Family Discipleship


Book Description

The most important disciple a parent will make is within their own home, and yet this is the most difficult disciple to make. Family Discipleship by Matt Chandler and Adam Griffin helps readers develop a sustainable rhythm of gospel-centered discipleship through a guided framework focusing on moments of discipleship in 3 key areas: time (intentional time gathering your family around gospel activities or conversations), moments (leveraging opportunities throughout the day), and milestones (celebrating significant life events). Each section provides parents with Scriptures to consider, questions to answer, structures to implement, and ideas to try out as they seek to see Christ formed in their children. Here is a book that begins with the end in mind, offering ideas and examples of what gospel-centered family discipleship looks like, helping parents design their own discipleship plan as they seek to raise children in the love and fear of the Lord.




Scrappy Church


Book Description

How many times have we heard these statements… “We can’t compete with the megachurch in our town!” “A new church was started two blocks from us. We’ve got plenty of churches without them!” “The church brought another one of their campuses near us. It’s totally unethical what they are doing.” “We can’t reach young families. They all go to the big church that has all the children’s and student stuff.” “We don’t have the money or the people the other churches have.” Bestselling author Thom S. Rainer (I Am a Church Member, Autopsy of a Deceased Church) has heard comments like these hundreds, if not thousands, of times. They are statements of hopelessness. They are statements of despair. They are statements of defeat. Church leaders don’t want to feel this way. They desire to break out of the mediocrity of the same, lame, and tame existence of their churches. They want their churches to make a difference. There is hope. God’s hope. God’s possibilities. What does a scrappy church look like? Let’s take a look together.




Rediscover Church


Book Description

"A Christian without a church is a Christian in trouble." Since a global pandemic abruptly closed places of worship, many Christians have skipped church life, even neglecting virtual services. But this was a trend even before COVID-19. Polarizing issues, including political and racial strife, convinced some people to pull away from the church and one another. Now it's time to recommit to gathering as brothers and sisters in Christ. In Rediscover Church, Collin Hansen and Jonathan Leeman discuss why church is essential for believers and God's mission. Through biblical references and personal stories, they show readers God's true intention for corporate gathering: to spiritually strengthen members as individuals and the body of Christ. In an age of church-shopping and livestreamed services, rediscover why the future of the church relies on believers gathering regularly as the family of God. Published in partnership with the Gospel Coalition and 9Marks.




Is God anti-gay?


Book Description

A practical and sensitive exploration of the Bible's teaching on homosexuality. A practical and sensitive exploration of the Bible's teaching on homosexuality. It's the hot topic of the moment. Christians, the church and the Bible seem to be out of step with modern attitudes towards homosexuality. And there is growing hostility towards those who hold a different view to the culture's. So is God homophobic? And how do we relate to both Christians and non-Christians who experience same-sex attraction? In this short, simple book, Sam Allberry wants to help confused Christians understand what God has said about these questions in the scriptures. Drawing on his own experience, he offers a positive and liberating way forward through the debate. This revised and updated version includes answers to some new questions, including: * Should Christians attend gay weddings? * Isn't the Christian view of sexuality dangerous and harmful? * Is it sinful to experience same-sex attraction?




The Unstuck Church


Book Description

Acclaimed church leader, blogger, founder and chief strategic officer of The Unstuck Group, Tony Morgan unpacks the lifecycle of a typical church, identifies characteristics of each phase, and provides practical next steps a church can take to move towards sustained health. Think about your church for a moment. Is it growing? Is it diminishing? Is it somewhere in between? Acclaimed church leader, blogger, and founder and chief strategic officer of The Unstuck Group, Tony Morgan has identified the seven stages of a church's lifecycle that range from the hopeful and optimistic days of launch, to the stagnating last stages of life support. Regardless of the stage in which you find your church, it carries with it the world's greatest mission—to "go and make disciples of all the nations . . ." With eternity at stake the Church should be doing most everything within its power to see lives changed forever. The Church should strive for the pinnacle of the lifecycle, where they are continually making new disciples and experiencing what Morgan refers to as "sustained health." In The Unstuck Church, Morgan unpacks each phase of the church lifecycle, and offers specific and strategic next steps the church leader can take to find it's way to sustained health . . . and finally become unstuck. The Unstuck Church is a call for honest an assessment of where your church sits on the lifecycle, and a challenge to move beyond it.




Messages from the Small Country Church


Book Description

In this day and age of “bigger and better” or “bigger is better,” even our churches are starting to follow suit. The alarming trend that is occurring now in America is the assumption that if a group is big, it must be right; if a church is bigger than others, it must be even “more” right. This assumption is not correct. This nation was built and became what it is today one small church at a time. Many of those small churches are still there today, right where they were first necessary. And they are still necessary today. They are still occupied by Christians who meet on every first day of the week. They gather to give the first of their week to worship He who is to be first in Spirit and in truth. With this book—a compilation of readings, sermons, observations, and an invitation—the Reverend Dr. C. Joseph Fifer (Pastor Joe), who serves a small country church in rural western Ohio, seeks to give voice to the message that millions are now missing.




