, speaks his mind and expresses his viewpoint. As an elder who specializes in the function of teaching the Bible practically, the pastor will seek out relevant Scriptures and biblical themes for the discussion. He is in a privileged position of teaching, but he does not have a bully pulpit. He sees himself as an elder among elders, a forgiven sinner among forgiven sinners. He trusts that the Spirit’s leadership is greater than his viewpoints.
What are the results? Stability. Excitement. Creativity. Vision. Planned and executed assaults on the Gates of Hell for the glory of Christ. Proclamation of the good news, near and far, to all nations. Expansion of the Kingdom into all areas of life’s endeavors. The sheep are fed. The forces of darkness feel the overwhelming, invasive, persistent power of the Light. The flock of potentially wayward sheep becomes a Kingdom army, discipled, equipped, and led to victory by their King. The servant leadership of a Presbyterian elder is priceless.
The Hidden Curriculum
In the last two issues of Equip we have looked at the use and benefit of having a good understanding of curriculum. This time I want to look at “hidden curriculum.” Hidden curriculum is what is taught and conveyed nonverbally in the classroom.
We teach a great deal by how we communicate. For example, when a student asks an off-topic question with true sincerity and curiosity, how do you deal with it? Do you dismiss the question? Do you tell the student that the question is not important because it has nothing to do with the lesson? Here, your hidden curriculum is how you decide to handle the situation. While we don’t want to get off the topic, we must make sure the students understand that they are important, and their question is important, but at a more appropriate time.
Another example of our hidden curriculum can be the physical setup of the room. The room should be set up in a way that invites interaction. Typically, the classroom is set up to make the teacher the focal point of the room. A better arrangement is to set the room to enable the students to interact with each other as well as the teacher. Color! Did you know that sterile white walls can be a distraction for some students as well as having too much color? All of this communicates to students without our saying a word.
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When you teach, are you standing or sitting? If you are standing the whole time you can be communicating a sense of superiority over the students. Being at the same level as them communicates an openness and equality with them in Christ.
Budgets are also part of the hidden curriculum but less subtle. Budgets communicate just what value the church places on the students. If students lack for supplies or a written curriculum, then it says to these students that they are not important enough for the church to provide for at any cost. Did you know that 80-90 percent of all church budgets are spent on those over 18? Yet, on average, at least 50 percent of most churches are made up of those under 18!
One of the greatest weaknesses I see in our hidden curriculum is when we don’t help them know how to apply what we are saying. There is this myth that all we need to give is the information and the Holy Spirit will do the applying. If this were the case, half of many of Paul’s letters would never have been written! More than ever people don’t think through things on their own. They need help knowing how to take the truths we are presenting and apply them to their lives. We should never allow our students or congregation to go away asking what they are supposed to do with the information they just received. We need to direct them so that the Holy Spirit will do the applying of what we have said.
The hidden curriculum should not be feared, it should be something you try to think through as you put yourself in the place of your listeners. We cannot control all of it, but we can make adjustments when we make ourselves aware of what our listeners are hearing us not say.
Adapting Ministry to the Rising Generation
By David Nelson
Editor’s note: Equip for Ministry will be featuring selected churches in the PCA excelling in the ministry of making kingdom disciples. The following article features First Presbyterian Church of Stanley, NC., Dan King senior pastor. The article by David Nelson, associate pastor of Christian education and discipleship,was written at the request of EfM. Our thanks to David for his assistance. We asked him to highlight their ministry to the rising generation. We commend them for their vision and desire to begin the discipleship process in the early years of their covenant children’s lives.
Adapting Ministry for the Rising Generation
People were bringing little children to Jesus to have Him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, He was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 And He took the children in His arms, put His hands on them and blessed them. Mark 10:13-16 1
While Jesus’ disciples try to keep little children in the background, Jesus elevates them to the status of kingdom role models. Jesus loves children! What is it about children that Jesus adores? Like Him, they’re humble, meek, trusting, dependent, untainted by the world, loving, accepting of others, not proud or boastful. When Jesus says, “Let the little children come to Me… for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these!” He’s saying, “these are My people, this is what My people are like! AND, they’re important to Me!… don’t disrespect them, push them aside, or keep them in the background. In fact, you should hold little children up as role models, because they’re like the people in heaven!”
