Finding Church

Finding Church
Author: Wayne Jacobsen
Publisher: Blue Sheep Media
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2014-10-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780983949152

What if the church Jesus is building looks more like wildflowers strewn across an alpine meadow than a walled garden with manicured hedges? If, like many other people, you have questioned whether there is something more to Jesus' church than the religious institutions we've inherited after two thousand years, you'll want to read Finding Church. Here is straight talk from a man who has sought authentic New Testament community for more than fifty years and who has discovered it in the most unlikely places.

Finding a Vision for Your Church

Finding a Vision for Your Church
Author: Michael A. Milton
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 251
Release: 2024-10-18
Genre: Religion
ISBN:

The church is more than a building - it is an assembly of people joined together across distances and even through time to fulfill God’s purposes in the world. Each local gathering of that assembly needs a vision to help its members accomplish the work God has called them to do. But how do you inspire your church to create and follow through on a vision? Mike Milton provides tested, biblical ideas to get everyone in the church involved in a plan to help the congregation grow. Each chapter develops an awareness of what needs to be done, provides questions for review, and includes prayers by elders and ministers of churches that have put these ideas to use.

Finding Organic Church

Finding Organic Church
Author: Frank Viola
Publisher: David C Cook
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2009-09-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0781403529

From the bestselling author of Reimagining Church comes an essential guide that provides practical, effective tools for finding vibrant Christian communities. Driven by a passion for the body of Christ, Frank Viola has written some of today's most authoritative and celebrated works on the growing home, organic, and missional church movements. Now Viola shares practical keys to a healthy and successful church plant. Viola contends that many congregations today are struggling to survive, not because of bad planning, but poor planting. He presents an essential guide for starting and nourishing organic churches in any culture. Drawing from both Scripture and a wealth of experience, Viola offers real-world tools, insights, and practical suggestions so churches won't just grow, but thrive.

Real Church

Real Church
Author: Larry Crabb
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2009-05-04
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 141857628X

"Church as I know it usually leaves deep parts of me dormant, unawakened, and untouched. I don't much like going. So, what now?" What's happening to the Church? Why are so many people who for decades have been faithful, steady churchgoers (and others who want to start going to church but can't seem to find one that meets their needs) losing interest in even attending church, let alone getting involved? What is fundamentally wrong with the "types" of churches (Seeker, Bible, Emergent, Liberal, Evangelical) that dot the religious landscape? Larry Crabb believes it is time to rethink the entire foundation and focus of what we know today as church -- everything we're doing and are wanting to see happen. In his most honest and vulnerable book to date, the author reveals his own struggles in this area and then offers a compelling vision of why God designed us to live in community with Him and others, and what the church he wants to be a part of looks like.

Introverts in the Church

Introverts in the Church
Author: Adam S. McHugh
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 246
Release: 2017-08-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0830889272

Have you ever felt out of place as an introvert in an extroverted church culture? With practical illustrations from church and parachurch contexts, McHugh offers ways for introverts to serve, lead, worship, and even evangelize in ways consistent with their personalities. This expanded edition is essential reading for introverted Christians and church leaders alike.

Searching for Sunday

Searching for Sunday
Author: Rachel Held Evans
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2015-04-14
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0718022130

Are you struggling to connect with your church community? Do you find yourself questioning the core beliefs that you once held dear? Searching for Sunday, from New York Times bestselling author Rachel Held Evans is a heartfelt ode to the past and a hopeful gaze into the future of what it means to be a part of the modern church. Like millions of her millennial peers, Rachel Held Evans didn't want to go to church anymore. The hypocrisy, the politics, the gargantuan building budgets, the scandals--to her, it was beginning to feel like church culture was too far removed from Jesus. Yet, despite her cynicism and misgivings, something kept drawing Evans back to church. Evans found herself wanting to better understand the church and find her place within it, so she set out on a new adventure. Within the pages of Searching for Sunday, Evans catalogs her journey as she loves, leaves, and finds the church once again. Evans tells the story of her faith through the lens of seven sacraments of the Catholic church--baptism, confession, holy orders, communion, confirmation, the anointing of the sick, and marriage--to teach us the essential truths about what she's learned along the way, including: Faith isn't just meant to be believed, it's meant to be lived and shared in community Christianity isn't a kingdom for the worthy--it's a kingdom for the hungry, the broken, and the imperfect The countless and beautiful ways that God shows up in the ordinary parts of our daily lives Searching for Sunday will help you unpack the messiness of community, teaching us that by overcoming our cynicism, we can all find hope, grace, love, and, somewhere in between, church.

