Don’t wait until you have become married or have children to start thinking about how God wants you to live as a family. Before you get married (or even start dating someone), ask yourself: is this person a help or a hindrance to my desire of following Jesus?
Ever desired to lead a family devotional time but unsure where to start? This week’s Family Alter wants to help.
Questions for your family today: 1) Where are we aiming? 2) How are we sharpening?
Too many families are exhausted from empty pursuits. What does God say is important for your family?
You normally think of “Family Altar” as the time when the family gathers together for a devotional. We believe in the importance of that exercise, but we also believe in a “Family Alter” in which you can make small alterations for home transformation. We know that many of you simply do not have the time needed to attend every conference, read …
North Side Baptist Church exists to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Whether at home or abroad, we seek to fulfill the Great Commission by making disciples. We define a disciple as someone who: loves Jesus learns the teachings of Jesus lives those teachings out and leads others to do the same. While the ministries of our church seek to make …
We shared this video in our services Sunday. It summarizes our Family Ministry strategy going forward.
We also provided a magazine to unpack the information even more. You can get your copy at the church or you can download it here.
I was so eager to worship with our church family today. It was a fantastic week of ministry for our family. Our students had a great experience at X-Fuge on Mission. Our Ghana team was back in the house. Lots of new faces. It was such a special time to focus on 1 Thess. 3:1-10. Here’s the service flow: Amazed …
Incredible day of being the church. Loved meeting so many new guests today – can’t wait to see all that God is up to! Today we focused on 1 Thess. 2:13-20: 13 For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the …
Amanda and I had the privilege to teach 1 of the 4th grade groups at our Vacation Bible School this week. As we began the week, she stated, “We both are used to being in charge in these type of situations. This is either going to go great or not so much.” It went great. Amanda is such a gifted …
Psalm 127 is what commentators call a “song of ascents.” As the people of God would ascend the hill into Jerusalem and ascend the stairs into the place of worship, the priests would sing this song over the worshipers upon their journey: Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over …
It is hard to describe Family Camp 2015. It was such a powerful time for my family and in the lives of other families. I can say this: I believe in family ministry more than I ever have after last week. I also believe in Family Camp more than I ever have after last week. For those who came, served, …
Here is an additional Family Ministry update for your viewing pleasure. We are excited to announce that one of the ways we are going to equip parents is by providing a 3-year Bible study plan for the entire family!
A few days ago, I posted an article entitled “Death to the Green Room” which somehow got traction in certain circles. It caused a surprisingly large amount of people to read the post and prompted some discussion. What was intended to be an article teaching our church about what we value as a worship team, it caused some to evaluate their own …
In our staff training lately, I have been leading us through what Scripture says about family discipleship. It has been some great discussions as God shows us the standard by which we should be equipping parents to do this work of ministry (Eph. 4:12). So much of church methodologies focus on the up and coming generations. How can we attract …
Perspectives on Family Ministry is an incredible read. I have been annoying my wife with all these great quotes! Edited by Timothy Paul Jones, he enlisted three pastors who are all carrying out family ministry in different ways within their congregations. Here are some of the top quotes from his introductory section: “…in the future churches would begin to ‘build …
Preaching from Eph. 2:1-10, I address the issue of how good you have to be for God to love you. I often hear people say, “I sure do hope that when I die I have been good enough to get into heaven.” It is scary that those words come out of the mouths of those who have been in church. …
One of the most frequent questions I receive is: “How do I know God’s will for my life?” The Bible answers this question very clear. I hope this sermon will help you discover the answer. [This sermon is in a series of messages I make for a collegiate athletic team while they travel on the road. Coaches make this time optional on Sunday mornings …
Fact: personality-driven churches exist. Whether you like it or not, we cannot escape it. While I have tried to deny its reality, it is inescapable. With every passing tweet, book, podcast, and social share, each of us can become more and more known by the personality of our leader or the DNA of our specific church rather than the person of …
Confession: I check bags in certain drive-thrus and trust other ones. And I listen to preaching the same way.
2015 is here, and I have never been so excited about a season of ministry at North Side than I am right now!
Wow. Such a loaded church sign: NOW IS A GOOD TIME TO VISIT OUR PASTOR IS ON VACATION Ouch. I’m sure this sign tells the outside world about the unity and encouragement present there.
