Ed Stetzer Quotes & Sayings

Put your 'yes' on the table and let God put it on the map. — Ed Stetzer

Culturally appropriate evangelism answers the actual questions being asked by a given culture rather than those questions the church believes the culture should ask. — Ed Stetzer

In his work The Book of Church Growth, Thom Rainer explained, "Prayer is the power behind the principles. There simply is no more important principle in church growth than prayer. The prayers of the early church unleashed the power of God to add thousands to the church. It happened then. It is happening in some churches today. And it can happen in your church."13 — Ed Stetzer

You cannot hate a people and reach a people at the same time. — Ed Stetzer

Everything created in the world should be seen in the context of existing for God's glory. — Ed Stetzer

you cannot "save" a church without focusing on the important things that make it a church - scriptural authority, biblical leadership, teaching and preaching, ordinances, covenant community, and mission. — Ed Stetzer

Jesus did not send us to declare the gospel only where people are responsive or where our witness is welcome. He did not expect us to be on mission to disciple peoples only where there is no danger or risk involved. He was unequivocal in His mandate to disciple the nations (peoples) - all of them! — Ed Stetzer

You can move a leader's feet by force, or you can move their hearts by influence and inspiration. — Ed Stetzer

Global evangelism does not take place in a demilitarized zone but on the battleground of spiritual warfare. Satan, in vengeance and jealousy for that which belongs to God, is deceiving the nations and holding them in bondage to a lie. — Ed Stetzer

We have to assess: Are we making disciples along the way as we draw people to our churches? — Ed Stetzer

I don't think you can love Jesus without loving His wife. — Ed Stetzer

You can preach heresy at a lot of churches, and people will not object. Leaders can lead double lives, and people will let it be. But, change the order of service, and it's time for a fight. — Ed Stetzer

We celebrate those comebacks because they inspire us to believe that seemingly impossible things really are possible. — Ed Stetzer

Don't let your church be a cul-de-sac on the Great Commission highway. — Ed Stetzer

Community is essential when it comes to successfully living out the Christian walk in a day-to-day context. So the math is simple: More community = More disciples Understanding the nature of groups helps you — Ed Stetzer

Barna is correct when he writes, "After fifteen years of diligent digging into the world around me, I have reached several conclusions about the future of the Christian church in America. The central conclusion is that the American church is dying due to lack of strong spiritual leadership. In this time of unprecedented opportunity and plentiful resources, the church is actually losing influence. The primary reason is the lack of leadership. Nothing is more important than leadership."7 — Ed Stetzer

We don't own mission, and it is not ours to define. — Ed Stetzer

Teaching people to become like Jesus, outside of the power of Jesus, dishonors Jesus. — Ed Stetzer

A church without the broken is a broken church. — Ed Stetzer

It's ironic that most evangelical churches are filled with people who live very much like the world but look different from it. It should be exactly the opposite. We should look similar to those in our community but act differently. — Ed Stetzer

If we demand things in worship that can't be in every culture, then we're demanding cultural preferences, not biblical. — Ed Stetzer

It's not enough for Christians merely to recognize that the world isn't what it ought to be and that people are suffering in ways they shouldn't have to suffer." Instead, our "sorrow and indignation" should prompt us to act in ways that "subvert" that brokenness. — Ed Stetzer

If you're regularly willing to give a critique, but not willing to take one, you're not a leader, you're a cynic. — Ed Stetzer

Your denomination is not defined by a style. So don't let style become a point of contention. — Ed Stetzer

To engage people in culture we must remember that holiness is separation from sin, not separation from sinners. — Ed Stetzer

The passion of the church and every follower of Christ should be that all peoples have an opportunity to hear, understand, and respond to the gospel. — Ed Stetzer

If your church loves the way you do church more than your children, it loves the wrong thing. — Ed Stetzer

The Christian life is not about finding safety and comfort; it's about finding yourself in a dangerous place of vulnerable compassion. — Ed Stetzer

Too often we attempt to teach people to swim in a classroom. If you have ever taken swimming lessons, you immediately get the importance of getting in the water and practicing under the watchful eye of a swimming rabbi. Jesus invited the original twelve to go swimming with Him. — Ed Stetzer

This leads us to an important spiritual principle for growth: comeback leaders know that our Lord considers commitment to Him and His desires an indispensable ingredient to growing spiritually and numerically. — Ed Stetzer

When Jesus said, "As the Father has sent Me, I also send you" (John 20:21), the mandate was not for a select group of cross-cultural missionaries. It was a commission to you, to me, and to our churches. We have a sender (Jesus), a message (the gospel), and a people to whom we are sent (those in our culture). It is worth the effort to go beyond personal preferences and attractional methods to proclaim the gospel in our church services and outside the walls. — Ed Stetzer

Being Missional means actually doing mission right where you are. Missional means adopting the posture of a missionary, learning and adapting to the culture around you while remaining Biblically sound. — Ed Stetzer

God has made relationships His chosen delivery system for the gospel of hope. — Ed Stetzer

Contrary to Western evangelicalism's obsession with the individual, discipleship is and always was a group project. No one in the New Testament followed independent of other followers. - Steve Murrell, Wikichurch — Ed Stetzer

The church is the chief place for spiritual edification and growth (Acts 20:32; Eph. 4:11-16; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; 1 Pet. 2:1-2; 2 Pet. 3:18). — Ed Stetzer

Regrettably, we've made it acceptable to sit in church week after week & do nothing & still call yourself a 'Christian.' — Ed Stetzer

Belief followed by strategy and culture moves people to community. — Ed Stetzer

God is not the source of any form of worship that does not exalt and lift up the name of Jesus! — Ed Stetzer