Mike Burnette: Parable Church

Parable Church 

Zondervan Reflective, 2021

By Mike Burnette

WHO: Mike Burnette, lead pastor of LifePoint Church in Clarksville, Tennessee. 

HE SAYS: “Jesus may not have told us how to do church, but through his teachings—and, more specifically, his parables—he shows us how to be his church.”

THE BIG IDEA: In exploring Jesus’ parables, this book helps us understand and experience the full, transformative life in community that God intends us to live.

THE PROGRESSION: Part 1, “The Parable of the Two Sons,” discusses God’s heart, his economy and his grace. Part 2, “The Parable of the Sower,” shares how the seeds always work, how the culture of the kingdom prepares the soil of the heart and the fact we don’t turn hearts, we turn heart soil. Part 3, “The Parable of the Talents,” explain everything is God’s. He will grow his church; it is our job to grow in faithfulness. 

“Imagine what church would be like if everything that matters to Christ mattered just as much to us.”

Read more of Mike’s story in the September-October 2021 issue of Outreach magazine.

Beyond Burnout: Finding God in the Ashes

Where you are burned out, and you’re just desperately craving some real comfort, Jesus breaks himself into a feast for you, so that you can savor and taste and see that the Lord is good, and your heart can burn with hope within you again.

Merry and Bright Family Golf Night Attracts a Crowd

Sunday school classes and other groups “adopted” a hole and decorated it for Christmas, and with average Sunday attendance at around 260 at the church, there was a good pool of potential volunteers to staff the event.

Gospel-Centered Youth Ministry

Putting evangelism at the center of your disciple-making strategy is the game-changer.