All local churches experience a predictable life cycle of growth and decline. But if a church is on a downward trend, how can it turn around? Taking Your Church to the Next Level explains the impact of age and size on churches and outlines the improvements that must be made at each point for a church to remain fruitful and faithful to its mission. McIntosh deftly describes the cycles of fruitfulness and the importance of continual improvement to diminish destructive forces that keep a congregation from its mission. Church leaders, pastors, and all who care about the church and desire to see it experience biblical growth will benefit from the sage wisdom offered in these pages.

Set aside the frustrations of your past and step into a new level of victory and favor with this spiritually powerful guide from #1 bestselling author and Lakewood Church pastor Joel Osteen. We all have things that are trying to hold us back: guilt from past mistakes, temptations that we can't seem to overcome, or dysfunctions that have been passed down. It's easy to learn to live with these problems and accept them as who we are. We can all find a reason to live like we're at a disadvantage and become negative and bitter-we came down with an illness, somebody walked out of a relationship, our boss overlooked us. But we have to say, "I'm done making excuses. I'm not going to let the past keep me from moving forward and benefitting from the good things God has in store." It is time to say, "It is finished." In Next Level Thinking, Joel Osteen writes that we weren't created to go through life weighed down by addictions, dysfunction, guilt, or the past. God created us to be free. Joel encourages readers to leave behind the negative mindsets, the scarcity mentality, and the limitations others have put on us, and shows us how to step into new levels of victory, new levels of favor.

Have you ever felt like an underdog? Like you don’t have the ability or confidence to pursue your dreams? The Bible is full of ordinary people the world considered underdogs. Yet God chose them to do his work. In God of the Underdogs, pastor Matt Keller tells his own story of being an underdog as well as the stories of the underdog heroes in Scripture. Men and women like Moses, Esther, King David, Samuel, Joseph, Paul the Apostle, and even Jesus. The stories and scriptures you’ll read will inspire you to face down the excuses holding you back, and you will be free to pursue your destiny as never before! Maybe you’re thinking, My past is too dark. “But it’s your past,” Matt assures you. God of the Underdogswill show you that the Creator of the universe wants you to accomplish great things for him. He wants to use your life in a way he will use no one else’s. Don’t shrink back from your destiny; lean into it. The Bible says you are a friend of God. Beloved. Highly esteemed. Known. More than conquerors. God sees your potential. It is your inability, not your perfection, that makes you an underdog worth using in God’s eyes. So rise up, underdog! God has a special plan for your life.

Proven strategies for growing churches by overcoming natural barriers to growth created by various leadership dynamics, now in paperback.

Different churches grow in different ways. This book will help you figure out your church's orientation and show the way to healthy growth.

How Can Deacons Mobilize Service in the Church? Deacons are essential to a church's health—yet confusion abounds regarding their biblical job description. What's their God-given role in a local congregation and how do they relate to the church's overall mission? In this short book, Matt Smethurst makes the case that deacons are model servants called to meet tangible needs, organize and mobilize acts of service, preserve the unity of the flock, and support the ministry of the elders. Clearing away common misconceptions, Smethurst offers practical guidance for deploying deacons and helping churches to flourish.

Discover Your Supernatural Capacity to Accomplish God's Kingdom Agenda As a believer, God has given you authority to influence your family, business, church and community. You are chosen, anointed and appointed to advance His Kingdom. And now it is time to take your influence to a new level. Next-Level Believers will lead you to a greater understanding of the supernatural arsenal designed for you. Prophetic leader and teacher Venner Alston will guide you to · embrace your supernatural identity and authority as a believer · become a voice of influence in your relationships, business and community · utilize the powerful gifts of the Spirit in your arsenal · learn to use your supernatural arsenal to advance the Kingdom mandate · step into your anointing and the next level of your assignment Move up to your next level of influence--grounded in Scripture and armed with weapons of faith to do what God calls you to do. You can fully accomplish your prophetic assignment to help bring heaven to earth! "A game-changer for every reformer, warrior and influencer who is armed and dangerous by the Holy Spirit to bring the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ to their generation and culture."--DR. HAKEEM COLLINS, founder, Champions International; author, The Power of Aligning Your Words to God's Will

Veteran church consultant calls church leaders back to the hope that God can and does restore churches, equipping them with practical tools to bring about healthy growth.

Nearly every church is trying to help their congregants build relationships with others, grow as disciples, and/or engage in meaningful service through small groups. Many have argued that these small groups are the preferred vehicle for relationship building, disciple making, and membership assimilation in the local church, especially in large, multisite churches. Leading Small Groups That Thrive shows small group leaders, step by step, how to plan for, launch, build, sustain, and multiply highly effective, transformational, healthy small group experiences where people grow spiritually together. Based on a large-scale research study of small group pastors, leaders, and members, Leading Small Groups That Thrive gives church leaders both what they want--practical, straightforward, actual small group member voices and experiences, and compelling guidance on how to build transformational groups complemented with real-life examples and data of successful small groups--and what they need--substantial, challenging insights and a data-driven model grounded in the latest research on church small groups.

Plan for beginning an effective women's ministry.