Do Not Disturb: Recovering Prayer in a Noisy World

By / Jun 2

The pastor had just invited the congregation into a moment of silent confession. Silence is already difficult in a society saturated with distraction, so focus requires intention. But then… a cell phone rings.

Instantly, attention shifts. The sanctuary fills with subtle glances, internal irritation, and the shared wondering of whose phone it is and how quickly it will be silenced. Some of us have been “that person,” fumbling in embarrassment to stop the noise.

Distraction itself is nothing new. But when it comes to prayer, smartphones pose a deeper problem than occasional interruption. They are quietly forming us into people who struggle with attention, silence, desire, and patience—the very soil prayer requires to flourish.

What Smartphones Are Subtly Doing to Prayer

Our phones are not inherently evil, and many Christians pray deeply while using technology wisely. Distraction, after all, predates the smartphone.

But there does seem to be a cultural shift in the way we approach prayer that may be shaped, be it ever so subtly, by our digital devices. Here are a few ways our devices may be affecting our prayers.

1. Training Us to Avoid Interior Silence

Prayer often begins where stimulation ends. Our phones make moments of silence vanish. Every pause in life becomes fillable. Whether we’re waiting in line, sitting in our car during a carpool, or lying in bed, these devices get pulled out instinctively. Even in moments of anxiety or boredom, we tend to look at the screen rather than close our eyes and talk to Jesus.

Yet Scripture emphasizes the importance of stillness, waiting, and meditation (Ps. 46:10; 62; Luke 5:16).

2. Reshaping Our Expectations of God

Our phones catechize us to expect immediacy, affirmation, and constant engagement. By contrast, prayer often seems slow, quiet, and can feel unresponsive. Over time, this mismatch subtly convinces us that prayer is inefficient or ineffective. But the Bible reminds us that God works powerfully through prayer, that God hears every word uttered, and he uses it as a means of grace (Jas. 5:16; Ps. 139:4; Heb. 4:16).

3. Turning Anxiety into Distraction Rather Than Supplication

Phones offer relief without transformation. Rather than casting our cares on Jesus, as Peter exhorts us to do (1 Pet. 5:7), we’ve trained our reflexes to reach for our phones. The gesture looks small, but it reveals our sinful instinct to distract ourselves until anxiety is dulled rather than entrusting our fears to a caring Father.

How the Church Can Respond

Prayer assumes a capacity that many of us must relearn—or learn for the first time. Personal practices matter, yes, but the church also plays a crucial role in reshaping our instincts.

1. Recover Corporate Practices of Silence

Creating noise in worship is not difficult. As a worship leader, I’m constantly thinking about smooth transitions because, frankly, silence can be awkward.

But we need to recover the importance of intentional corporate silence. And not just for fifteen seconds, but perhaps for a few minutes. Yes, a phone may ring from time to time, a baby will cry, or a coffee mug may be knocked over. There will be distractions.

But building silence into our worship services, whether it be a longer time of quiet confession or an unhurried Scripture reading, helps congregants relearn what it means to sit quietly before God. It will likely take time for this to feel somewhat normal. People may be uncomfortable for a while. But when silence is taught, it’s less intimidating, and it becomes more welcomed in our daily routines than the all-too-accessible time-fillers offered by our phones.

2. Teach Prayer as a Practice, not a Performance

Since our phones cultivate in us a desire for immediacy, we need to be modeling and teaching prayer as a discipline that reshapes desires over time, and as a privilege, because we have uninhibited access to a Father who delights in His children.

It may be helpful for pastors and liturgists to pull away from scripted prayers. There is nothing wrong with writing out a prayer, and it is often very helpful. But even reducing your notes to bullet points to model honest, unspectacular conversation with God is important for our congregants. Prayer is ultimately grounded not in eloquence, but in relationship that grows stronger over time, and we can model that in our churches.