I believe children of every age know what it is that their parents love. Whether it’s somebody or something, our words and our actions declare those things that have our hearts. They are observant enough to see what it is that wakes us up in the morning and lingers on our minds until we drift to sleep. As your children …
I was a teenager when I felt called to the ministry. Right away, I was given opportunities to speak at different functions. I am so very thankful that most of those horrific “sermons” were not recorded. I had no training. No one had yet discipled me concerning how to proclaim God’s Word, yet I was given pulpits and microphones, and I …
After a long day of ministry yesterday, I sat down in my recliner to eat a late supper of Bojangles chicken and rice bowl (an excellent choice by the way), and I received a message from a church member who stated: Thanks for leading worship this morning. That was probably one of the top 2 worship experiences I’ve ever had …
In my new role as Family Pastor, I am putting together some steps to help families grow in Christ. One of our first shots at this is something we are calling Family Night. We will meet together on Saturday, Sept. 27th from 6-8 in North Side’s Family Life Center. Bring your family to join with other families for North Side’s …
God’s plan for your family is not complex. We make it that way, but it really is not. This is the plan – God wants to reconcile the world to himself and he plans on doing that through Christ-following parents teaching their children to follow Christ and it multiplies from there. Abraham’s Job Let me show you how this began …
I remember the first time I met sweet Mrs. Jimmie Rose Carver. In a tiny frame, Mrs. Jimmie burst with the joy of the Lord. After the man who was her husband and her pastor for 60 years passed away a few years ago, she decided to visit North Side despite what she had heard from others concerning the worship. …
The Agnews love to be outside. It is always fun sharing adventures together in the fresh air. When we were teaching the boys to throw and kick the ball years ago, something unique happened one evening in the front yard. I attempted to share the ball with the boys, but their favorite thing was not to have the ball themselves. …
I had the extreme privilege to preach at the Perry Correctional Institute’s church service yesterday. I had visited them a while back and gotten connected with them due to my involvement with the Courageous curriculum. It was great to reconnect with these dear brothers in this level-4 security prison. After leading worship at North Side in what were some really …
One of the highlights of Family Camp was taking my children on their very first canoe ride. I had the three children (ages 6, 6, and 2), while Amanda and Tammy were in another canoe. You might think I was brave, but I think it would have more dangerous being in the canoe with Amanda and Tammy with how jumpy and …
I mentioned earlier this week that my job has changed. Serving as a Family Pastor has unique challenges. For some people, they may think that I am going to provide specific help in family situations. For others, they think that I will be overseeing all children’s and student ministries at the church. Some people may think I will provide the …
I woke up at my normal time today. I walked into the same office. But I have a very different job. Today, I started my job as Family and Worship Pastor at North Side Baptist Church in Greenwood, SC. We made the announcement yesterday of some major changes in the coming days with our church. One of those was concerning …
I would appreciate your prayers today as I travel to Perry Correctional Institute which is a level 3 security prison for men. The movie Courageous has been used in the prison and had an impact on many of inmates. A group of the inmates are about to go through The Resolution for Men Bible Study which I had the privilege of …
If you have ever had someone you look up to fall from grace, you know the accompanying pain with their fall. Whether it was a moral failure or skeletons emerging from a closet, the news is shocking and devastating. It seems all the more regular that I hear of someone’s role model being exposed for living a hidden life. While we …
The Bible is not a collection of individual stories and treasured sayings. It is the one overarching narrative of how Jesus is reconciling a people unto himself.
I’ve had some great followup conversations and messages from Sunday’s sermon. One came in the form of an email regarding something I said concerning PKs (preacher’s kids). In the application section of the message, I stated: Don’t expect pastors to care for your family at such a level that they cannot care for their own family. Scripture is clear that …
I’ve been so encouraged by the messages, texts, and conversations I have received from yesterday’s message. It seems to have struck a nerve for sure. It is so encouraging to know that people want to step up and reach their families for Christ. I shared concerning a lot of camps and events that are happening this summer, but I wanted to …
This edition of Short Sermon Saturday features a clip of Greg Laurie at the Resurgence 2013 conference. In under 4 minutes, Laurie does a great job talking about how we should be as a church. He asks the question: are you creating consumers instead of disciples?
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