Growing Your Church Through Evangelism and Outreach

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My calling as pastor is to lift God's people before the Lord, to bring his Word to his people, and to equip them for their calling. Unbelievers, in a sense, are incidental to that primary purpose.
—John MacArthur Jr.

I receive many letters from pastors who feel intimidated by today's church trends. They see the exploding seeker church, but the bottom line is, they're not in the same league as its pastor. They can't pull off the techniques. And they can't afford to do it. The creativity isn't there, the money isn't there, and the crowd isn't there.

One pastor who read my book Our Sufficiency in Christ called me in tears. He said, "I was beginning to wonder if what I have always believed about ministry was wrong. This helped me realize that what I've always been committed to is what I need to stay committed to. I just needed to hear that what I'm doing is okay."

Pastors hear the therapists on the radio and they read the books of renowned Christian counselors who say, "Pastors often do more harm than non-Christian counselors," and they get intimidated. So these pastors think, I can't counsel anybody. Somebody's going to kill himself; I'll get sued and be in court for ten years. I better not say anything. They hear about the mystical experiences of the charismatics, and they've never seen a sign or wonder in their life. They wonder why they're in ministry if they can't make the lame walk or see a mystical vision.

All across our nation pastors who are godly and welltrained are wondering if they are competent for the task of ministry. What is our sufficiency for ministry? How can we carry on successful outreach in our contemporary culture? I believe the answer lies in a few key principles.

Many people come to church ...

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