3. Formation Beyond Sunday Worship

If smartphones are retraining our instincts, the church needs to be equally intentional about counter-formation. How can we encourage intentional practices within our local churches that shape how we use our time, where we give our attention, and what we desire?

Rather than offering blanket condemnations of technology, it’s more helpful to ask good questions: What am I most distracted by? What practices help me resist constant stimulation? Create spaces to talk practically in small groups or Sunday School classes. Learning about embodied practices and intentional limits remind us that prayer is cultivated.

When a phone rings during prayer, sure, it feels jarring. But I don’t think it’s only because it’s a distraction. It feels that way because it exposes how fragile our attention has become. The solution is not to do away with our phones, but to relearn practices that form us toward attentiveness and communion with God. Yes, smartphones shape us in subtle ways, but the God who invites us to cast our cares on Him is present, and He is worthy of our unhurried attention.



Plan the Route to Church Health

By / Jun 1

As you consider planning the route to health, there are two statements we believe would be beneficial for you to keep in mind, perhaps even post on your desk to remind you of their importance. First, remember, the focus of your ministry determines the future fruit of your ministry. In other words, what you invest in and cultivate now will reap a harvest in due time. Second, disciple-making must drive your decision-making. To put it another way, everything you lead your church to do should result in making and maturing disciples, and equipping those disciples to make disciples. These two statements are tied to the “triage” questions above. In other words, intentionally prioritize based on markers of health—disciple-pathway, evangelistic outreach, godly leadership, meaningful membership, gospel partnerships.

Now, as you plan the route to health, keep in mind that moving down the path you plan is as much an art as it is a science. When we say it’s a science, we mean that there are particular convictions that are biblical and right and must be pursued. At the same time, pursuing those convictions requires both social and self-awareness. This is the art of leading a church down the road of revitalization, having the wisdom to know how and when to take each step. Here are a few thoughts to help you map the way.

First, begin by addressing what is critical. As you reflect on the list of questions above, what is most obviously missing from the life of your church? What are the primary hindrances to the pursuit of health? This is where you, as a leader, need to be prayerful and honest. A church with a vibrant culture begins and is built by naming “reality with courage and does so in a way that is hopeful and encouraging.” Within my (Matt) first few years of ministry at my current church, it became clear to me that clarity on biblical leadership was a critical issue to address. The church had (and still does have) great leaders. But, the congregation did not have clarity on how to qualify leaders biblically or as to how decisions should be made. Does every decision involve the whole congregation? Who has the authority and trust to lead in decision making? So, we began using biblical qualifications for all our volunteer leadership positions. In time, we also developed a decision-making process, along with a checklist to communicate how decisions would be made.

Second, look for low hanging fruit. Oftentimes, even in a declining church, there are healthy ministries already in existence that do not receive the focus they deserve because so many other ministries are fighting for attention. Or, there are potentially fruitful ministries that could be healthy if they receive a slight directional tweak, refocus, or increased intentionality. To put it simply, celebrate the great things and make the good things great.

Third, prioritize based on the mission, the membership, and the church’s ministry opportunities. Keep the church’s mission at the forefront. What has God called us to do? Consider the gifts, talents, and interests of the members. Who has God sent to our church? And with those two in mind, consider the ministry opportunities that will allow you to bring the mission to bear with the members. How can we employ our members to pursue the mission through the ministry opportunities before us? Give them encouragement or hope to act, and specific steps to do so.

 

Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from Shepherding Renewal: A Guide to Lasting Church Revitalization by Matt Capps and Steven Wade, released by B&H Publishing (May 2026).



Friend, Foe, or Faux? Discerning True and False Believers

By / May 28

Discerning Between the Three Characters of 1 John

1 John is all about fellowship with God, which is possible through Jesus Christ and life in the Spirit (1:1–4). The Apostle John describes life in the Spirit through the abiding “anointing” (2:27) and abiding “seed” (3:9) of God before speaking explicitly about the abiding Holy Spirit in chapter 4. Although fellowship with God is the primary focus of the letter, we must not overlook John’s desire: “what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1:3, emphasis added). John’s purpose is that others may have fellowship with him and the church. Thus, all who are in fellowship with God are in fellowship with one another.

