January 18, 2022
Hope for a New Year
Every year It’s A Wonderful Life plays in the background as my husband and I set out gifts on Christmas Eve. It’s a story I need amidst the materialism and mayhem. I need it because of the tug of war…
January 11, 2022
The Voice of the Spirit
The following is Day 1 of 5 in a new devotional called Spirit Lead. This devotional helps create a moment of pause and reflection with God while you consider your life within the church, listen to the Spirit, and ask:…
December 20, 2021
Advent and the Coming of Christ
I’m not sure why, but every time I’ve heard the word Advent this season I’ve thought of the song “Jesus Is Coming Soon,” a song I’ve never particularly liked. I didn’t know whether to laugh, cringe, or cry the first…
December 15, 2021
Celebrating God’s Work in 2021
God has been at work in and through all of us this past year. It would take volumes to describe all that He has done. Our team is so encouraged by the way we see God at work in and…
December 14, 2021
The Missional Heart of Advent
The holiday season is one of the busiest times of year for most of us. We buy gifts, decorate the house, visit loved ones, enjoy traditions, and plan big get-togethers. Although 30% of all charitable giving happens in December and…
December 7, 2021
Hope in God’s Help
READ PSALM 121 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you…
November 30, 2021
Trusting the Process
My husband has on occasion accused me of thinking I have a superpower: the power to identify what’s wrong in someone else’s life and the right to tell her what she should do to fix it. But we all know…
November 22, 2021
Missional Community Living
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” - King Solomon, Ecclesiastes 3:1 This past weekend my two boys and I road-tripped deep into Appalachia, passing through North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Kentucky. Our…
November 15, 2021
Gospel City Hubs
We don’t go to church; we are the church. Our goal is not to get people to just come to our church gatherings. Our goal is to remind and equip the Church, God’s people, to be the means through which…
November 9, 2021
Vocation and Discipleship
As a lay elder who works a full-time job in the corporate world, I have long been intrigued by the role of vocation in the Christian life. Christians throughout church history have worked in all manner of vocations. In the…
November 4, 2021
Advent Resources for 2021
Waiting. Waiting etches itself into the experience of every son and daughter of God through the pains of bondage, plague, drought, and storm. Sarah and Abraham waited for Isaac. Joseph waited for his brothers and God’s grace to make evil…
November 2, 2021
Finding Jesus in the Waiting
Don't look now, but Christmas is coming. Just last week, before I could hide it, my kids tore through Target's holiday toy catalog. And this weekend, they admired Hallmark's Christmas display while we walked by on an October afternoon. PREPARING…
October 26, 2021
On Mission this Halloween
October 31st offers a great opportunity for many to engage in new relationships with those around us or to revisit some old relationships with new missional intentionality. Regardless of what you think of the holiday and it's roots, the…
October 19, 2021
Listening Well
I recently observed a conversation a few Christians were having with a man who has yet to come to faith in Jesus. It was amazing to me, and saddening, to watch the Christians missing the point of this man’s…
October 12, 2021
Reading Your Bible is Not the Goal. God Is.
Relationship or Discipline (or both)? How is your relationship with Christ these days? This question is one that is quite familiar in Christian circles. Knowing that our passion for God has a tendency to ebb and flow, often we disciple…
October 5, 2021
The Things We Carry
When I was heading to Memphis for the recent Gospel Fluency of the Heart training, I happened to throw Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried in my bag. I didn’t realize its relevance to the subject at hand—the gospel and…
September 28, 2021
Finding Being in Our Boasting
Bragging about what we have attained and accomplished is a constant temptation. It’s also evidence of our deepest desires to be good enough. We’re searching for evidence of right being through right doing. Boasting is an expression of our desire…
September 23, 2021
Pastor, Let Your Plans Get Interrupted
When Plans Get Interrupted I am bi-vocational. That means I regularly wish I had more time to devote to all that I need to do (and want to do). My first year as bi-vocational pastor of my church was a…
September 14, 2021
The Whole Story?
We have considered adding “Storyteller” as one of the team leadership roles for our missional communities. And I would love to fulfill this role. I love stories—especially stories of God’s faithfulness. But I’ve faced some ethical dilemmas in the past…
September 7, 2021
Deacons
We are so excited about the release of our newest resource “Strong Church: Video Series + Workbook” that we want to offer everyone a glimpse into this new content. The Strong Church Video Series + Workbook is designed to assist you,…
September 2, 2021
Leadership Development
We are so excited about the release of our newest resource "Strong Church: Video Series + Workbook" that we want to offer everyone a glimpse into this new content. The Strong Church Video Series + Workbook is designed to assist you,…
August 31, 2021
What Does Community Look Like for You This Fall?
Early in the pandemic, it was said, “We are all in the same storm, but different boats.” This has proven to be true over the past year and a half, especially when it comes to missional communities or community groups.…
August 23, 2021
15 Commitments of a Strong Church
“WE ARE ALL START-UPS NOW” This was Andy Crouch’s insightful prediction early on about the coming fallout for organizations in light of the COVID-19 global pandemic. While many did not want to believe this was their situation, coming into Fall…
August 17, 2021
Our Greatness, God’s Glory, and Work
When my boys were small, I stenciled a black tractor and Colossians 3:23 on a burlap sign and propped it on their bookcase: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” I wanted them to…
August 12, 2021
Safety Amongst the Thorns
“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your…
August 10, 2021
Humility is Better Than Rightness
Often we clarify our convictions hoping to strengthen unity—“Here is what I believe… Who’s with me?” But what if a doctrine becomes destructive or divisive not because of what it is, but because of how we hold it? Isn’t it…
August 5, 2021
Study Guides for Missional Communities
A missional community is a way to organize the church to gather and send groups of people on the mission of God. Simply put, a missional community is a group of people who are learning to follow Jesus together in…
July 29, 2021
3 Key Environments to All-of-Life Discipleship
All-of-life discipleship—learning to follow, trust, and obey Jesus in the everyday stuff of life and training others to do the same—requires submitting to and obeying God’s Word in three key environments: life on life, life in community, and life…
July 28, 2021
Genuine Community with Trillia Newbell, Daniel Im, Jeff Christopherson, and Atanasio Segovia
In this episode of the Saturate Podcast, Ben Connelly talks with Trillia Newbell, Daniel Im, Jeff Christopherson, Atanasio Segovia about his recent book, Genuine Community. The church isn’t meant to be a collection of strangers. God intends for you to…