We are all at our best when it counts. But what are we like when no one's looking? That's where character comes in--being consistent even when it doesn't seem to matter.
Courage. Discipline. Vision. Endurance. Love. These character qualities are quickly becoming endangered. All too often we hear of marriages falling apart, governments lying, businesses cheating and scandals rocking the church. But with God's guidance and strength, we can maintain character that lasts despite temptations and troubles.
When Leadership and Discipleship Collide Using stories from his own life and ministry, Bill Hybels shows how the laws for leadership success can sometimes crash headlong into another reality: an inner prompting of the Spirit showing you a different approach. The decisions you make at that point could affect not only you, but the ultimate destiny of those you lead.
When God Doesn't Listen by Francis Chan
- Prayer should not be taken lightly in connection with individual and communal sin.
Submission through Prayer by James MacDonald
- Prayerful submission enables us to experience God’s grace and peace.
Waiting On God by John Ortberg
- Waiting on the Lord is the hardest work of hope.
Why We Shouldn't Give Up On Prayer by Bill Hybels
- We must persevere through hindrances to prayer.
“During the past few years, various friends have asked me, ‘What do you mean when you speak about the spiritual life?’ Every time this question has come up, I have wished I had a small and simple book which could offer the beginning of a response. I have felt that there was a place for a text that could be read within a few hours and could not only explain what the spiritual life is but also create a desire to live it. This feeling caused me to write Making All Things New...”
For the past twenty years Too Busy Not to Pray has stood as a classic on prayer, helping Christians all over the world slow down to draw near to God. During those years, the world certainly hasn't slowed down. If anything, the pace, intensity and number of distractions have only increased. Brokenness and pain seem to have increased as well, with news of civil war, poverty, broken families and sex-trafficking touching us daily. The urgent need for prayer is clear, but busyness still keeps many of us from finding time to pray. Two truths haven't changed in twenty years: God is the same powerful, just, holy God he's always been; and true prayer--prayer that changes us and allows us to participate in God's work in the world--can't happen on the fly. So Bill Hybels once again offers us his practical, time-tested ideas on slowing down to pray. Revised throughout and including a new introduction and new chapter on prayer and compassion for the world, this twentieth-anniversary edition of Too Busy Not to Pray calls both young and old to make prayer a priority, and broadens our vision for what our eternal, powerful God does when his people slow down to pray
For the past twenty years Too Busy Not to Pray has stood as a classic on prayer, helping Christians all over the world slow down to draw near to God. During those years, the world certainly hasn't slowed down. If anything, the pace, intensity and number of distractions have only increased. Brokenness and pain seem to have increased as well, with news of civil war, poverty, broken families and sex-trafficking touching us daily. The urgent need for prayer is clear, but busyness still keeps many of us from finding time to pray. Two truths haven't changed in twenty years: God is the same powerful, just, holy God he's always been; and true prayer--prayer that changes us and allows us to participate in God's work in the world--can't happen on the fly. So Bill Hybels once again offers us his practical, time-tested ideas on slowing down to pray. Revised throughout and including a new introduction and new chapter on prayer and compassion for the world, this twentieth-anniversary edition of Too Busy Not to Pray calls both young and old to make prayer a priority, and broadens our vision for what our eternal, powerful God does when his people slow down to pray
Pastor Bill Hybels believes there is a new reality in America. The church has entered an era of growth and unprecedented spiritual opportunity to share the Gospel, yet at the same time we face a shrinking economy and a world in crisis. This poses a great resource challenge for the church. In order to reach out to people who are spiritually hungry, the church needs more people to be equipped to serve others.
Hybels says the key to the future of the church is the equation X (paid staff) + Y (volunteers) = Z (bearing much fruit for God's glory). Churches cannot afford to continue hiring more and more staff with limited budgets. And so the key to resourcing the church is what Hybels calls the Y factor.
The Y factor is the pool of volunteers in every church. As churches recover the message of Ephesians 4:11-12 to 'equip God's people for works of service,' it is the volunteer who can serve. But there is a two-edged sword in this situation: People are just waiting to discover the gifts and passions that God has given them to serve others and use those gifts to power the local church and advance the kingdom of God on earth. The need is there. But those who can help are there, too. It is time to launch a Volunteer Revolution.
Every church staff should be helping people discover their spiritual gifts, passions to serve, and places of service in order to meet the growing needs in our churches and world. Hybels makes a clarion call to move beyond volunteer retention to volunteer acquisition. By attracting, connecting, training, and sustaining volunteers, churches will mobilize people into places of service and bring new meaning to their lives. Hybels also outlines how we can build lifelong volunteers in the church through community, celebration, and commendation.
4 sermons in 1 audio!
The End of Financial Folly by Bill Hybels
- Whether Christians will tithe to God reveals much about them.
Treasure Versus Money by Timothy J. Keller
- When we hold Jesus as our treasure, we can break the power of money.
What Do You Need to Be Happy? by Francis Chan
- When we give everything to Christ, we discover the secret of being content.
Miriam, Aaron, & the Green-Eyed Monster by Nancy Beach
- We often think of envy as a "petty" sin, but God clearly shows his anger about envy in this story.
'Without a hint of exaggeration,' says Bill Hybels in this unabridged audio download, 'the ability to discern divine direction has saved me from a life of sure boredom and self-destruction. God's well-timed words have redirected my path, rescued me from temptation and re-energized me during some of my deepest moments of despair.'
In The Power of a Whisper, vision is cast for what life can look like when God's followers choose to hear from heaven as they navigate life on earth. Whispers that arbitrate key decisions, nudges that rescue from dark nights of the soul, promptings that spur on growth, urgings that come by way of another person, inspiration that opens once-glazed-over eyes to the terrible plight people face in this world---through firsthand accounts spanning fifty-seven years of life, more than thirty of which have been spent in the trenches of ministry, Hybels promotes passion in Christ-followers' hearts for being wide open to hearing from God, and for getting gutsier about doing exactly what he says to do. For more information go to: www.thewhisperwall.com.
Meet the challenges of modern living and integrate the teachings of Christ with your everyday life!
Being an effective Christian is tough in a world that is increasingly at odds with what you believe. But living at odds with the world is not what Jesus would do. He would meet the people around Him at their point of need and minister to them in a loving and sincere way. He calls you to live this way too. But how are you to do this? And how do you communicate the truth about Jesus in a way that everybody can understand?
The Living Faith Series is designed to help you do just that. You'll hear messages from some of the best-known Bible teachers like:
Bill Hybels on the mystery of unanswered prayers.
Luis Palau on going to the ends of the earth.
Haddon Robinson on the surety of God's goodness.
And many others!
By working through the included Life Application Guide, you'll get down to the nuts and bolts of applying their teachings to your everyday living. In addition, Dick Staub will give you tools to turn your new understanding into action by showing you how to connect with the culture around you.
When Jesus walked the earth, He didn't always wait for people to come to Him. He rolled up His sleeves and went out to them. The Living Faith Series will help you to grow into His likeness.
Overscheduled. Exhausted. Overwhelmed. Sound familiar? Too familiar?
You are living at a velocity you know deep down is unsustainable. Your life is off course - too crammed with busyness, too out of focus. You keep waiting for things to get better, but they never do.
In Simplify, best-selling author Bill Hybels identifies core issues that drive this kind of living and offers action steps to help you live a better way. By eradicating clutter from your inner world, you can experience immediate rewards: greater energy, clearer purpose, richer relationships, and more.
Your life wo't simplify itself. You must act. Is't it time?