This framework is important for understanding the letter because as John writes to establish faith and assurance (1 John 5:13), he addresses three characters and the conflict that arises from them: friends, foes, and fauxs. The “friends” are those who are truly in fellowship with God and God’s people. The “foes” are those who are in fellowship with the world and the devil. Finally, and most challenging, are the fauxs—imposters of the faith—who appear to be in fellowship with God but truly belong to the world and the devil. The main test in 1 John, then, is not distinguishing between friends and foes, but friends and fauxs.

To illustrate, the greatest threat in war is not the place outside the gates where the enemy is gathered, but sabotage, spies, and traitors from within. Think of the Trojan horse and how the guise of a ceasefire resulted in the fall of the city from within after decades of standing strong. The fellowship of the church is to be a secure fellowship, but often, fauxs find their place within and bring destruction. Fauxs are hard to detect because they come just as everyone else: with a profession of faith, baptism, and so on. They continue in the fellowship and discipleship of the church for a time. Yet, as many pastors and laypeople can attest, they have witnessed the destruction fauxs bring on the church. In this letter, John provides insight for discerning fauxs so that appropriate action can be taken in love and truth to preserve the faith and fellowship of the church before ruin occurs.

Revealing Friends

From 1 John 1:5–5:12, John sets forth various tests which differentiate between the three characters. Friends are known by confessing their sins (1:5–2:2), living in obedience to Christ’s commands (2:3–11), persevering in the faith and fellowship of the Church (2:18–27; 4:1–6; 5:5–12), and practicing righteousness (2:28–3:10). Furthermore, obedience and righteousness are characterized by love for one another, which is a dominant emphasis in the letter (2:7–11; 3:10–24; 4:4–5:5). John uses the word “ought” to describe how Christians are expected to live like Christ (2:6) through a love of sacrifice (3:16) and forgiveness (4:10–11). In this way, the friends enjoy the Life (1:2), Light (1:5), and Love (4:8) of God.

Revealing Foes

In contrast, the foes are completely against the friends. They are opposed to the Father (2:15–17), the truth of Jesus Christ (4:1–6), the church (3:1b, 13), and righteousness and love (3:4–10). They are of the world and the devil, living in sin and darkness, and filled with hatred and murder—especially towards Christians. The foes of God and His people are given no assurance but are warned of coming destruction (3:8; contrast with believers in 3:18–24 and 4:15–21 who have confidence). The contrast between friends and foes is set in black-and-white terms, creating a sharp distinction between the two groups. Discerning between friends and foes is easy!

Revealing Fauxs

However, the challenge arises with the fauxs. What was black-and-white becomes gray and more dangerous. The friends are a loving people, and sometimes their love can interfere with the safeguards of truth. So, the friends often lack discernment, which matters not just for their own sake, but for one another—their fellow friends. Nevertheless, John exposes the fauxs as those who “say,” but what they “do” contradicts their claims: They claim to have fellowship with God, but walk in darkness characterized by unconfessed, unrepentant sin (1:5–10); they claim to know Christ, but then disobey His commands (2:3–6); they claim to be in the Light characterized by truth, but they hate their brothers/friends in Christ (2:9–11).

Exposing the fauxs, John declares they are liars, self-deceived, still in darkness/sins, of the devil and the world, do not have eternal life, and are headed for judgment (1:6, 2:4, 2:11, 2:15–17, 2:22, 3:7–10, 3:15, 4:3–5, 4:8, 4:20). They are antichrists and followers of antichrist (2:18–19); they are false prophets and the followers of false prophets (4:1–6). They remain in their sins and darkness and are headed toward judgment. Despite their claim to be friends and to be in fellowship with God, they are given no assurance of eternal life. Instead, they are allotted a portion with the foes!