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In America, younger and younger children have ever-growing access to anti-Christian philosophies through school, TV, internet, music, and contact with “well-read” friends. Our children’s potential saturation with ideas contrary to Christian ideals is greater than it has been at any time in history! Author Marva Dawn writes:
My experiences over thirty years of working with thousands of young people in churches and schools, convocations and camps make me especially troubled about children in Christian families, members of the Church, residents of God’s household. How are our children being formed? Do they know themselves primarily as citizens of the kingdom of God? Do we and our offspring look, act, talk, and think like people who are shaped by the narratives of our faith, by God’s Revelation? 2
In recent years First Presbyterian Church has seen the truth of Dawn’s concern; therefore, we stepped up our efforts to confront this rising tide of ideas which compete for our children’s hearts and minds. In so doing, we’ve grown in our estimation of children. We have greater ability to see our children as Jesus sees them; kingdom role models most worthy of blessing, time, energy, primary ministry resources, dignity and respect.
In response to that challenge, we’ve worked to improve all of our children’s ministries. Changes are made with an eye toward equipping our children with the answers and attitudes of the Christian world and life view necessary to help them navigate the anti-Christian philosophies they’ll engage in the future and, which we’ve learned, they already encounter to a much greater extent than we realized.
What are some things we do to equip them, and ourselves, in this battle for hearts and minds?
Children’s Ministry Coordinator – three years ago, a member with years of experience working with children accepted our invitation to become our volunteer Children’s Ministry Coordinator. She used training from the 2004 CEP Children’s Ministry Conferenceto create a Sunday school class, “Totally Equipped,” to prepare new teachers for service; to give helpful advice toward our “Image Bearers” ministry design (below); and to provide helpful encouragement in all our children’s ministry endeavors which continue to develop.
Image Bearers – As we grew in awareness of the need to purposefully capture our children’s heart and minds at a younger age, we decided to create opportunities, in addition to Sunday school and Vacation Bible School, to develop the Christian world and life view of our younger children. Under God’s direction we created a children’s ministry to help our first through fifth grade children grow in: 1) Their ability to give an answer for their hope in Christ (apologetics); 2) Their vision for and ability to make disciples; and 3) Their ethic for Christian service.
In Image Bearers, we use an innovative model that enables a few adults to successfully provide this ministry. The basic concepts we follow: 1) All the children stay together the whole time; 2) One adult leads games, one provides a snack, one leads music, and one teaches the lesson and provides a lesson-enhancing activity or service project; 3) For music, teaching, prayer, service projects and disciple-making – children divide into family groupswith an equal balance of children from all grades; 4) We teach interactive lessons at a third grade level where older children are coached by adult leaders to help the youngest children and thus gain experience and vision for disciple-making.
Sports Outreach and Recreation (SOAR) – In 2004, our 16-year-old youth sports outreach ministry went to a year-round status as we added our fourth sport – Spring soccer. A concept that arose with our soccer league was the idea to change from a head coach/assistant coachmodel to a sport coach/prayer coachmodel. The sport coachdevelops athletic and team skills, while the prayer coachensures prayer, team devotions, and spiritual encouragement occur at every game and practice. This change has improved spiritual aspects of our whole ministry! At our recent basketball finale, we registered over forty first-time commitments to Christ – the largest single SOAR event harvest we’ve ever seen! Upholding the truth of Christ by elevating the gospel among these young people is reaping great rewards!
Strategic Planning for Children’s Ministry – In May of 2006, a retired businessman used his skills to lead a First Presbyterian Church team of fifteen through a Strategic Planning Session for Children’s Ministry. In our planning session we produced a Mission Statement, a Vision statement, and an Action Plan for children’s ministry while evaluating strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Our strategic planning continues to bear fruit as we’ve formed a Children’s Ministry Team to focus on continued improvement and promotion of children’s ministry in our congregation.
We thank God for where He’s taken us in recent years. We’re learning to be more like Jesus who said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these…” And then He took the children in His arms, put His hands on them and blessed them. We look forward to God’s continued leading in this fight for the hearts and minds of His youngest people! We’re grateful to be a part of it!
