Part of a pastor's role in the community is to pray publicly. The pastor is often the official "pray-er" at all kinds of community events--the high school football game, the opening of the new grocery store, the county school board meeting, kindergarten graduation--to name a few. But the pastor must also pray knowing that there are believers (of many persuasions) and non-believers present. This book will contain sample prayers for many civic functions that can be used with little modification. Belton Joyner is a retired United Methodist pastor and author of Being Methodist in the Bible Belt: A Theological Survival Guide for Youth, Parents, and Other Confused Methodists

Ready–to-use biblically based children’s sermons for busy worship leaders. Children’s Sermons Just in Time! offers preachers and worship leaders a ready resource for children’s sermons with stories and object lessons. These children’s sermons are geared to spark interest and attention and teach children about the Christian faith. • 54 easy-to- understand messages with Scripture references including: Let Everything that Breathes Praise the Lord God Created Everything: And God Saw It Was Good God is Read Where is God? Specially Made by God When Sad Things Happen Jesus is the Bread of Life Jesus Call Us to Come (and Go) Why We Read the Bible Holy Cummunion We are God's Family Bethlehem Bakery Baptism: A Gift from God Talking to God • Themed sermons for all seasons including: Valentine's Day WOW for Moms Living What We Learn Blessing for Father's Day What God Wants A Cloud of Witnesses Doxology for Thanksgiving Build up the Body of Christ for Easter A Highway for God for Advent

The pastor fills a unique role in wedding service planning. This slim volume helps the pastor offer care with sensitivity while addressing the spiritual needs and complexities of weddings in today’s world. Following a brief introduction to a variety of wedding situations, including interfaith and second marriages, the author provides prayers, litanies, Scripture readings, and meditations for every aspect of the wedding service from processional to declaration of intention, Scripture and other readings, prayers, exchange of vows and rings, unity candle and other uniting rituals, and more. The Pastor’s Wedding Toolkit includes guidance on: Local Legal Requirements Church Policy Statement Pastor’s Policy Statement Interfaith Marriages Second and Subsequent Marriages Wedding Information Form Basic Music Guidelines Brief Wedding Meditations on: A Christmas Wedding The Music of Love The Genesis of Marriage To Blossom in Marriage To A Well Known Young Couple There Is Love Renewing Your Vows And more . . .

Persons who design and lead worship will find this a practical and useful guide for Christ-centered healing ministry that can be easily adapted in a variety of settings. Included are six complete services of Holy Communion, Healing and Wholeness; Praise, Prayer, and Anointing; and Prayer, Confession, and Laying on of Hands. Services are suitable for Sunday morning worship; retreat settings; small group experiences hospital, nursing home, and home visitations; and personal counseling sessions. James K.Wagner worked for several years at the Upper Room in Nashville, Tennessee, as the Director of Prayer and Healing Ministries. He is the author of several books on healing and wholeness ministry.

Offers pastors new inspiration and fresh worship encounters with God.Worship is the most important time in the life of the gathered faithful. Inspirational and accessible, this book is will help pastors and worship leaders fully ground worship in scripture and tradition while being responsive to current times.Included: practical worship helps for the Christian year, tips to involve the congregation in leadership and participation, ways to incorporate music and other arts in worship, and select ideas for congregations of up to one hundred.A sample basic worship library

Nearly all Christians would affirm the centrality of prayer for a healthy Christian life. And yet, for many, prayer is often a challenge, requiring intense personal commitment and self-discipline. However, as Megan Hill points out in Praying Together, our normal approach to prayer leaves out a crucial component: other people. While personal prayer is important, God designed the church to be a community of believers who regularly pray together. Exploring the Bible's rich teaching on what it means to gather at God's throne with one voice, Hill lays a theological foundation for corporate prayer and offers practical guidance for making it a reality—in our families, churches, and communities.

A Comprehensive Guide to Corporate Prayer God commands his people to pray together and answers graciously when they do. The Bible specifically calls on church leaders to guide this essential form of corporate worship, but it can be challenging to pray boldly and confidently in front of others. This practical, step-by-step guide was created to help pastors and church leaders pray thoughtfully and biblically in public. Through seven guiding principles, Pat Quinn illustrates how to lead prayers of adoration, confession, and supplication to God, and covers the history of public prayer in Scripture. He also includes elegant, reverent, gospel-centered examples from the Latin Liturgy, John Calvin, the Puritans, John Wesley, and others, as well as many examples of his own congregational prayers. Pastors and church leaders will learn to glorify God more passionately, effectively intercede for the church and the world, and find joy—not fear—in praying publicly.

Practical Ways to Support and Care for Your Pastor Do you pray for your pastors? Do you encourage them? Do you have realistic expectations for them? The office of pastor is simultaneously a rewarding and draining position. Pastors today have immense pressure on their shoulders and they need the support of their congregations. Peter Orr has written Fight for Your Pastor as an exhortation for church members to stand behind their pastors through the difficulties of ministry. Orr specifies ways in which congregations can be intentional in caring for church leaders, including prayer, encouragement, generosity, and forgiveness. Featuring stories from current pastors about their struggles, this book is perfect for thoughtful church members eager to understand the weight of their pastors' positions and support leaders in their important ministry. For Thoughtful Christians: Specifically those wanting to know more about their pastors and how to care for them Current: Features insight from pastors about their personal experiences in ministry Applicable: Gives practical examples of how to love and care for pastors, including specific prayers for church leaders and the best ways to encourage them

We live in a visual culture. Today, people increasingly rely upon visuals to help them understand new and difficult concepts. The rise and stunning popularity of the Internet infographic has given us a new way in which to convey data, concepts and ideas. But the visual portrayal of truth is not a novel idea. Indeed, God himself used visuals to teach truth to his people. The tabernacle of the Old Testament was a visual representation of man's distance from God and God's condescension to his people. Each part of the tabernacle was meant to display something of man's treason against God and God's kind response. Likewise, the sacraments of the New Testament are visual representations of man's sin and God's response. Even the cross was both reality and a visual demonstration. As teachers and lovers of sound theology, Challies and Byers have a deep desire to convey the concepts and principles of systematic theology in a fresh, beautiful and informative way. In this book, they have made the deepest truths of the Bible accessible in a way that can be seen and understood by a visual generation.