Despite the presence of fauxs, true friends stand out as those who know, repent, walk, love, obey, practice righteousness, and persevere with Christ and His Church. This multifaceted understanding of faith is consistent throughout 1 John and reflects Jesus’ own teaching (John 13–17). When John says in 1 John 5:13, “these things I have written to you,” he means the faith presented from 1:5–5:12. This faith characterizes those who believe and are assured of eternal life. They are set in contrast to both those who completely reject God and those who say they are of God but are not.

A Call to Discernment

To conclude, distinguishing between friends, foes, and fauxs is as crucial in our day as the first century. If God’s people lack discernment, their faith and fellowship will be compromised by fauxs even as they seek to stand in truth and love against their foes. As we rest assured that Christ and His Church will prevail (Matt. 16:18), we recognize this victory is accomplished through the Church’s merciful discernment in the Spirit (cf. Matt. 18:15–35).



Stuff We Don’t Want to Talk About

By / May 27

Inspired by Ronni’s refusal to record on a particular topic, Jared Wilson and Ronni Kurtz discuss the things they don’t want to discuss. Consider this the Banned Episodes episode. What topics feel “off limits?” What subjects do we feel out of our depth about? What issues do we just want to avoid? And why?



Following Jesus into Hard Places

By / May 26

“To move to a place like this—that girl must be Xena: Warrior Princess.” I heard the compliment, if that’s what you’d call it, in echoes through the stairwell of our new home. We were planning to move in a few months and had come to visit our landing place—an apartment building that housed a tiny church plant, our apartment to be, and 12 other apartments that my husband would manage in the heart of one of the poorest, most drug addicted neighborhoods in New York’s Southern Tier. My mind conjured images of a long-haired brunette scantily clad in armor, wielding weapons, and unafraid of everything. I’d never seen the show, but based on the images from commercials, this was the image that came floating to my mind. I was pretty sure the hair was the only real similarity between her and me.

Our new neighbor, who would later tell my husband, “I don’t carry knives because I’d shank someone,” proceeded with his compliment: “She must be tough.”

Other than a decent glare when the situation calls for it and maybe a propensity to talk a big game, I’m not what anyone would call “tough.” During our first week in our new home—in which I celebrated my 22nd birthday, our first wedding anniversary, and our first church service—my husband had to evict someone from our property for assault and I had a run in with a mentally ill man who told me his brother was buried in the basement of our building (confused, but not a lie—that’s a story for another day). I was in over my head from the moment we started in a life of ministry.

Covered in the Armor of God

The truth is, we aren’t called to be tough. The Christian life is about putting on the armor of God and taking shaking, trembling, weak-kneed steps in the direction our Savior calls. Not everyone will sit on the steps of an apartment building while drug addicted ex-cons talk about your shocking toughness, but every Christian will be asked to follow Jesus into things that feel uncomfortable, hard, and even unsafe. Our Lord didn’t live His earthly life in the company of safe people who made Him feel secure. He walked boldly into the homes of sinners, sat at their tables, and broke bread with them. Perhaps the most shocking part is that He enjoyed it. Those were His friends. Those were the ones He defended against attack. Those were the ones he chose to be with. I think He was onto something.

The Lord has called Christians to follow Him into hard places, not grudgingly as if we are doing the world a favor by stepping into things that make us uncomfortable. Not as if we are the hero of the story because we were willing to go to “those people”—but happily, because we see ourselves among the hurting, the beggars, and the broken. We know we have no strength on our own, but we know that the Lord has strength in abundance and He can supply all that we need.

There was a time in my life when pride would have said, “Look where I’ve been and what I’ve done with the Lord.” But no more.

The only hero in the story of the Great Commission is the Lord of glory whose right authority demands our lives.