1 From the The Holy Bible, New International Version, Zondervan,
The Church’s Great Challenge
The PCA, as a biblically reformed church, has a particular perspective on the Church and the kingdom. Being reformed in doctrine requires a strong commitment to covenant theology, and covenant theology gives special attention to the rising generation in its implementation. God has instructed us to make kingdom disciples by teaching his people to observe all that he has commanded, and that definitely includes our children and grandchildren, “that the next generation might know them, and the children yet unborn,”(Ps. 78:6). One of the things that makes the PCA distinct in this process is its focus is not simply on programs for the children and youth, but in helping them from the earliest to know what it means to be a child of the covenant and member of God’s church and kingdom and the difference that makes in the way a person thinks, lives, and perceives all of reality.
CEP Targets the Rising Generation
The fact that the PCA’s Strategic Planning Committee has identified this as one of the four areas of their focus indicates that our theology really does play the major role in determining our mission as a church. Though much of the PCA’s ministry to the rising generation is done locally, five PCA committees and agencies have ministries that reflect God’s commands regarding the next generation. Ministry to the rising generation has and continues to be a high priority within the PCA. It is and has always been the focus of Christian Education and Publications with its role of emphasizing the process of making kingdom disciples that know what they believe and why and are able to stand strong and firm in that faith.
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Recognizing the need to carry out God’s command regarding the next generation because they are tomorrow’s leaders in the church, home, community, and world, the goalis to assist local churches and parents in the process.The CEP staff regularly evaluates the situation regarding the rising generation. Through the training and resources we attempt to assist, coordinate, and make available those ingredients to fulfill our Lord’s assignment. For example, our annual children’s ministry, WIC, and YXL conferences are some of the training opportunities that we offer. CEP sets its focus to enable churches and families to be more affective not only in their own spiritual growth, but in their children and grandchildren as well.
Periodically, we bring together selected people across the church with particular expertise in children and youth ministries to brainstorm, discuss, and identify those areas that must be on the agenda. For example, we are in the process of developing a profile of what a typical PCA teenager, graduating from high school, should look like–what should they know, be, and do to serve God in his kingdom? This hopefully will assist churches and leaders to develop a process of moving them toward that goal.
Young people are facing some extremely difficult but important issues morally and ethically, especially in areas such as biotechnology. This is made more difficult because scientists operating in this area generally accept a dualistic view of life that separates values and morals from their work. Their mantra tends to be “if we can do it, it is alright to do so.” This manner of operation has already caused many problems that we have to face. Our young people must be taught and encouraged to think from a biblical perspective and have God’s thoughts as their guide.
CEP begins with covenant children through its Sunday school, teacher training, and commitment to help churches and parents in discipling children and youth. More than 60 percent of PCA churches are using our Sunday school curriculum from Great Commission Publications. CEP regularly trains and assists teachers and church leaders in developing their Christian education or discipleship program. Leaders of children’s ministries, as well as youth leaders, meet regularly for training opportunities conducted by the CEP staff. CEP offers counseling and consulting to churches and individuals involved in this ministry. CEP focuses on intensive, in-depth training for selected teenagers with leadership potential from across the denomination, helping them develop a kingdom framework with a biblical world and life view.
Resources are supplied from CEP’s staff, regional trainers, bookstore and electronic media to help local churches disciple the rising generations. Conferences on Christian schooling are an ongoing part of CEP’s ministry as well. CEP will be partnering with Briarwood Presbyterian Church to present a conference on Christian schooling. Check our website for details about that conference to be held June 2007 at Briarwood in Birmingham, AL.
A major focus of our mission of “discipling God’s covenant people” has been training older men and women to disciple the younger generations. CEP makes available to local churches and presbyteries training and resources to assist in making kingdom disciples. Producing resources and training defines CEP’s role in equipping for this task.
Christian Education and Publications will continue to expand its training and resources. Specifically, CEP will intensify efforts:
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to bring together the church, home, and school as they minister to the rising generation. At our annual children’s ministry conferences we offer workshops on that topic. We are presently teaching at several cooperating seminaries.
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to study the trends relating to the culture of the rising generation to assist churches in their discipleship ministry.
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to give attention to the multicultural needs in the PCA, relating to training and resources.
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to facilitate more effective ministries among women and men, as they relate to the rising generation. That was the theme of our recent 2006 WIC Conference in Atlanta with 4,000 participants.
PCA Committees and Agencies Target the Rising Generation
Not only does CEP have a key ministry to the rising generation, so does Covenant Collegeby educating college students to become more intentionally kingdom-oriented. All of Covenant’s career paths are focused on preparing students to see the totality of the Christian life and how to integrate their faith in all that they do. The college focus is to disciple students with a kingdom perspective and a biblically reformed world and life view.
