Theology Missions

In The Mission of God's People, Wright argues that having a strong biblical theology that shapes our thinking and behavior must be in place before answering the call of the Great Commission. Wright first steps back and answers some of the biggest questions of God's story and our place within it. Part of the Biblical Theology for Life series, this practical and robust audiobook will help you and your church ground your witness-bearing purpose and worship on the solid foundation of biblical understanding and reflection.

John Piper's bestselling book on missions (more than 300,000 copies sold) draws on key biblical texts to demonstrate that worship is the ultimate goal of the church and that proper worship fuels missionary outreach. Piper offers a biblical defense of God's supremacy in all things, providing listeners with a sound theological foundation for missions.

Why would someone risk his safety, destroy his schedule, and become dirty and bloody to help a needy person of another race and social class? And why would Jesus tell us "Go and do likewise"? Like the wounded man on the Jericho road, there are needy people in our path- the widow next door, the family strapped with medical bills, the homeless man outside our place of worship. God call us to be ministers of mercy to people in need of shelter, assistance, medical care, or just friendship.

Across the church, there is a rift between theology and missions. Bad theology produces bad missions, and bad missions fuel bad theology. We wrongly think that we must choose between making a global impact and thinking deeply about the things of God. But the relationship between theology and missions is symbiotic—one cannot exist without the other. They walk hand in hand.

Author Bruce Wilkinson shows you what Jesus said about God's plan to reward you in eternity for what you do for Him today. What you'll discover will unlock the mystery of God's power, plan and will for your life. And you'll begin to live with the unshakable certainty that what you do today matters...forever!

In Many Are Called, Dr. Scott Hahn, one of the most celebrated scholars and influential Catholic writers living today, enthusiastically encourages Catholics around the world to renew their focus on the sacred role of the Catholic priest. Using his unique ability to present deep spiritual and theological ideas in the language of everyday life, Dr. Hahn examines the biblical and historical roots of the priesthood to explain the centrality of the priest in the life of the church.

Most Christians would agree that the Bible provides a basis for mission. But Christopher Wright boldly maintains that mission is bigger than that - there is in fact a missional basis for the Bible. The entire Bible is generated by and is all about God's mission. In order to understand the Bible, we need a missional hermeneutic of the Bible, an interpretive perspective that is in tune with this great missional theme. We need to see the "big picture" of God's mission and how the familiar bits and pieces fit into the grand narrative of Scripture.

In our shrinking, pluralistic world, the belief that Jesus is the only way of salvation is increasingly called arrogant and even hateful. In the face of this criticism, many shrink back from affirming the global necessity of knowing and believing in Jesus. In Jesus: the Only Way to God, John Piper offers a timely plea for the evangelical church to consider what is at stake in surrendering the unique, universal place of Jesus in salvation.

For years, Christians have been asking, "If you died tonight, do you know where you would go?" It turns out that many believers have been giving the wrong answer. It is not heaven. Wright outlines the present confusion about a Christian's future hope and shows how it is deeply intertwined with how we live today. Wright asserts that Christianity's most distinctive idea is bodily resurrection, and provides a magisterial defense for a literal resurrection of Jesus. Wright then explores our expectation of "new heavens and a new earth".

In recent years, Christians everywhere are rediscovering the Jewish roots of their faith. Every year at Easter time, many believers now celebrate Passover meals (known as Seders) seeking to understand exactly what happened at Jesus' final Passover, the night before he was crucified. Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist shines fresh light on the Last Supper by looking at it through Jewish eyes.

Theology shapes who we are and how we organize to transform the world. Especially written for required United Methodist classes, this accessible book uses a Wesleyan theological frame—connection—to help listeners understand United Methodism's polity and organization as the interrelationship of our beliefs, mission, and practice. The book is organized into four parts—United Methodist beliefs, mission, practice, and organization. Polity and organization are primary embodiments of The United Methodist Church.

The fullness and vigour of Christianity has been in decline in the life of the West, the application of gospel truths often limited to personal evangelism and our personal prayer life. But this is a radically narrow view of the Christian mission. In the biblical narrative we see a vision for the mission of God’s people that is nothing less than the faithful worship of God in every area of life and culture - in our laws, educational institutions, politics, and arts, to name just a few.

In Azusa Street Mission and Revival, Cecil M. Robeck Jr. brings to bear expertise from decades of focused study in church history to reveal the captivating story of the Apostolic Faith Mission in Los Angeles, which became known as the Azusa Street Mission. From humble beginnings with few resources, this small, uniquely diverse, and inclusive congregation led by William J. Seymour ignited a fire that quickly grew into a blaze and spread across the world, giving rise to the global Pentecostal movement.

Author David Bennett came out to his parents as gay when he was 14 and entered Sydney's active gay community a few years later. In A War of Loves, he shares his growing desire as a gay rights activist to see justice for LGBTQI people, his journey through new age religions and French existentialism, and his university years as a postmodernist - before Jesus Christ showed up in his life in a highly unexpected way, leading him down a path he never would have imagined or predicted.

"We are to love God for himself, because of a twofold reason; nothing is more reasonable, nothing more profitable." On Loving God is first a touching description of God's love for us as an unmistakably demonstrated in the death of his son. Second, it is a call for us to joyfully respond to God like the child who runs to and embraces her father whose love is sure. As St. Bernard writes, "They love all the more, because they know themselves to be loved so exceedingly."

Duane Elmer asked people around the world how they felt about Western missionaries. The response? "Missionaries could be more effective if they did not think they were better than us". The last thing we want to do in cross-cultural ministry is to offend people in other cultures. Unfortunately, all too often and even though we don't mean it, our actions communicate superiority, paternalism, imperialism, and arrogance.

Just like we do today, the writers and chief actors of the Old Testament felt a deep longing for the presence of God. It is symbolized in the temple ruins, and before it the temple itself, and before that the ark of the covenant and the tabernacle that housed it, and before that the Garden of Eden. In response to this longing, God shares his ultimate mission, in which his people play a part: the expansion of Eden, the temple of God's presence, to all peoples throughout the earth.

In this short, accessible account of the Eastern Orthodox Church, John McGuckin begins by tackling the question "What is the Church?" His answer is a clear, historically and theologically rooted portrait of what the Church is for Orthodox Christianity and how it differs from Western Christians' expectations.

Trendy new missions strategies are a dime a dozen, promising missionaries monumental results in record time. These strategies report explosive movements of people turning to Christ, but their claims are often dubious and they do little to ensure the health of believers or churches that remain. How can churches and missionaries address the urgent need to reach unreached people without falling for quick fixes?

Why I Am Catholic traces Brandon Vogt’s spiritual journey that culminated in the realization that Catholicism was right about a lot of things and serves as a compelling reproposal of the Church for former Catholics; a persuasive argument for truth and beauty to those who have become jaded and disenchanted with religion; and at the same time offers practicing Catholics a much-needed dose of confidence and clarity to affirm their faith against an increasingly skeptical culture.