The Christian life is not primarily about our safety. It isn’t primarily about us at all. Maybe the “unsafe” thing for you to do isn’t to uproot your life and move to the inner city or across the sea, but that doesn’t mean the Lord is fine with you living a life away from the pain of the world. While I think this will look different for different Christians in different contexts, I am confident of a few things:

1. God Works Through Unlikely People in Unlikely Places.

We see this all over Scripture and throughout history. Only the Lord would have planned for a prostitute to shelter the Israelite spies in Jericho and end up in the line of Christ. Only the Lord would have chosen lying Jacob, timid Moses, or adulterous David. Rather than running from the problems of this world—or the problem people of this world—Jesus enters in. In His earthly ministry, He ate with tax collectors, spoke with adulterous women, and spent time with children. This is His church growth strategy. He chooses the weak, foolish, and despised of this world so that no one can boast in His presence (1 Cor. 1:18–31).

2. Great Commission Work Isn’t Comfortable.

I doubt the stones which left Paul so injured that he was carried out of Lystra and presumed dead were very comfortable—and they certainly weren’t safe. Neither was Peter’s upside-down execution or John’s imprisonment. For millennia, God has been working through people who were uncomfortable with what the Great Commission was calling them to. Their eternal destiny secure, the older generations of our spiritual family were sent to engage in unsafe tasks that made God’s glory known among the nations. God’s plan for His people and the spread of His fame has not changed. He is using saints today to share the gospel in unsafe places. While His plan for your life might not include martyrdom, it absolutely does include discomfort (Matt. 10:24–25). Rejoice in that and see what He will do!

3. God Uses His Church in Hard Places.

We serve a good and sovereign God. He is able to save people through online sermons and radio programs. He works wonders when His people are faithful to proclaim His gospel, even at a distance. But God’s primary means of working in any locality is to establish His people there. He moves in the hearts of His people to plant us exactly where He wants us to be, and then He saves people through our proclamation of the gospel. From the beginning, God’s plan was that His people would be a light to the nations. Nothing has changed. So, while your Christ honoring Facebook post might be used by the Lord to do His work (and I’ve been shocked to see how much He uses social media and the internet!), the comfort of screen distance is not the normal means that the Lord uses to reach people. With the rise of technology and the distance it brings, the local church, in all of its eclectic beauty, shines as an even brighter light in the dark world.

God’s Strength Made Perfect in Our Weakness

We don’t have to be tough to go where the Lord is calling us. I promise, I have more in common with Ms. Frizzle than I do with Xena: Warrior Princess. Praise God that He doesn’t need me to be strong. In His upside-down kingdom, our weakness displays His strength. We can follow Jesus into things that are hard. We can walk toward people who are easier to run away from. Then we can stand back in amazement, because the Lord Jesus delights to do His work in exactly these places.



Is It Wrong to See Jesus in the Old Testament?

By / May 21

One of the first things we learn when it comes to reading the Bible is to never make a text say something the author did not intend to say. The technical term for this is authorial intent. However, we are also taught that the whole Bible is about Jesus. We learn that every page—Old Testament included—leads us to Christ. These two claims should raise an important question: How can we hold to authorial intent and believe that every page ultimately leads us to Jesus? Did the Old Testament authors intend to write about Jesus? Or are we reading Jesus into the Old Testament? I would like to argue that the authors—especially the divine Author—intended for us to see Jesus in the Old Testament. To demonstrate this, I want us to look at three texts that justify seeing Jesus in all of Scripture. From these texts we will learn three reasons we should see how all of Scripture points us to Christ: Jesus says we can, Jesus shows we can, and Jesus reveals we can.

1. Jesus Says We Can

It is appropriate to see Jesus in the Old Testament because Jesus says we can. John 5 makes this exact point. In verses 30–47, Jesus is speaking to the Jews about having witnesses to the claims He is making. Jesus is claiming many amazing things and the Jewish people are wondering who can testify to the truth of these claims.

