– I'm having a great time with my family. – Loved teaching the "Pillars of a Healthy Church" seminar. Got to meet some great Pastors doing amazing things in New England. – I ate at a place called Max Burger 3 times. I ate the same meal each time: A burger called the "Fatty Melt". It's a cheeseburger with 2 grilled cheese sandwiches instead of buns. The top grilled cheese sandwich has tomato and the bottom one has bacon. Amazing burger! – I taught at Calvary Fellowship in Hartford. Great church led by Bill LaMorey who is knocking it … Read More
New Tele-Seminar to Beat the Summer Slump
I'm very excited to announce that The Change Group's Casey Graham and I will be co-leading a tele-seminar on July 15th from 1PM-3pM EST called, "The Fully Resourced Church". We are going to talk about inspiring new giving and developing donors in your church. In fact, here's the full description on the seminar: A fully resourced church doesn't happen by accident. Instead, it happens when we are intentional about discipling people at every levels of giving. Too many churches are struggling financially because they haven't made stewardship part of their discipleship strategy. In this 2 hour tele-seminar, Bob Franquiz … Read More
Expositional Preaching: Where Should I Start?
This is a great question! While I believe you should teach whatever the Lord leads you to teach, if you're looking for suggestions on what books of the Bible to preach first as you begin teaching expositionally, here's a few: 1. Philippians – 4 chapters. Tons of application. Great theology to stretch your hearers. 2. James – Off the charts practical. Great topics to cover that the church always needs to hear. 3. Jonah – Great story. Short book. Not overwhelming. 4. Ruth – Beautiful story. Great opportunity to stretch your hearers with some Old Testament history and great application … Read More
Favorite Book: May 2010
I read a bunch of books in May, but the book that stood out to me was John Maxwell's new book, "Everyone Communicates, Few Connect." As preachers, it's so important that we read books and listen to great communicators. This book gives the most important elements that are needed to connect with those we communicate with. Because if we don't connect with our audience, we've wasted everyone's time. If you're a teacher at any level, I recommend you read this book and study its principles.
Expository Preaching – Remember your Audience
The key to expository preaching so that it doesn't become a college lecture is to remember your audience. There's a misnomer that unchurched people aren't interested in history or background. Not true. Christians aren' the only people who watch the history channel. I am a firm believer in giving as much facts and data as you want… as long as it pushes the ball up the field. I don't share trivia for the sake of trivia. Instead, the background you give should give a basis for the application you give. Application without a theological foundation is just a glorified episode … Read More
Q and A: Expositional Preaching to the Unchurched
"Bob, can you talk about how you teach expositionally and still reach unchurched people?" First, great question! This question hits on 2 things that are very important to me: 1. Preaching verse by verse through the Bible 2. Reaching people far from God By answering this question I have to teach with a misconception: that expositional preaching is primarily a tool to reach believers and topical/ felt need preaching is what reaches unchurched people. I don't buy this idea at all. I am thankful to the Lord that we've seen close to 1,000 new believers at Calvary in the last … Read More
Sunday Stuff… (Father’s Day Edition)
– Great day today at Calvary! – We kicked off our "ReThink" series in Ephesians by covering Ephesians 1:1-14 – I talked about knowing God as your Father. – People were very moved by the message. I was happy to see God working in the lives of people. – As much as I love teaching, I'm glad to have the next 2 Sundays off from writing messages. – Next Sunday, Don Richardson (Author of the best selling book "The Peace Child") is going to be at all services at Calvary. – I'm bummed that I'm missing him, but happy that … Read More
If you Live Near Hartford, CT…
On Friday, June 25th from 9AM-Noon I'm leading a seminar entitled, "The Pillars of a Healthy Church". I'm totally excited about teaching this because there's so much talk about growing a church, but little talk about being a healthy church. And the only churches that keep growing the long haul are healthy churches. There's a lot more to knowing the health of your church than Sunday's attendance and offering. That's what we're going to spend our time talking about. What can you expect to learn in this 3 hour seminar?– Learn to evaluate your church’s health– How to create … Read More
The Loneliest Person in the World
Do you know who the loneliest person in the world is? If you're a Senior Pastor, it's you! Yes I know you have friends and I know you have a team that you love, but truth be told, being the leader is always the loneliest place to be. That's why we have to be in learning environments with other leaders who are going through EXACTLY the same things we are and learn from each other. That's one of the reasons I invest time into coaching Senior Pastors, because I know that we need to learn from each other, rejoice with … Read More
Q and A: How Can I Make the Most of the Summer?
Instead of getting bummed out about the Summer, use the summer as an opportunity to do 3 things: 1. Grow – Yes I said grow. You can grow in the summer. There are still guests coming to your church every week over the summer. Keep the quality high over the summer and you'll reap the rewards in the Fall. Plan some Mini-Easters in the Summer and you'll see lots of interest in events that take place over the summer as people invite friends. 2. Plan – Summer is the time to plan out the Fall and begin to think about … Read More
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