Covenant College and CEP are presently partnering with our unique summer Youth Excelling in Leadership (YXL) conference for high school students. This conference attracts key teenagers from local churches who spend a week on the Covenant College campus. They are taught a biblical world and life view perspective and how that impacts their lives daily. Covenant College has also agreed to offer some scholarship assistance for college to those who participate in YXL. Covenant College is a valuable resource and we are pleased to be able to work with them in jointly ministering to the rising generation.
Covenant Theological Seminary is another PCA agency realizing the need to challenge and equip their students to consider fulltime ministry to children and youth. The seminary offers opportunities to study today’s youth culture both in urban and rural context as part of students’ training. It demonstrates a strong commitment through the youth ministry track to train people for this ministry and has worked with us in that task.
Ridge Haven, our PCA conference center, is also committed to the rising generation through its facilities and programs by bringing together cooperative efforts with other PCA committees, agencies, presbyteries, and local churches in this task. These efforts are seen in its summer camps and conferences, weekend retreats, and special events such as YoWAW (jointly sponsored by several of our committees and agencies for high school students).
Reformed University Ministries is another indication of the PCA’s commitment to the rising generation. RUM establishes ministries to college students in their environment to help them know the meaning of being a kingdom disciple and seeing all of life under the Lordship of Christ. They develop opportunities through both corporate and personal ministries to students, some of whom are struggling with a variety of things such as postmodernism, the rugged individualism of Western thought, and the need to be involved in ministry either in the local church or other areas of opportunity.
RUM sets forth a clear message and ministry that seeks to connect the rising generation with solidly biblical and reformed theology with special emphasis on their place in God’s kingdom and especially in his church.
Mission to the World is also a part of helping churches expose their young people to other cultures and ministry needs through its short term missions programs. Thousands of PCA young people have been able to experience another culture through their ministry.
Conclusion
We are attempting to impact the rising generation throughout the PCA by reflecting a clear priority to minister to them. As the committee responsible for coordinating discipleship by providing training and resources, we believe we have never faced a more challenging moment where the rising generation is concerned. With the obvious revival in spirituality, Christianity is viewed as only one among many options. With the dualistic philosophy permeating our Western churches and society in general, the Lordship of Christ is not clearly understood. Connecting Sunday with the rest of the week is not the focus. In this context, the future offers a multitude of opportunities. We have a growing sense of challenge to minister to the rising generations, plus, we are becoming more and more aware that we can be more effective working together than alone. It is true that the whole is larger than “the sum of its parts,” and that is clearly evident as we think of the rising generation.
We will continue to challenge local churches to focus on discipling all their people, especially their younger generations, with a kingdom world and life view. Our role is to encourage, challenge, and assist you in that process.
At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven…whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea,” (Matt 18: 1-6).
How Should We Understand “Curriculum”? Part 2
One of the hardest things I had to do as academic dean in a seminary in South Africa was to educate the faculty to understand the different between a “content driven curriculum” and a “process oriented curriculum.”
One member of faculty argued with me that unless he covered all 16 chapters of the Book of Romans he had not taught the course. He was content driven. The students, however, complained that after completing the course they were still not prepared to do anything with it – like teach it to others, unless they covered it the same way they were taught.
My approach is different. My goal is this – even if I only cover only 8 of the 16 chapters of Romans, if, in the process, I teach the students/congregation how to continue to learn the book, how to live out what they discovered, and how to communicate the book to others, then I accomplished a much greater goal. I am process driven. My goal is for my students to learn how to learn, know how to put it into practice in their own lives, and to learn how to communicate what they learned. It is also for them to approach the study with their first goal to see Jesus in every verse of Scripture, and prayerfully seek to be changed into His image. Only then can they seek to present to others what they have learned and how it changed them.
The content of what we teach and preach must never be minimized. But if we leave it at the content level (head knowledge) it will never accomplish the Holy Spirit’s goal – for every believer to be like Jesus. Every lesson and every sermon must ask these three questions: As a result of this lesson/sermon I want my to hearers to know what? To be what? And to do what? Unless you can answer these, you have no goal for your lesson or sermon. If you have no goal, then what are you trying to accomplish?
If you need help with this, CEP’s Regional Trainers are available to come to your church. Contact us at:1-800-283-1357.