Jesus is more than happy to oblige this request, and He says that “the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me” (5:37). The Jews want a witness to testify on Jesus’ behalf. Jesus responds and says that God has testified on his behalf. Yet where does God give credibility to his claims? Jesus tells us in verse 39, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me.” The Jews are wondering who can back up Jesus’ claims and Jesus responds by saying, “God backs up my claims in the Old Testament.”

What this means is that it is appropriate to see Jesus in the Old Testament because it is about Him. Jesus confirms this just a few verses later: “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would have believed me; for he wrote of me” (John 5:45–46). Moses—the author of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy—wrote about Jesus. Jesus tells us that we can, and He makes it clear that we are doing so without undercutting authorial intent.

2. Jesus Shows We Can

Jesus does not only claim that the Old Testament is about Him, but He shows that it is about Him. He does this at the end of Luke’s Gospel. Two of Jesus’ disciples are walking to a village called Emmaus. As they are walking, they talk about what happened in Jerusalem with the death of Jesus and the reports of his resurrection. Suddenly, a stranger joins them on the road and asks what they are talking about.

They tell this stranger everything that has happened, and he responds in a very interesting way in Luke 24:25–27:

“O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

As it turns out this “stranger” was the resurrected Christ who shows them how Scripture points to Him. Jesus takes these men to the Old Testament and demonstrates how it is about Him. Consider how wonderful it would have been to experience this!

Practically, this means that we should have no issues with seeing Jesus in the Old Testament. We are simply following the example of our Lord and Savior. Clearly, Jesus thought it was appropriate to find Himself in “all the Scriptures” without threatening the original intent of the author. We are not misreading Scripture by seeing Jesus in the Old Testament, we are reading it the way it was intended to be read.

3. Jesus Reveals We Can

If the above is true, then how come so many people seem to miss seeing Jesus in the Old Testament altogether? For example, why do Jews today fail to see Jesus as the promised Messiah? Doesn’t this show that Jesus is not clearly portrayed in the Old Testament as we think he is? While differences in interpretation and tradition certainly shape how people read these texts, I would like to argue that, in cases like this, the reason people fail to see Him is not because He isn’t there—it is because they are blinded by sin.

The Apostle Paul makes this argument in 2 Corinthians 3. One of the things that always grieved Paul was that many of his fellow Jews did not believe in Jesus. Paul tells us that the reason for this is because “their minds were hardened” (3:14). They have a “veil” over their eyes. He writes, “For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted.” They are unable to see Jesus in the Old Testament because a spiritual veil remains over their eyes.

How then is this veil removed? Paul tells us, “But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed” (3:16). The theological term for this is illumination. When a person comes to trust in Jesus, the Holy Spirit removes this veil and allows them to understand the Scriptures fully and rightly. This explains why so many of our family and friends can read the Bible but still not believe. Trusting Scripture as God’s Word is a work of the Spirit which takes place when we come to trust in Christ. For this reason, we can see Jesus in the Old Testament when others don’t because Jesus reveals Himself by his Spirit to those who trust in Him.

We began this article with a question: Is it wrong to see Jesus in the Old Testament? Are we undercutting the intent of the Old Testament authors by seeing Jesus there? Are we reading Jesus into the Old Testament rather than discovering Him there? The answer to all of these questions is an emphatic no! We are completely justified in seeing Jesus in the Old Testament. Jesus tells us explicitly that the Old Testament is about Him. Likewise, He walked with his disciples and demonstrated to them how it points to Him. Lastly, He has revealed to us that it is about Him by removing the spiritual veil that prevents us from seeing Him there. We can see Jesus in the Old Testament knowing that we are not committing some grave hermeneutical error. As David Murray writes, “What’s the Old Testament all about? Jesus’ emphatic answer is ‘Me! Me! Me!’”[1]

[1] David Murray, Jesus On Every Page: 10 Simple Ways to Seek and Find Christ in the Old Testament (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2013), 18.



Catching Up with Ross Ferguson

By / May 20

Guess who’s back? No, it’s not Slim Shady. It’s our dearly beloved former cohost Ross Ferguson. This time back in the guest chair, Ross catches up with Jared Wilson on his most recent ministry season in Canada and how the Lord has been blessing him and his family.



