Don Everts grew up assuming that spiritual conversations are always painful and awkward. But his surprising—and sometimes embarrassing—stories affirm what Scripture and the latest research reveal: spiritual conversations can actually be a delight. With original research from the Barna Group on spiritual conversations in the digital age, this book offers fresh insights and best practices for how to become eager conversationalists.
We need a bigger vision for the city. Pastors Neil Powell and John James contend that to truly transform a city, the gospel compels us to create localized, collaborative church planting movements. The more willing we are to collaborate across denominations and networks, the more effectively we will reach our communities—whatever their size—for Jesus.
Is a church just something we create to serve our purposes or to maintain old traditions? Or is it something more vital, more meaningful, and more powerful? In this introduction to the nature of the local church, historian and missionary Scott Sunquist brings us a portrait of the church in motion, clarifying the two primary purposes of the church: worship and witness.
Sharon Hoover brings her years of experience in local church missions to bear on thorny questions every church faces. Should we prioritize evangelism or works of service? Local ministries or overseas missions? And what about short-term missions trips? Hoover approaches each question with nuance, helping us plot our church's unique course as we seek to serve Christ's kingdom.
Jesus gave his followers seven key practices. When we practice these disciplines, God becomes faithfully present to us, and we in turn become God's faithful presence to the world. Pastor and professor David Fitch shows how these seven practices can revolutionize the church's presence in our neighborhoods, transform our way of life in the world, and advance the kingdom.
Paul Borthwick unpacks the Bible's most famous verse to unveil God's intentional, sacrificial mission for the world. He examines every word in John 3:16 to reveal the underlying motivation for mission, the global scope of God's call, and how we are invited to enter into partnership with God. God still loves the world, and we can too.
They were not professionals. They were not celebrities. They were just 72 normal people who answered Jesus’ call to bring good news to the world. Filled with vivid stories of John Teter's remarkable experiences in ministry and church planting, this book shows how we have been called by Jesus to herald God’s kingdom and witness the transformation of those around us. Discover how Jesus trains ordinary people to accomplish an extraordinary mission.
Most Christians are stuck in the huddle, focusing on our own needs and limiting our relationships with outsiders. Don Everts, