Sharing is caring – a list of FREE resources.

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Free resources, what a blessing they can be for ministry. I will be sharing a few links to websites where you can find free, resources, but if you are anything like me, sometimes all you do when you see blog posts is skip the intro and go and find the headings or look for the “Juicy bits” of an article. Please don’t do that today, I promise this intro wont be long I would just like to ask for understanding on 3 things before you go and explore the links to the free resources I have shared below;

1. Why am I doing this?

After having a busy week, needing resources with a very small budget and not so much time, you sometimes find yourself scrolling and scrolling on the internet looking for decent resources to use and because you are in a hurry you end up missing some really valuable resources that would greatly benefit your ministry – I hope this list will help, below I will be sharing the heading, a short two sentence introductory title to the resources, and the links. This leads me to my second point . . .

2. Content and concerns

The links I am sharing below are links that I have personally come across and many of them I have used myself, so for the most part, I can say that they are “theologically and doctrinally” sound, however there are many links shared below and I am human, so I can make mistakes and miss things –

please, PLEASE, P L E A S E

ensure that the material you use is inline with your theological persuasion and your churches statement of Faith, in other words, what I am saying is – if you need something, please don’t just “copy and paste”. Perhaps share the resource with a friend or a pastor and ask them to have a once over, to see if the material is reliable, beneficial and inline with what you believe. There is sooooo much on the internet these days that it is easy to share the “wrong stuff”.

Paul encourages us of this very thing in 1 Timothy 4:16 – ¹⁶ Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

And lastly:

3. Comments for what you find below

I have tried to list as many ministries as I could think of, I may have missed a few (I probably did), but as I said earlier, there is so much that we can find on the internet these days, it is endless (and in fact sometimes overwhelming). You might also see that some of these links will lead you to external websites that lead you to more external websites, and that is ok, again, just be cautious & spend time looking through a website before just downloading the very first thing that you find applicable to what you may need for your ministry.

May the Lord bless you and I pray that this article will be a blessing for you and your ministry.

Covid-19 resources

Free resources for your stay at home during lockdown and Covid-19

1. https://www.crossway.org/articles/free-resources-for-your-stay-at-home-during-covid-19/

2. https://www.salvationarmy.org/ihq/covid19-prayer

3. https://ministryspark.com/resources/covid-19-church-re-entry-roadmap/

Free E-Books

I am just sharing a few links for the below, again there are numerous E-Books that we can find on the net, however, PDF drive and the other links, offer a number of free e-Books

1. https://www.pdfdrive.com/search?q=christian%20books&pagecount=&pubyear=&searchin=&page=3

2. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/free-discounted-books-quarantine/

3. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/free-discounted-books-quarantine/

4. https://churchleaders.com/pastors/free-resources-pastors/145403-brother-lawrence-free-ebook-the-practice-of-the-presence-of-god.html

Commentaries and Bible Study Tools

The below resource can be used for personal bible studies, devotion or sermon preparation or even as curriculum for classes.

1. https://www.crossway.org/articles/free-resources-for-your-stay-at-home-during-covid-19/

2. https://www.blueletterbible.org/

3. https://biblehub.com/

4. https://www.preceptaustin.org/

5. https://www.biblestudytools.com/

Preaching, Teaching and Sermon illustrations

The below goes hand in hand with the commentaries and bible study sites above.

1. https://www.kevinhalloran.net/10-free-online-preaching-resources/

2. https://www.max7.org/en

3. https://ministry127.com/resources/illustrations

4. https://www.preaching.com/sermon-illustrations/

Great online Bibles / Bible Apps that are free to use

I personally enjoy reading and holding my physical bible and I generally only use online bibles and bible apps for sermon preparation, devotions etc, but if you are looking for a good reliable bible to read online – these are the sites I would lead you to. I would recommend the NIV, ESV, CSB or NKJV versions as they are reliably translated, easy to read and understand. (Some of these apps contain devotionals as well)

1. https://www.bible.com/app

2. http://globible.com/

3. https://www.olivetree.com/

4. https://www.youversion.com/

5. https://www.olivetree.com/

Childrens Ministry

Now I have probably not even scratched the surface when it comes to Free resources for Children’s ministry, however, below are a few resources that might be of help to you in Children’s ministry. May I again remind you to ensure that the material is inline with your theological conviction.

