Center Church

Author: Timothy Keller
Publisher: Zondervan
ISBN: 0310494192
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 400

Book Description
Practical and Gospel-centered thoughts on how to have a fruitful ministry by one of America's leading and most beloved pastor. Many church leaders are struggling to adapt to a culture that values individuality above loyalty to a group or institution. There have been so many "church growth" and "effective ministry" books in the past few decades that it's hard to know where to start or which ones will provide useful and honest insight. Based on over twenty years of ministry in New York City, Timothy Keller takes a unique approach that measures a ministry's success neither by numbers nor purely by the faithfulness of its leaders, but on the biblical grounds of fruitfulness. Center Church outlines a balanced theological vision for ministry organized around three core commitments: Gospel-centered: The gospel of grace in Jesus Christ changes everything, from our hearts to our community to the world. It completely reshapes the content, tone, and strategy of all that we do. City-centered: With a positive approach toward our culture, we learn to affirm that cities are wonderful, strategic, and under-served places for gospel ministry. Movement-centered: Instead of building our own tribe, we seek the prosperity and peace of our community as we are led by the Holy Spirit. "Between a pastor's doctrinal beliefs and ministry practices should be a well-conceived vision for how to bring the gospel to bear on the particular cultural setting and historical moment. This is something more practical than just doctrine but much more theological than "how-to steps" for carrying out a ministry. Once this vision is in place, it leads church leaders to make good decisions on how to worship, disciple, evangelize, serve, and engage culture in their field of ministry—whether in a city, suburb, or small town." — Tim Keller, Core Church

Gospel Shaped Worship Leader's Guide

Author: Jared Wilson
Publisher: The Good Book Company
ISBN: 1910307912
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 144

Book Description
Leader's Guide for the Worship track of Gospel Shaped Church from The Gospel Coalition, exploring how a church should be a worshipping community. Gospel Shaped Church is a curriculum from The Gospel Coalition that will help whole congregations pause and think carefully and prayerfully about the kind of church they are called to be. This seven-week whole-church curriculum explores what it means to be a worshiping community. The Leader's Guide contains everything you need to lead this flexible course. Christians are people who have discovered that the one true object of our worship is the God who has revealed himself in and through Jesus Christ. For most believers, worship is what happens for an hour on Sunday morning as we sing and pray together. But the Bible reveals a much bigger vision for what worship really is and how it should shape our lives. So what exactly is worship? What should we be doing when we meet together for “church” on Sundays? And how does that connect with what we do the rest of the week? As we search the scriptures together we will discover that true worship is more than this-it is to encompass the whole of life. This engaging and flexible resource will challenge us to worship God every day of the week, with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. This flexible resource will train your whole church through teaching, preaching, daily reading and small-group Bible study and discussion-or any combination of those elements. The overall aim is that your church will embark on a journey to discover the kind of people they should be as they are shaped by the gospel of Jesus Christ. Works alongside the Gospel Shaped Worship DVD and the Gospel Shaped Worship Handbook for use by church members.

A Cross-Shaped Gospel

Author: Bryan Loritts
Publisher: Moody Publishers
ISBN: 0802481019
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 160

Book Description
WARNING! This book could make your life messy! Today’s church is continually being confronted with the question, “What is the gospel?” Many churches answer this through strong exposition of biblical truth. Others answer with a focus on community engagement. But doesn’t Christ call us to do both? The covenant of salvation demands a radical re-patterning of relationships. Bryan Lorrits, a pastor in the heart of one of America’s historically racially divided urban centers, seizes the opportunity to engage God, the church, and culture in ways that may challenge your beliefs, practices, and relationships. A Cross-Shaped Gospel clearly articulates the vertical dimension of the Christian faith, as well as looking at the horizontal implications of salvation for growth, service, and community. It provokes readers to think about the implications of living out their faith. What does the gospel mean for issues of: Political engagement? Class distinctions? Race Relations? It is only by reaching upward that we can reach outward in power and with the proper motives, so let A Cross- Shaped Gospel help you in crafting and communicating a biblical philosophy of engaging God and others well!

The Gospel Shaped Leader

Author: Scott Thomas
Publisher: New Growth Press
ISBN: 1645071642
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 130

Book Description
How do you grow as a leader in the church? Should you read church growth books? Take a few seminars? Or just wing it? Scott Thomas, former President of Acts 29, church planter, and pastor has a different approach. He unpacks how leaning on Jesus empowers not just your teaching, but also grows the humility, kindness, and biblical wisdom you ...