Rejoicing in the Day of Small Things

By / May 19

The “Small Things” of Pastoral Care

If you asked a pastor or elder to describe how he tends the flock, he’d likely mention phone calls, coffee conversations, prayers, hospital visits, text messages—a lot of small, ordinary things.[1] The simplicity of these activities sometimes calls into question their effectiveness, and the repetition of doing them year after year can make us weary. After yet another visit, another phone call, another Scripture shared, what has changed? Are these things helping at all?

Often, caring for people spiritually is simply about helping them take the next little step. Usually there’s a larger goal that they (and you) want to reach—reconciliation, forgiveness, sobriety, restoration—but that can seem many years distant, maybe altogether unattainable. Yet we begin today with small steps like these:

  • Urging someone who thinks they have lost their faith to start reading the Bible again—even just one psalm a day.
  • Persuading the man enslaved by his addiction to pick up the phone and have the first conversation with an addiction counselor.
  • Inviting a straying member to come to worship again, even though it has been years.
  • Challenging a combative husband and wife to show each other one act of Christian love each day.

These are small things. The idea of rebuilding a marriage or restoring a wandering member can overwhelm us, but we simply need to start somewhere and trust in God to bless our efforts.

Encouragement from Zechariah

Centuries ago, Zechariah encouraged God’s people with this promise: “Whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice” (Zech. 4:10). The prophet was addressing Judah’s dismay over the insignificant progress that they had made in rebuilding the temple. The stones of the foundation had been laid, but there was so much more to do.

During Solomon’s golden age, God’s house had been magnificent. But then the Babylonians pillaged it and razed it to the ground. Decades later, the reconstruction could never hope to match the temple’s former grandeur—and the people knew it (Ezra 3:12). It seemed like an impossible task: rebuilding a house for God in a time when human and material resources were sorely lacking.

However, Zechariah reminds us that small beginnings should never be despised—not when God is working by His mighty Spirit. For God can always give great reason to rejoice again. With his help and strength, there’s no telling how blessed the outcome of “the day of small things” will be.

So it is for our work in the church. The most glorious, everlasting foundation has been laid, and that foundation is Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 3:11). If pastors are building on him, they need not despair. Christ can make something of this little gesture toward repentance. He can bless this new beginning. He can cause the smallest seed to bear abundant fruit. We believe that Christ can do it, and we plead with him to do so.

This makes another word from Zechariah so encouraging for those who serve the church: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts” (Zech. 4:6). It’s a profound reminder about whose help we need to be faithful and fruitful servants of Christ. In ministry, there are moments of proud self-reliance when we must hear this humbling truth: No matter how capable we are, the results aren’t up to us. But also in times of worry, in seasons of cynicism or weariness, we can gain great strength from this promise: the Spirit of the Lord of Hosts is still moving among His people.

Pastor, do not despise the day of small things, but always depend on the mighty Spirit of Christ.

[1] For more on this theme, see Reuben Bredenhof, The Ministry of Small Things: Wisdom for Those Who Serve the Church (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2026).



The Joy of Being a Sender

By / May 14

My local church just entered its second full year of covenantal gathering and worship. During a recent members meeting, the elders called for the church to enter a time of prayer and fasting for some specific needs. Among the typical needs of a young church plant—such as stronger finances, a stable location, and faithful vision casting—the elders called upon our church to pray for something else: senders.

Our church’s demographic is largely influenced by the transient nature of city life, the seasons of college semesters and holiday breaks, and healthy members desiring to go to the nations. At the time of writing this, three separate families are in the evaluation process with three different mission organizations. For a small church plant simply needing stable membership, this is a significant proportion of our current membership.