1. http://app.beginnersbible.com/

2. https://nccumc.org/mediacenter/kids-at-home-free-christian-education-online-resources/

3. https://open.life.church/categories/314-kids

4. https://ministry-to-children.com/

Ladies ministry

Below I managed to find some wonderful idea’s and resources for ladies ministry, there is an exceptionally interesting site below for ladies looking to run a retreat.

1. https://proverbs31mentor.com/the-ultimate-list-of-free-resources-for-christian-women

2. https://womensministrytoolbox.com/resources/

3. https://womensministry.net/free-resources/

4. https://www.retreatinabag.net/resources/free/

5. https://www.womensministrytools.com/

6. https://lovingchristministries.com/icebreakers-for-women/

Mens Ministry

As Men we struggle to be creative at the best of times, below you will find some great resources that will help keep us intentional, accountable and dependable.

1. https://www.mensgroup.org/bible-studies

2. https://men.ag.org/

3. https://bible.org/article/equipping-men-impact

4. https://www.resourceumc.org/en/content/5-out-of-the-box-ideas-for-mens-ministry

Youth Ministry

Youth ministry is an incredibly challenging yet rewarding ministry and youth leaders, pastors and workers need all the help they can get. Ministry to youth has been an incredible resource to me over the years in the ministry – please find the link to their website (as well as other websites) below;

1. https://ministrytoyouth.com/youth-group-lessons/

2. https://www.dare2share.org/apps/

3. https://www.dare2share.org/resources/free-youth-leader-resources/

4. https://opendoorsyouth.org/guts/

5. https://www.tansquaredyouthministry.com/ultimate-youth-min-resource-kit/

Young Adults Ministry

How would you define a “Young Adult” well young adulthood is that awkward age where you are perhaps in varsity, you are single and not married yet, you would like to find a safe space to hang out but you are not sure where you fit in or where you can serve – these resources should be of some help for you.

1. https://ministryarchitects.com/free-tools-and-resources-young-adult-ministry/

2. https://www.y2am.org/ministryplan

3. https://alltogether.co.nz/the-what-and-how-of-youth-ministry/

4. https://open.life.church/search?q=Young%20Adults

Ice-breakers and Games

This is just a fun list of resources that you can use to find some ice-breakers and games – the one site even includes video tutorials;

1. https://spirituallyhungry.com/no-prep-youth-group-games/

2. https://youthgroupgames.com.au/category/small-groups/

3. https://www.seedbed.com/top-20-youth-group-games/

4. https://za.pinterest.com/

5. https://www.cru.org/us/en/train-and-grow/help-others-grow/leading-small-groups/small-group-icebreakers.html

6. https://snacknation.com/blog/boost-productivity-meetings-icebreakers-games/

7. https://insight.typepad.co.uk/40_icebreakers_for_small_groups.pdf

8. https://factsandtrends.net/2020/02/19/75-icebreaker-questions-for-church-small-groups/

9. https://www.resourceumc.org/en/content/7-creative-icebreakers-for-all-ages-and-church-groups

10. https://growchurch.net/church-small-group-ice-breakers

Great websites for articles to read

Sometimes we feel like reading, but not necessarily a book, but we also don’t want to read something shallow and unedifying, I would highly recommend reading the articles from the websites below.

1. https://dwell.faithaliveresources.org/home.html

2. https://www.crossway.org/

3. https://www.desiringgod.org/

4. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/

5. https://www.9marks.org/church-search/

6. Free Christian Magazines: https://www.thescribesportion.com/free-christian-magazines/

Care Ministry

People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care. The following resources contain incredible resources to aid you with your care ministry.

