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Americans now believe that having equal rights in a political system also means that each person’s opinion about anything must be accepted as equal to anyone else’s.
Ed Stetzer -
Teaching people to become like Jesus, outside of the power of Jesus, dishonors Jesus.
Ed Stetzer
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Just as the mighty sequoia would topple without a community of supporting trees, believers who seek transformation apart from a Christian community are vulnerable to spiritually topple in the winds of adversity.
Ed Stetzer -
God has made relationships His chosen delivery system for the gospel of hope.
Ed Stetzer -
Put your 'yes' on the table and let God put it on the map.
Ed Stetzer -
I don't think you can love Jesus without loving His wife.
Ed Stetzer -
But too many Christians are content in their own salvation and allow an ethnocentric provincialism to dismiss the imperative of God’s mission to the nations.
Ed Stetzer -
A vision must be credible. Since the vision caster is probably you, the church must trust you and its other leaders. The congregation's experience with its leadership helps them have the confidence necessary to follow the leaders' direction. As a leader, you have a “credibility tank.” Every time you have a success, you add to that tank. As you add to the credibility tank, you make it possible to cast an even larger vision. On the other hand, each time you fail, your tank is drained. Then you have to restore that credibility before pressing on to a new task. Build your credibility by casting a progressively larger vision. Begin with small victories. Celebrate what God has done through your people. Whenever possible, throw a party at church to help your people see that growth is occurring and lives are being transformed. Then move to bigger victories!
Ed Stetzer
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We celebrate those comebacks because they inspire us to believe that seemingly impossible things really are possible.
Ed Stetzer -
Church leaders—including pastoral staff, elders, deacons, and leadership teams—must see community as a biblical nonnegotiable, an essential for transformation, a necessity for building lives that stand the test of time.
Ed Stetzer -
Scripture teaches us to contend for the faith (Jude 3) and contextualize to culture.
Ed Stetzer -
Christians need to grasp the hypocrisy of engaging online in a way that would be wholly intolerable if we were face-to-face with others.
Ed Stetzer -
You cannot “save” a church without focusing on the important things that make it a church—scriptural authority, biblical leadership, teaching and preaching, ordinances, covenant community, and mission.
Ed Stetzer -
All of us are busy. Life isn't slowing down, it's speeding up, and our Daytimers reflect the fact. Yet that is precisely why we need to take time to pray.
Ed Stetzer
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Community is essential when it comes to successfully living out the Christian walk in a day-to-day context. So the math is simple: More community = More disciples.
Ed Stetzer -
Together we are called to ask, What does it mean to be followers of Christ in our local community? In what ways do our values and beliefs shape how we live out the gospel and its implications in our cultural context? How can we best communicate the hope and truth in Jesus’ Kingdom to our friends, neighbors, coworkers, and family?
Ed Stetzer -
Culturally appropriate evangelism answers the actual questions being asked by a given culture rather than those questions the church believes the culture should ask.
Ed Stetzer -
We need to stop presenting community as just another option for the religious consumer and start presenting it as God’s will for everyone. It should be seen as the reality of those within the church and the refuge for those without.
Ed Stetzer -
At the end of the day, in spite of the risks, do life with your people. They need to see you struggle and process your day-to-day walk with Christ. They need to see you desire community, and you need to see transformation take place among your community.
Ed Stetzer -
Jesus did not send us to declare the gospel only where people are responsive or where our witness is welcome. He did not expect us to be on mission to disciple peoples only where there is no danger or risk involved. He was unequivocal in His mandate to disciple the nations (peoples)—all of them!
Ed Stetzer
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Belief followed by strategy and culture moves people to community.
Ed Stetzer -
What we see happening as we move further into the twenty-first century is a sovereign God moving through global events to open doors once closed to the gospel.
Ed Stetzer -
Missional churches act faithfully and intentionally wherever God gives them opportunity.
Ed Stetzer -
To play it safe is the most risky decision we could make. To risk is the safest decision we can make with God. No matter the short-term implications, we must obey God with reckless abandon.
Ed Stetzer