Christ-Centered Worship

Author: Bryan Chapell
Publisher: Baker Academic
ISBN: 0801036402
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Book Description
The bestselling author of Christ-Centered Preaching provides a useful and accessible resource that traces the history of Christian worship and calls contemporary congregations to gospel faithfulness.

Gospel-Shaped Marriage

Author: Chad Van Dixhoorn
Publisher: Crossway
ISBN: 1433580748
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 140

Book Description
A Gracious, Biblical Model for Marriage Married Christians, and those preparing for marriage, know that they're sinners—and that their sin threatens God's great purposes for their union, including mutual support, companionship, and intimacy. But how often do believers recognize that they are also saints, equipped through God's power to create a healthy, loving marriage? In Gospel-Shaped Marriage, Chad and Emily Van Dixhoorn encourage couples with how Christ calls and enables them to love their spouse. They give a brief assessment of the biblical design for marriage while offering practical, proven advice for husbands and wives. Drawing from Scripture and the writings of Puritan minister William Gouge, their advice also prepares churches, friends, and others to support married couples in their lives. Comprehensive and Theological: Includes a summary of marriage in redemptive history, recommended Bible verses with each chapter, and prayer prompts Accessible: Offers guidance for singles preparing for marriage, young and mature couples, struggling couples, and those who want to strengthen their relationship Practical Advice: Written by a pastor and his wife, this concise, easy-to-understand guide includes discussion questions for each chapter

Gospel Shaped Living Handbook

Author: Vermon Pierre
Publisher: Good Book Company
ISBN: 9781909919273
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages :

Book Description
Gospel Shaped Church is a new curriculum from The Gospel Coalition that will help whole congregations pause and think carefully and prayerfully about the kind of church they are called to be. Gospel Shaped Living is a track that explores over 7 sessions what it means for a local church to be a distinctive countercultural community. How should Christians live? The church should be a distinctive community of God's peoplebut how different are we from the rest of the world? This track helps us untangle some of the false ideas and traditions that evangelicals have had in the past, and reveals the more deeply challenging picture that emerges from Scripture. This comprehensive handbook contains discussion questions for the main teaching sessions, daily devotionals, Bible study materials, and space for you to record your thoughts, prayers and ideas as you work through the material with your church.

Story-Shaped Worship

Author: Robbie F. Castleman
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 083083964X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 225

Book Description
In Story-Shaped Worship Robbie Castleman attempts nothing less than to uncover the fundamental shape of worship. Right worship doesn't require a traditionalist return to earlier forms of church, she argues, but a fresh response to God in light of the revealed patterns of worship we find in the Bible and church history.

Holy Sexuality and the Gospel

Author: Christopher Yuan
Publisher: Multnomah
ISBN: 073529092X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 258

Book Description
From the author of Out of a Far Country, which details his dramatic conversion from an agnostic gay man who put his identity in his sexuality to a Bible professor who now puts his identity in Christ alone, comes a gospel-centered discussion of sex, desire, and relationships. Dr. Christopher Yuan explores the concept of holy sexuality--chastity in singleness or faithfulness in marriage--in a practical and relevant manner, equipping readers with an accessible yet robust theology of sexuality. Whether you want to share Christ with a loved one who identifies as gay or you're wrestling with questions of identity yourself, this book will help you better understand sexuality in light of God's grand story and realize that holy sexuality is actually good news for all.

Gospel Centered Marriage

Author: Tim Chester
Publisher: The Good Book Company
ISBN: 1908317612
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 116

Book Description
How the gospel shapes the practical realities of everyday married life. Most of what the Bible has to say about marriage does not come flagged up under a heading of “marriage”. It’s not just the famous “marriage passages” that should shape a marriage, but the whole Bible-story of God’s good creation, humanity’s wicked rebellion and God’s gracious redemption. To understand why marriages struggle-as they all do-we need to understand the nature of our sin. To make marriages work, we need to understand how to apply the truth about God and his salvation. This study guide on Christian marriage focuses on how the gospel shapes the practical realities of everyday life. Author Tim Chester lifts the lid on many of the common pressure points that modern couples face, and shows how a proper understanding of the gospel can shape a response.