How Can Our Church Find a Faithful Pastor?

How Can Our Church Find a Faithful Pastor?
Author: Mark Dever
Publisher: Crossway
Total Pages: 32
Release: 2020-09-24
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1433570238

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. Each volume offers biblical answers and practical applications with the goal of nurturing healthy church practice and commitment. In this concise booklet, best-selling author Mark Dever offers clear biblical insight to churches in search of new leadership by providing 6 characteristics to look for in a new pastor, along with 11 suggestions of strategies to implement during the process.

Finding a Church You Can Love and Loving the Church You've Found

Finding a Church You Can Love and Loving the Church You've Found
Author: Kevin G. Harney
Publisher: Zondervan
Total Pages: 164
Release: 2009-05-18
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0310565782

How to Find Your Best Fit Whether you grew up going to church twice on Sundays or never set foot in a church at all, finding and sinking your roots into a church community is crucial to your spiritual well-being. Finding the right church home can be a huge challenge, and also a lot of fun. Kevin and Sherry Harney point out that, while no church is perfect, some will fit you better than others. They show what a healthy church looks like, how to handle hot issues facing churches today, and how to determine whether a church's unique worship style will inspire or distract you. Even better, the Harneys help you discover how to plug into a church and experience the joy of giving back. In the words of the authors, "Church can be one of the most joy-filled, life-giving experiences you will ever have." Practical, encouraging, and true to the Bible, this book is your road map to finding a spiritual community you can really love.

What Is a Healthy Church?

What Is a Healthy Church?
Author: Mark Dever
Publisher: Crossway
Total Pages: 152
Release: 2024-09-26
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1433596636

Key Traits of a Healthy Church to Develop within the Local Body What is an ideal church, and how can you tell? How does it look different from other churches? More importantly, how does it act differently, especially in society? Many of us aren't sure how to answer those questions, even though we probably have some preconceived ideas. This book answers those questions and many more. Author Mark Dever seeks to help believers recognize the key characteristics of a healthy church: expositional preaching, biblical theology, and a right understanding of the gospel. Dever then calls us to develop those characteristics in our own churches. By following the example of New Testament authors and addressing all members of the church, pastors and laity alike, Dever challenges all believers to do their part in maintaining the local church. Part of the 9Marks Building Healthy Churches series, What Is a Healthy Church? offers timeless truths and practical principles to help each of us fulfill our God-given roles in the body of Christ. Offers an Ideal Church Model: Encourages pastors and members to implement healthy church qualities within their local body Written by Mark Dever: Pastor, bestselling author, and president of 9Marks From 9Marks: Other titles in the Building Healthy Churches series include Church Discipline; Deacons; and Church Membership Replaces ISBN 978-1-58134-937-5

Uncomfortable

Uncomfortable
Author: Brett McCracken
Publisher: Crossway
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2017-09-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1433554283

Does your church make you uncomfortable? It’s easy to dream about the “perfect” church—a church that sings just the right songs set to just the right music before the pastor preaches just the right sermon to a room filled with just the right mix of people who happen to agree with you on just about everything. Chances are your church doesn’t quite look like that. But what if instead of searching for a church that makes us comfortable, we learned to love our church, even when it’s challenging? What if some of the discomfort that we often experience is actually good for us? This book is a call to embrace the uncomfortable aspects of Christian community, whether that means believing difficult truths, pursuing difficult holiness, or loving difficult people—all for the sake of the gospel, God’s glory, and our joy.