Lewis Parks

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  Small On Purpose

  $17.99

  You find yourself in a small congregation. Voices of doubt whisper in your ears: not enough young people, not enough money to keep the building open, not enough programs to attract new persons, and most of all, not enough time to reverse the decline of congregational life. Before you head for the door or settle into a resigned sleepwalk, listen also for the voices of hope coming from without and within. More is going on in your small congregation than you might think. Small On Purpose offers a vision of the small church as a Spirit-animated organism that releases native religious creativity and energy in its worship; makes claims on a future by making plans; and discovers surrogate family ties that bind. This small church learns how to bless rather than curse its location, how to craft beauty and hospitality from its buildings, and how to bequeath its faith to the younger generation. A small church in dynamic equilibrium looks to its past for wisdom, not nostalgia, and projects continuity, not disaster. It has a sense of the value of its story within the larger story of God’s project to build a people to be a blessing to the nations.

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  Preaching In The Small Membership Church

  $17.99

  Step into the pulpit in a small membership church, and you’ll sometimes find your fair share of challenges, but you’ll almost always find more than your share of blessings as well. Those blessings, and the chance for authentic, life-transforming preaching, are what preaching in the small membership church are all about. Lewis Parks knows those blessings well. For nearly 40 years he has preached in small membership churches and taught others who serve in them. In this book he lays out the distinct roles that preaching in the small membership church calls on us to fill, and offers down-to-earth, substantive guidance on how to be the best preacher you can be in these most numerous, and most important, outposts of Christ’s church.

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  Ducking Spears Dancing Madly

  $19.99

  Leadership among God’s people is not a matter of easy answers or simple solutions. There is no foolproof list of character traits that one can acquire and develop in order to be a successful leader. Authentic leadership is a complex interaction of the leader’s gifts and calling, the people’s needs and response, the particular situation of the moment, and, above all, the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Birch and Parks believe if we wish to understand the intricate and messy character of leadership in the church, the obvious place to start is Scripture. The Bible portrays leaders not as heroes placed on a pedestal, but rather as flawed and fallen human beings who nonetheless work with the people around them and with the situation at hand to move toward accomplishing the will of God.

  Ducking Spears, Dancing Madly is a penetrating look at church leadership through the stories of Saul, David, and other central Old Testament figures. The authors demonstrate that those who have a clear and honest understanding of the triumphs and flaws of the individuals who lead God’s people in Scripture will be better prepared to lead God’s people today. In order to provide that understanding, they engage in a dialogue with the books of 1 and 2 Samuel, texts that portray the people of Israel in frequent social and political transition, and hence in need of effective leadership.

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