Local Church

Every local church should be engaged with global missions, even if most individuals in the church aren't called to go overseas. But what does this engagement actually look like? How can local churches train, send, and support missionaries well? Unpacking principles from the Bible and applying them in the context of real life in a local church, this short guide is filled with practical steps and advice for supporting missionaries, forming international partnerships, sending short-term teams, and engaging with the nations here at home.

In this audiobook, Megan Hill answers a common question of churchgoers: What's so great about the church? With rich theology and practical direction, Hill encourages and equips both first-time visitors and regular members to delight in being a part of the local church - no matter how messy and ordinary it seems today. It is only when God's people begin to see one another as the Lord sees them that they will truly find a place to belong.

Capitol Hill Baptist Church, located just blocks away from the center of American power, has a rich 150-year history. Its members have participated in significant world events, advocated for religious freedoms, and spoken out against the moral failings of the times. There's no doubt this church has had a unique impact on evangelicalism from a significant location. But these lively characters and their unique experiences only tell part of this engaging narrative.

Many Christians struggle with the idea of church membership. This means that they do not join their local church as members. They then miss out on a huge range of spiritual and practical benefits. This booklet explains why church membership is both biblical and beneficial, and how it results in ‘righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit’ (Romans 14:17), blessings for believers, and glory for God. It gives biblical, cultural and practical encouragement for Christians to join their local church as members. Christians must believe Jesus, who said, “It is more blessed to give than ...

This is a story of power, set against Puritan America and the English Civil War. Williams's interactions with King James, Francis Bacon, Oliver Cromwell, and his mentor Edward Coke set his course, but his fundamental ideas came to fruition in America, as Williams, though a Puritan, collided with John Winthrop's vision of his "City upon a Hill."

Does the local church today recognize its place as the beloved bride of Christ? In this audiobook, Dustin Benge invites believers who have underestimated or become disillusioned by the church to rediscover its beauty and glory. Exploring biblical qualities including the Trinitarian relationship, selfless service, and gospel proclamation, he awakens the affections of Christ's followers for their local church home.

For 35 years Biblical Eldership has been the premier book explaining the biblical teaching on church eldership, which is shared pastoral leadership by a council of scripturally qualified, Spirit-placed elders. Biblical Eldership has helped ignite a worldwide awakening to this long-neglected and misunderstood subject. This new edition is a comprehensive revision. For those who love solid Bible exposition, this is a much-welcomed volume.

This little book will undoubtedly serve as a go-to handbook for many pastors, local elders, and Ephesians 4:11 ministers to learn to structure any meeting for the operations and demonstrations of the Holy Spirit. Instructions include: How to be honorable vessels who excel in spiritual gifts. How to keep the move and flow of the Spirit clean, crisp, fresh, and orderly. Staying free from excesses, abuses, and extremes. Learning to give place to the ministry of interpretation. Why the ministry of tongues and interpretation are to be more frequently manifested than any other gifts. Increasing ...

Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, paying particular attention to the downtrodden and the poor. As followers of Jesus, Christians are called to imitate his example and reach out to those who have the least. This book offers biblical guidelines and practical strategies for reaching those on the margins of our society with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Leaders in the church are called to be shepherds, not a board of directors. This requires involvement in a personal shepherding ministry among the people. The Shepherd Leader unpacks the four primary ministries of shepherds - knowing, feeding, leading, and protecting - on macro (churchwide) and micro (personal) levels, providing seven elements to be incorporated into an effective shepherding plan.

House church advocates want pastors to know exactly why they left the institutional church. They have legitimate disagreements with the way the local church is functioning today, and their issues have been largely ignored by pastors and those who are in leadership. Their evacuation out of the institutional church and into house churches may be the wrong move for some of the right reasons. There are serious issues to deal with, and pastors, it’s time to wake up and lead the church into the new wine skin.

Many new believers have questions about what it means to live as a Christian in the context of a local church, and pastors are looking for resources to pass along to their congregations to help them think biblically about the Christian life. Church Questions is a series by 9Marks that seeks to provide Christians with sound and accessible biblical teaching by answering common questions about church life. Each booklet offers biblical answers and practical applications with the goal of nurturing healthy church practice and commitment.

Nearly all churches and ministries consider themselves dedicated to evangelism, and many explicitly include outreach in their mission statements. But few are actually bearing fruit. Kevin Harney diagnoses this problem and offers guidance for multiplying the outreach impact of churches. Organic Outreach for Churches provides direction for local congregations to weave evangelism into the fabric of the church. Commitment to the Great Commission is not simply about sending money and prayers to missions or holding occasional events to reach out (although these things are good).

God’s vision for the local church is a family with Jesus as the Head of our house, the body of Christ built up in love. This book aims to secure us as the people of the local church to our Anchor. That in this time, in this place, we would take the truths of the Gospel like a carabiner and tether ourselves to Christ. May we rise strong and mature, no longer tossed to and fro by the strong undertow of culture—that pull back into the will and way of life in the world. There’s a unity of faith in the Spirit and a fullness of Christ the Father desires for us.

The perfect start to your fivefold ministry call. Identify your God-given gifts for serving the church and then mature into your fivefold ministry calling. Make steady progress toward your goal to become a fivefold minister. Master the skill sets necessary for your ministry. Apostle Colette Toach has trained Christians for 25 years to recognize their spiritual gifts and fivefold ministry destinies. However big the promise/vision God's given you, it starts with this strong foundation. You’ll learn: Your core purpose and calling for what you've been put on this earth for. How God uses you ...

Filled with real-life stories from the authors’ own experiences, Teach a Man to Fish provides churches and missions organizations with a blueprint for helping people help themselves in order to create lasting change and long-term sustainability and independence.

We live in a season when church attendance is still building back to what it was before the pandemic. Many Christians have been separated from their church communities. How do we resume and re-prioritize church life and join back together? Why do we even need to—especially when online church fits so neatly around our schedules? Gathered for Good addresses this felt need with empathy and authority and encourage believers to commit to their local church community as a way to deepen their spiritual growth and invest in treasure that will last.

What world missions ministry would arise if you only had the Bible? Answer: It would start and end with the local church. A focus on the local church is biblical, practical, and effective. It aligns with the New Testament. Local churches everywhere display God's wisdom and the glory of Christ in the gospel. You’ll see it from the view of Christ, the Great Commission, first-century Christians, Paul, and the New Testament canon itself. Once you see it, you can’t un-see it! This book walks through these steps: A.

Ushering in the local church is much more than just shaking hands and passing offering plates. Fulfilling your role as an usher is just as important to the body of Christ as that of a prophet, teacher, or evangelist. This book covers both the biblical and the practical aspects of church ushering. Buddy Bell, founder of Ministry of Helps International, combines humor with informative teaching to help you become more effective in your ministry. You will be challenged to serve with excellence.

HELPS: Having Enough Loving People Serving Churches need the ministry of helps. The time has come for church members to begin doing the work of the ministry, and let the pastors return to doing what the have been called to do–be a spokesmen for Jesus. Finally, a book filled with useful information for: • Ushers • Greeters • Nursery Workers • Counselors • All Areas of Your Churches Ministry The Ministry of Helps Handbook by Buddy Bell is a unique combination of teaching, seminar guidelines and answers to often-asked questions. This useful and complete book provides pastors, and ...