Category Archives: Ministry Resources & Tools

Part of thinking outside of the box is coming up with different means of communicating the same message. Just because we’ve always done it a certain way, doesn’t mean we must continue communicating that way. Read through the Bible and you’ll find that even God has communicated His message in different ways at different times.

Why We Might Need to Change to Different Means of Communicating

If we don’t grasp good reasons for changing our methodology, we will probably struggle with using different means of communicating. Here are a few broad reasons:

external conditions

We may need to do something different due to the times in which we live. The cultural setting in which we find ourselves may require a different approach. Even a change in ministry staff, with a different set of spiritual gifting, may require a break from the way ministry used to happen. If we don’t adapt, people may get frustrated and stop listening altogether.

changing needs and interests

People don’t stay at the same place. They progress through different levels in both their physical age and spiritual development which brings a new set of needs and interests. If we don’t progress with them, we may soon find our ministry having minimal impact in people’s lives.

realities about the human condition

When something becomes common place, people can become inoculated to it. Boredom can set in. The message heard in the same way starts to fall on deaf ears. If we don’t do something different, at least on occasion, we may find it hard to get and keep people’s attention.

Objective for Using Different Means in Communicating the Same Message

We’re not talking about changing just for the sake of changing. Our objective in adapting must always be to truly reach and impact lives. — “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.” (1 Cor. 9:22)

Whether in an official position of ministry or during the course of our everyday living as salt and light in this world, we need God’s power to be effective. We must pull on His strength and sustenance, always remembering Jesus’ words in John 15:5. He said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Bible Verses about our Source of Ministry Empowerment

When we consider the following truths about God’s power, it seems rather foolish to rely on our own strength and abilities.

One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard: “Power belongs to you, God, and with you, Lord, is unfailing love”; and, “You reward everyone according to what they have done.” (Ps. 62:11-12)

Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit. (Ps. 147:5)

Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you. (Jer. 32:17)

Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” (Lk. 18:27)

Bible Verses Specifically Geared to Empowerment in Ministry

The following verses show the strength, confidence, and grace we can find when we rely on God’s power to teach, preach, witness, or serve in any other capacity.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses … (Acts 1:8)

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. (1 Cor. 2:4-5)

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. (1 Cor. 4:20)

I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. (Eph. 3:7)

because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. (1 Thess. 1:5)

With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. (2 Thess. 1:11)

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. (2 Tim. 1:7)

If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Pet. 4:11)

For more on Ministry Empowerment, check out the Ministry God’s Way Discipleship Tool. As with the other 8 key elements included in that resource, you’ll find a one page Bible study to guide you in reading more Scripture and reflecting and responding to God’s Word as it relates to that element.

Leaders, check out the Steering the Church Toward God’s Power Leadership Guide for more about your responsibility of helping the Body not just know Bible verses about God’s power but actually serve by the power He provides.

We’ve already established that to do ministry God’s way, we need His power. We need to cease striving to do ministry in our own strength. When we do, we’ll see the power of God unleashed in ways that are “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Eph. 3:20).

The issue is not “if” we have this power available to us but how to pull on that power. God’s provides a variety of means for ministry empowerment that we can pull on.

God’s Means of Ministry Empowerment

The TrainChurchLeaders.com site has a section devoted to different means through which God provides us, His Church, with power, which will be listed below. To get a better grasp of those means, click on the links to read articles or check helpful books. (Please note that book links may take you to books on one of our affiliate sites which may use cookies to track your activity to ensure that Ministry Tools Resource Center gets commissions from any sales.)

