September 20, 2024

The SEND U Blog

Reflections and Resources for Lifelong Learning for Missionaries

Category: Disciple-making

Disciple-making, Spiritual Formation, Book Reviews

Emotionally Healthy Discipleship: A review

Most times when I read a book, it leads me to another book.  Sometimes the new read is a supporting work that is cited in the first. At other times I am intrigued to read more writings on a particular topic. Reading Gwen Adams’ newly published book Crazy Church Ladies: The Priceless Story of an Unlikely Group Winning the War Against Trafficking was no exception.  Gwen mentioned that in her years of leading church ministries, she had prioritized her spiritual growth, but not her spiritual health.  Is there a difference and why does it matter? My piqued curiosity then led me to read Emotionally Healthy Discipleship by Peter Scazzero.  In short, the book argues that spiritually healthy disciples can only be as mature and deeply rooted as their leaders and disciple-makers are.   As I looked at the chapter titles, I immediately became aware that this book was more than a curious read and was going… Read the whole post
Jenny Baker2 mins read
Preparing to Preach: Developing the Big Idea
Preaching

Preparing to Preach: Developing the Big Idea

This entry is part 3 of 5 in the series "Preparing to preach". In the previous post in this series, I emphasized that a sermon should have one main point. Now I turn to developing the big idea in the body of the sermon. Haddon Robinson explains the task in this way: When anyone makes a declarative statement, only four things can be done to develop it. It can be restated, explained, proved, or applied. Nothing else. To recognize this simple fact opens the way to develop the sermon.Haddon Robinson, Biblical Preaching, Baker: 1980, p. 79 There is a story of a preacher describing his sermon outline in this way: “First, I tell them what I’m going to tell them, then, I tell them, and finally I tell them what I told them.” While repetition and restatement have their place in preaching, this leads to boring preaching. Additionally, restatement… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
Preparing to Preach: Stating the Big Idea
Photo by Alexander Michl on Unsplash
Church, Preaching

Preparing to Preach: Stating the Big Idea

This entry is part 2 of 5 in the series "Preparing to preach". In the first post in this series on preparing to preach as a missionary, I noted that the preacher must understand both the Bible and the audience. Moreover, the preacher must connect the two. Now I raise the question, “Does a good sermon consist of one point (one main idea) or does it need at least three points? Often expository preaching is viewed and practiced as a running commentary on a text of Scripture. The pattern seems to come from lectures heard in Bible college and seminary. Yet, I have never read a book on preaching that advocates a running commentary approach. In fact, John Stott points out that the chief difference between a lecture and a sermon is that the sermon “aims to convey only one major message.”John Stott, Between Two Worlds, Eerdmans:1982, p.225. .… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
Preparing to Preach as a Missionary
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
Preaching, Church Planting, Training, Self-Feeding, Church

Preparing to Preach as a Missionary

This entry is part 1 of 5 in the series "Preparing to preach". “Missionaries need to be ready to preach, pray, or die at a moment’s notice.” Or so I’ve heard all my life. Though this is often said jokingly, there is a ring of truth to it. In this new blog series, I am focusing on how to prepare a sermon. Missionaries often have opportunity to preach both in their home country and in their host country. Yet, many missionaries do not have formal training in preaching. In this post and four additional posts, I will share my perspective on preparing expository sermons gleaned from teaching homiletics (the art of preaching) at Alaska Bible College for 35 years. In this introductory post, I will define expository preaching, and focus on the preacher’s relationship with the Word and the audience. I will also list the topics for the next four… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
YouTube Evangelism
Evangelism, Gospel

YouTube Evangelism

God calls all of us to “do the work of an evangelist” (2 Tim 4:5). As Gary Ridley points out in another blog post, this work is not just with non-believers. Nevertheless, those of us who are called to serve as cross-cultural workers look for opportunities to share the Gospel with those who have never heard this good news. Typically, we expect that we will do so through sharing the Gospel in one-on-one conversations with our friends and acquaintances. Sometimes, we have opportunities to present the good news in public events through sermons or testimonies. A few of us might use Gospel tracts or other printed literature. But rarely if ever did we envision that YouTube could be our best platform for evangelism. Digital missions As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us have become much more interested in “digital missions” – how to do mission work through… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther2 mins read
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