Lane Sebring has spent a lot of time preaching, and thinking and writing about how to do it well. He is associate pastor at Centreville Baptist Church in the Northern Virginia/Washington, DC, area and author of Preaching Killer Sermons. We asked him to share some insights on how to avoid being insensitive when preaching on a sensitive topic. Do you remember a sermon when … [Read more...]
How to free up more time to care for your congregation
A few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to talk with Dr. Jim Petty, a former pastor and counselor, about the difficulties pastors often face in time management. What he had to say will help pastors manage their time better so they are more free to offer pastoral care to their congregations. What makes time management so crucial for a pastor? I had a teacher at seminary … [Read more...]
When a person feels trapped but may not want to change, what do you do?
Andy Farmer’s pastoral ministry includes a lot of counseling, so he’s often had someone tell him, “Pastor, I’m trapped in this and I need help.” It led him to write a book about it: Trapped: Getting Free from People, Patterns, and Problems. Recently we talked with Andy about the best ways to respond pastorally. What are some common ways that people get trapped? The … [Read more...]
Caring for aging parents: 6 ways to prepare your people well
With such a large group of Baby Boomers getting older, there is also a larger number of middle-aged adults caring for aging parents. Many times, this is entered into with little forethought: a parent needs care, so the adult children are the ones to give it. And while most adult children anticipate a period of adjustment, few realize the true difficulties that caring for aging … [Read more...]
Keeping gossip out of prayer requests
Naturally, part of caring for others is praying for them. But sometimes in sharing prayer requests, we can hurt the very people we want to bless. Matt Mitchell offers a helpful article you should consider sharing with your deacons and small-group leaders. Oh, those infamous prayer requests! “We need to pray for Olivia and Liam. I heard that they might be getting a … [Read more...]
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