Web page: House Church Planter

House Church planter has a focus of assisting people to plant Lutheran Church Missouri Synod house churches.

Their Mission Statement
“We pray that God would prepare members of the Priesthood of the Baptized to plant House
Churches by connecting people to Jesus Christ through the Word of God.”

Their Vision:
Seeing the Church as Jesus sees it – members of His body (1 Corinthians 12:12‐13), sheep of His fold (John 10:14‐18), blood bought souls (1 Peter 1:19), baptized into His name (Matthew 28:18‐20), gathered around His Word and Sacrament (Luke 11:28), with a deep desire to testify to the One who died and rose for them (Acts 8:4) so that many can be brought into the Good Shepherd’s fold (John 10:16). 
In response they:
+ Provide a public forum for sharing and for encouragement in the Great Commission
+ Share what we are learning about House Church planting so that we can grow through
mutual encouragement and accountability among the members of Christ’s body.
+ Recruitment of future leaders from beyond the current membership of our church body
+ Partnerships with the Church, Community, Civic Organizations & Corporations
+ Encourage the Priesthood of the Baptized (1 Peter 2:5‐10) also to consider public ministry.

Their values are:

• A world of lost people who yet are blood bought and precious to God
• LCMS churches with an abundance of members and God‐given resources
• Raising support for network supported church workers
• Lifting up LCMS ministries God is using to connect people to Jesus by means of the Gospel
• A church body more reflective of the demographics of our society
• Upholding our Pastors and the Pastoral Office
• Taking back the urban areas and cities for Christ and His Kingdom

Their web site includes:

House planting courses, including a free course

Articles

Congregational Prayer ministry 

Short Term mission trips

FAQ relating to house church planting

Newsletter

Article: “A Bishop’s House Church–Luther’s Thoughts”

“A Bishop’s House Church–Luther’s Thoughts” - Some Mission Truths Regarding Missional Communities by James D Buckman
James Buckman explores the following mission truths:

• The Church must also happen beyond the walls of our church buildings.
• When we offer something as church that is not Church; we are not being the Church.
• We must be on guard against Absalom’s spirit.
• We must look for Sons of Peace (Luke 10) in establishing the Church.
• Church must occur decently and in good order.
• There Continues To Be Room for a Certain Degree of Freedom in Church.
• New Worshiping Communities Collect Needed Funds.

This article comes from the Lutheran Society for Missioology

Book: Journey into the heart of God - living the liturgical year

Journey into the Heart of God is a captivating exploration of the history and evolution of the Church Year: the cycle of seasons in the Christian tradition that begins with Advent and culminates with Easter and is marked by the celebrations of saints, feast days, and the reading of Scripture as appointed by the Church. 

Primarily through deft examination of the Western Church, Philip H. Pfatteicher reveals how the liturgical calendar has been transformed over thousands of years. It is a work of art--the collaborative achievement of generations of hands and minds. He shows how the church year dramatizes and grounds the strange complexity of the human experience and how it encourages honesty, humility, growth, and maturity in those who live by it. 

Pfatteicher also offers insight into the liturgical texts of the Eucharist, the less familiar Daily Office, and the people's theology voiced in hymns from a broad spectrum of ancient and modern traditions. It will be an indispensable resource for both clergy and laity in the liturgical denominations, including Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Anglicanism.

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Sanctification: resources from Just and Sinner

Just and Sinner offer the following discussion and resources relating to sanctification:

• PCR Conference Interview on Boars in the Vineyard
• “The Restoration of the Divine Image Through Christ” ~ A Sermon by C. F. W. Walther on Mark 7:31-37
• “Man’s Working Together With God After Conversion” 
• Sermon from Dr. Curtis Leins at the AALC National Convention
• Equipping the Saints: A Study by Rev. Richard Shields
• Sanctification in Conrad Lindberg’s “Christian Dogmatics”
• What exactly is the problem with Gerhard Forde and the “Radical Lutherans”
• What are the Two Kinds of Righteousness?
• Francis Pieper’s Doctrine of Sanctification and Good Works
• Sanctification as Progressive in Lutheran Orthodoxy
• Characteristics of Lutheran Antinomianism
• Luther on the Necessity of Preaching Sanctification
• Forde’s Article: “The Lutheran View of Sanctification”
• Progressive Sanctification: A Pauline Doctrines
• Sanctification in the Formula of Concord
• Progressive Sanctification: A Lutheran Doctrine
• The Priority of Justification over Sanctification
• Lutherans Deny the Third Use of the Law?
• A Response to Kevin DeYoung and Rick Philipps on Sanctification
• Why Should Christians Perform Good Works?

Visit Just and Sinner at http://justandsinner.com/tag/sanctification/

Article: How to tell a GREAT story

We tell stories to our coworkers and peers all the time — to persuade someone to support our project, to explain to an employee how he might improve, or to inspire a team that is facing challenges. It’s an essential skill, but what makes a compelling story in a business context? And how can you improve your ability to tell stories that persuade?

What the Experts Say
In our information-saturated age, business leaders “won’t be heard unless they’re telling stories,” says Nick Morgan, author of Power Cues and president and founder of Public Words, a communications consulting firm. “Facts and figures and all the rational things that we think are important in the business world actually don’t stick in our minds at all,” he says. But stories create “sticky” memories by attaching emotions to things that happen. That means leaders who can create and share good stories have a powerful advantage over others. And fortunately, everyone has the ability to become a better storyteller. “We are programmed through our evolutionary biology to be both consumers and creators of story,” says Jonah Sachs, CEO of Free Range Studios and author of Winning the Story Wars. “It certainly can be taught and learned.”

Read the article to discover how to tell a great story.....here