Preaching Radical and Orthodox


Book Description

Since its beginning in the 1990s, Radical Orthodoxy has become perhaps the most influential, and certainly the most controversial, movement in contemporary theology. This book offers an introduction to the Radical Orthodox sensibility through sermons preached by some of those most prominent figures in radical orthodoxy. Accessible, challenging and varied, the sermons together help to suggest what Radical Orthodoxy might mean in practice. Contributors include Andrew Davison, John Milbank, John Inge, Catherine Pickstock, Martin Warner, Graham Ward and Stanley Hauerwas Contents I. Reclaiming Time: Advent Lifting the Veil on the World - Ian Boxall 11 The Christ Who is Coming - Arabella Milbank 15 Waiting and Birthing - Kirsten Pinto Gfroerer 19 II. Preaching Paradox: Christmas to Candlemas Nativity: Words and the Word - Alison Milbank 27 Epiphany: Surprised by Joy - Alison Milbank 30 Music and What Matters Most - Andrew Davison 33 Christ’s Baptism: The Cold Water of Baptism - Joseph Vnuk 37 Amiably Drawn Edmund Newey 41 Conversion of St Paul: The Road to Insight - Silvianne Aspray 45 Christian Unity: Splendour with no Bounds - Martin Warner 49 St Thomas Aquinas: Beatific Theology - Jeffrey Phillips 52 Presentation of Christ: Out of the Dark Time - John Milbank 56 III. Unfolding the Story: Lent to Easter Sunday Ash Wednesday: On Being Dust - Anthony Baker 63 Living in the Rhythm of Worship - David Moss 67 God and Nature - David Neaum 72 Passion Sunday: A Wondrous Exchange - Rachel Greene 76 Palm Sunday: Inside the Story - Melanie Marshall 80 Maundy Thursday: Food Enough to Triumph - Jeffrey P. Bishop 82 Good Friday: Passionate Actions - John Muddiman 87 Easter Sunday: Death’s Name for Love is Resurrection - David Widdicombe 92 IV. Real Resurrection: Eastertide to Trinity Sunday Disturbing Faith - Ruth Jackson 99 Being Witnesses - Peter Groves 104 Heaven is Other People - Jeremy Morris 108 Love is the only Politics that Matters - Matthew Bullimore 112 The Tangled Vine - Jennifer Strawbridge 117 Ascension: Becoming Heaven-bent - Simone Kotva 121 St Philip and St James: Love’s Labour - Graham Ward 126 Pentecost: Language of Joy - John Inge 129 Trinity: Finding Ourselves in the Trinity - Alison Milbank 134 V. For the Time Being: Trinity Season and Christian Lives Corpus Christi: Consume and be Consumed - Gregory Platten 141 The Sound of Silence - Stanley Hauerwas 145 St Mary Magdalene: Witness to the Depths of God - Stephen Conway 151 Transfiguration: The Beauty in the Ugliness - John Hughes 156 Assumption: Mary, Battered and Glorious Vessel - Melanie Marshall 160 Challenging Christians? - Fergus Kerr 164 Michaelmas: I Believe in Angels - Robert Chapman 168 Lord of the Harvest - Michael Northcott 171 Dedication Festival: The Feast of You and Me - Richard Stanton 176 Holy Fear, Holy Play Frances Ward 181 Remembrance: Remembering Well - Philip Krinks 186 Baptism: Higher than the Angels - John Hughes 189 Confirmation: Divine Athletes - Stephen Platten 192 Confirmation: God’s Designer Label - Nigel Peyton 195 Marriage: The Abundant Economy - Simon Oliver 198 Ordination: Are You Real? - Anna Matthews 202 First Mass: Overlapping Gifts - Catherine Pickstock 206 Funeral: Repeating Ourselves- James Robinson 211




Replanting Rural Churches: God's Plan and Call for the Middle of Nowhere


Book Description

God has plans for Nowhere, USA. You might be surprised to learn that God has great plans for Nowhere, USA; population you, your family, a few people, and scores of cattle. As you surrender to Him, remain faithful to proclaim His Word, and maintain earnest prayer on your church's behalf, you can play a pivotal role in advancing the Kingdom. Maybe you have just been called to a town like that, maybe you are still wondering where you will serve, or maybe, just maybe you want to step out of your comfort zone and into the long-forgotten communities of rural America. If that's you, this book is for you.




Eternity changes everything


Book Description

Thrills Christians about their eternal future, and shows how that future changes their present. Our view of the future affects how we feel and act in the present. Stephen Witmer excites us about where the world is heading, gives certainty about where we as individuals are heading, and thrills us about how eternity really does change everything in our daily lives. If you are worried about your future... or if your future doesn't seem to make any difference to your now... or if you simply want to get more excited about where you will spend eternity... read this book!




James - Teen Bible Study Book


Book Description

James: Faith/Works is a 13-session Bible study for 7th to 12th grade students that goes verse-by-verse through the Book of James.