Parenting Teens - Influencing Them for Eternity

Joe Botti

Matthew 25:19-21

The teenage years are when our children are trying to form their own values and worldview. If we want to influence our teens for Christ, we must have a quality relationship with them. In order to foster healthy independence, it is important to set key goals and focus almost completely on them, learning to avoid unnecessary conflicts and adapt our parenting style to help them transition into and through the teenage years.

Reaching Couples

Doug Franck

John Rue

John 4:35-38

Starting up a four week series on marriage is a great way to reach out to couples. Through these laid back meetings couples develop a healthier understanding of self, experience sacrificial love, increase their interest in understanding God's perspective, and it opens doors to share the Gospel. It is important to become equipped with relevant material that will help facilitate discussion and to pray that God would bring people closer to Him.

Effective Teams: Lessons from the Life of Paul

Mike Sullivan

Romans 16:1-13

Through exploring Paul's comments about his own ministry team, we can discover valuable principles for how to make our own teams effective for the Lord. What made Paul's team was effective was that they were faithful, they grew while serving, gave second chances, served and fought together, prayed for one another, and challenged each other. Perhaps above all, they loved each other, a deeply valuable team trait.

Defending God's Design for Sexuality

Bev DeLashmutt

Romans 16:1-13

Sex is God's design for a relational act of bonding and becoming one flesh within marriage. God meets the Christian's need for union first by uniting them with Himself, and then with other believers. This is where they learn to successfully love on an intimate level.

Information Technology - Using it, or Being Used by it

Gary DeLashmutt

Romans 12:2

Our culture has become immersed in and obsessed with information technology. As Christians, however, we need to take a stand against the grain of our culture in this area because I.T. over-use inhibits and erodes key elements of both our humanity and spirituality. I.T degrades both our ability to follow sophisticated thought and our value of solitude for biblical meditation. Furthermore, it decreases our ability to appreciate and learn from nature. In contrast to the tide of our culture, we should prioritize face-to-face relating and memorizing scripture. Finally, this workshop provides a constructive response to I.T. over-use.

Cross Cultural Ministry for Your Group

Rich Mendola

1 Peter 4:9

As Christians, we are called to go into all the world and share the Gospel with the people of every nation. Right now, people from all over the world are coming here, and we have a great opportunity to fulfill this command in our own city. We are called to show hospitality to strangers, welcoming foreigners, and sharing our lives with them without grumbling. By learning how other cultures do things, we can love and serve people who come from different backgrounds, opening the door to share the good news of Jesus with them.

Multiplication in an Urban Context

Scott Arnold

Jeremiah 17:9

Multiplication within an urban context is a unique goal that has its own breadth and depth of challenges. Barriers to people accomplishing functional and spiritual goals can run incredibly deep as we consider the potential lack of helpful family support, negative examples, the stigma of success, lack of funds, and transportation. Discipleship is still the goal to strive for, so we must recognize and consider practical steps to the unique challenges presented. Some of these suggestions include being honest and open about our own struggles, teaching them to distrust themselves, studying God's faithfulness and goodness, and both praying and going with them to help resolve conflict with other Christians.

Raising Up Leaders Using Discipleship

Dennis McCallum

Ephesians 4:11-13

While many churches avoid discipleship because of its difficult behind-the-scenes labor and its tendency to require much investment before producing tangible fruit, we see the example of discipleship littered across the New Testament. Through properly defined and committed discipleship, we can effectively raise up leaders throughout the church, instead of just replacing leaders at the front of the church. This allows for multiplication, a powerful result of this biblically prescribed tool.

Adorning the Gospel in Your Community

John Cleary

Ephesians 4:11-13

Christians are called to follow Jesus' example and stand out as people who represent the gospel. There are many open doors to adorn the gospel through words and deeds, and doing so glorifies God. This can be applied in neighborhoods, jobs, agencies, and even city-wide situations.