– Gospel Message of the Cross

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes … (Rom. 1:16)

• God’s Power: The Gospel of Jesus Christ
• Power of the Blood: Approaching God with Confidence by Bob Sorge
• Six Hours One Friday: Living the Power of the Cross by Max Lucado
• The Transforming Power of the Gospel by Jerry Bridges

– Grace

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. (1 Cor. 15:10)

• Find Yourself Making Excuses in Ministry?
• God’s Power: The Grace of God
• In the Grip of Grace by Max Lucado
• The Grace Awakening by Charles R. Swindoll
• Transforming Grace by Jerry Bridges
• What’s So Amazing About Grace? by Philip Yancey

– Holy Spirit

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses … (Acts 1:8)

• God’s Power: The Holy Spirit
• How Critical is the Holy Spirit in Ministry?
• Experiencing the Spirit: The Power of Pentecost Every Day by Henry Blackaby
• Living in the Power of the Holy Spirit by Charles F. Stanley
• The Counselor: Straight Talk About the Holy Spirit by A.W. Tozer
• The Holy Spirit by Charles C. Ryrie
• The Wonderful Spirit-Filled Life by Charles Stanley

– His Name

I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. (Jn. 17:11)

• Beyond a Cerebral Understanding of the Names of God
• Glory to His Name
• God’s Power: The Name of the Lord
• Knowing God by Name: Names of God That Bring Hope and Healing by David Wilkerson
• Names of God by Nathan Stone
• The Names of God: 52 Bible Studies for Individuals and Groups by Ann Spangler
• The Names of God: An Illustrated Guide by George Knight
• The Power of God’s Names by Tony Evans

– Prayer

… The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. (James 5:16)

• 3 Reasons Prayer is Critical in Ministry
• ASK for Wisdom Needed in Ministry
• Effective and Powerful Prayer
• God’s Power: Prayer
• Prayerlessness Because of What We Underestimate
• To Pray or Not to Pray?
• Alone with God: Rediscovering the Power and Passion by John MacArthur
• Discovering the Power of Prayer by Max Lucado
• Handle With Prayer: Unwrap the Source of God’s Strength for Living by Charles Stanley

– Resurrection

I want to know Christ – yes, to know the power of his resurrection … (Phil. 3:10)

• God’s Power: The Resurrection
• Jesus’ Resurrection is More Than an Easter Phenomenon
• What Does the Cross Plus the Resurrection Equal?
• Lifted: Experiencing the Resurrection Life by Allberry Sam
• Raised with Christ: How the Resurrection Changes Everything by Adrian Warnock

– Scripture

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Heb. 4:12)

• God’s Power: The Word of God
• God’s Word: Power for Ministry
• God’s Word Benefits Us Today
• Since God is True to His Word, Then . . .
• The Power of God’s Word: Responding to It Only Makes Sense
• What You Believe About the Bible Has Implications
• Inspired – Experience the Power of God’s Word by Josh McDowell, Sean McDowell

– Spiritual Gifts

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. … (1 Pet. 4:10-11)

• God’s Power: Spiritual Gifts
• Spiritual Gifts: God’s enablement for believers to do their part
• Everybody Has A Part: Getting A Grip on Spiritual Gifts by Ministry Tools Resource Center
• Everybody Has A Part Adult Spiritual Gifts Curriculum by Ministry Tools Resource Center
• Finding Your Best Fit in Ministry by Ministry Tools Resource Center

– Spiritual Weaponry

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. (2 Cor. 10:4)

• Being Ready for Spiritual Battles
• Biblical Principles for Spiritual Battles
• God, Greater Than All Other Forces
• Resistance in the Spiritual Realm
• Strength for Spiritual Battles
• Praying God’s Word: Breaking Free from Spiritual Strongholds by Beth Moore
• When the Enemy Strikes: The Keys to Winning Your Spiritual Battles by Dr. Charles F. Stanley

***Learn more about each of these means in the Steering the Church Toward God’s Power Leadership Guide along with a more general look at God at the Church’s source of power. This resource also looks at how God’s power is needed in twenty-five different tasks or responsibilities leaders must either do themselves or oversee.***

***Also check out the Ministry God’s Way Discipleship Tool which contains a section on Ministry Empowerment along with eight other elements involved in doing ministry God’s way.***