1. https://careministry.com/

2. https://www.churchfuel.com/congregational-care-a-guide-to-building-a-caring-and-effective-ministry/

3. https://www.churchfuel.com/congregational-care-a-guide-to-building-a-caring-and-effective-ministry/

Prayer Ministry

Prayer goes hand in hand with care ministry, and at times we find ourselves in a place where we just don’t know what to say to the Lord and we need some encouragement in our prayer lives again. Perhaps we would like to keep track of what we have been praying for, or even keep a consolidated list of our prayer items – (Prayermate is great for that). Maybe you would like to start a prayer feed for your church (Echo is great for that) please see the following list of resources:

1. https://open.life.church/resources/2240-pray-first-a-personal-prayer-guide

2. https://www.biblegateway.com/blog/2017/05/strengthen-your-prayer-life-with-these-free-prayer-resources/

3. http://www.operationworld.org/free-prayer-enhancing-resources

4. https://www.prayermate.net/

5. https://new.echoprayer.com/

6. https://www.christianprayerresources.org/

Scripture made into music

As a Church, we recently did a Psalm devotional series, and for each Psalm that we had a devotion for, it was accompanied by a song, this made the devotion even more meaningful. Below you will see a few links where people have turned scripture into music or song, this really compliments the passage and can help make your quiet time more meaningful.

1. https://thepsalmsproject.com/music

2. https://cardiphonia.bandcamp.com/album/songs-for-the-sojourn-vol-1

3. http://theversesproject.com/

Worship, Media and Graphics

In the technological era that we live in today, it is important for us to ensure that our artwork, media, musical worship and slides look and sound decent and professional, but not all of us have an employed professional or the skills to do this by ourselves. Here are a few links below that can help you with the above.

1. https://open.life.church/categories/316-worship

2. https://prochurchmedia.com/free-church-media/

3. https://www.canva.com/

4. https://reachrightstudios.com/free-church-graphics/

5. https://reachrightstudios.com/free-church-graphics/

Apologetics and defending your Faith

Below I will just be listing two fantastic resources that I often turn to when I have questions that I desperately need answers for. These two websites offer profoundly sound and reliable answers to questions on Faith and Christianity.

1. https://www.rzim.org/

2. https://www.gotquestions.org/

Free Missions resources

Our Mission is to go out and make Disciples (Mt 28:18-20), well it is incredibly important for us to stay relevant and in tune with what is happening on the Mission field, be it Judea, Samaria or the ends of the earth. The below resources will provide valuable and key information that will help you stay up to date and intentional with your Mission.

1. https://simplymobilizing.com/

2. https://churchleaders.com/category/outreach-missions/free-resources-outreach-missions

3. https://omf.org/resources-for-mission/missionbiblestudies/

4. https://open.life.church/categories/320-missions

5. https://joshuaproject.net/

6. http://www.opendoors.org/

Discipleship

Make Disciples, one thing I have learnt about discipleship in my short few years in ministry is that discipleship is a process, not just a once off event – it takes dedication and time, in order to do this effectively, we need to be intentional and committed, these resources can help provide a foundational platform for just that.

1. https://churchleaders.com/smallgroups/free-resources-small-groups/149956-free-discipleship-training-guide.html

2. http://www.discipleshipcourse.org/material.html

3. http://smallgroupleadership.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Discipleship-Training-Manual-pdf-copy.pdf

4. http://disciple6.com/

5. https://justdisciple.com/discipleship-tools/

6. http://www.smallcircle.com/

7. https://replicateapp.com/

8. http://church-multiplication.com/disciplemaker/

General Church resources

Below are 3 general sites that lead you to a list of additional free resources.

1. https://www.sharechurch.com/Home.aspx

2. https://www.sharechurch.com/Home.aspx

3. https://www.openresources.org/

In ending

Phew, lots of scrolling, clicking and reading – well, my hope is that you have benefited from the above list and if you know of, or have any additional free resources that you would like to share, please do mention them in the comments section below.

May the Lord bless you, keep you safe and use you mightily for His kingdom and His Glory.