The elders asked our church to pray for a stable core of senders. They did not discourage members who were seeking to be missionaries or ministry leaders in other local churches. Instead, they asked us to pray for those who were working and living in our city to find our church and commit to being senders. Oftentimes, missions resources and stories focus on the joys and adventures of being sent, but what about the joy of being a sender? Though there may be many reasons, I believe three rise to the top of the list.

1.   The Joy of Advancing Missions

Any local body of believers must answer the question: How will our specific church respond to the Great Commission? Local churches are outposts of God’s kingdom in a dark and hostile world. The light of the gospel housed in these outposts should shine outward as far as the horizons allow. If gospel light is to spread, the right people must be sent and the required resources must be allocated. The vital role senders play in the church—to both evaluate and resource those who are sent—cannot be overstated.

Living in close community with fellow believers in the local church will shape and mature disciples from within so that some may desire to be sent out as missionaries. Senders who stay have spent their time teaching, discipling, and evaluating the lives of these missionary candidates. Senders advise individuals or families considering the step into mission work. Missionaries who are qualified to be sent are members who have grown and matured in their faith through the ministry of senders.

Senders advance missions when they send the right people with the right resources. Much like Andrew Fuller and the Baptist Missionary Society, who “held the rope” for William Carey by financing his mission to India, senders who support their missionaries and see to it that they “lack nothing” (Titus 3:13) do an invaluable service to the mission of the gospel and the growth of Christ’s Church. Senders advance missional hopes and dreams by sending and servicing the voices of truth into the world.

2.   The Joy of Stewarding a Legacy

Senders who belong to churches that support missionaries have the privilege of participating in and observing gospel proclamation around the world for many years. The work of missions can often be tedious and slow, with little outward fruit to show for years of faithful service. Senders are there from the beginning of the story onward. They get to see the faithfulness of God and the power of the Spirit work in one location or in one missionary family’s ministry as it develops. Missionary children get to come home for college and be welcomed by senders who started the journey with them when they were young.

If a church has a reputation for sending missionaries, more missionaries will likely be sent in the future. If the church continues to train and resource the right people, senders will see many go. Over time, the process for training and sending may be made clearer, the support system made more efficient, and the budget more robust. Senders who stick around over long periods of time can speak seasoned words of wisdom about the process and how it may be improved and handed to the next generation of senders.

3.   The Joy of Witnessing Global Glory

Resolving to be a faithful sender does not mean that one does not get to witness missions firsthand. Senders often visit and support missionaries on the field through short-term trips. They also receive and care for missionaries who come home temporarily. Regularly sending missionaries expands the local church’s awareness of the global state of lostness and the glory of God in the gospel spreading to each corner of the earth.

Being a sender means participating in the same joy as your missionaries when people find Christ. Senders get to hear reports of the work they helped advance on the field, and often these senders get to participate in hands-on experiences on a regular basis.

Though one may be encouraged by searching for missionary stories or baptism statistics online, the joy of sharing in the work and results of locally sent missionaries cannot be replicated.

Are You Called to Be a Sender?

My local church is actively calling its members to consider whether God has called for them to stay as senders and to pray for more senders to join our membership. The glory of missions is all God’s, and both senders and goers have a part to play. Joy is shared because missions is a work of the unified body of Christ.

Are you called to be a sender? Consider how you might engage in the work of sending in your local church today. Maybe it looks like continuing the work of faithful attendance, hospitality, and discipleship. Maybe it requires finding a stable job and putting down roots somewhere. Not every Christian will cross an ocean, but every Christian and church must decide whether it will hold the rope. May your choice be the source of joyful prayers like Paul’s for the Philippians because of your partnership in the gospel (Phil. 1:4–5).



FTC Mailbag

By / May 13

Jared Wilson and Ronni Kurtz dive back into that bag of indeterminate color, the FTC Mailbag! Answering your submitted questions and topics, the guys discuss age gaps between staff pastors, baptizing nonverbal churchfolk, how to share concerns with a pastor, what to do if your pastor is having AI write his sermons, and more. You can always send us a question or topic via [email protected]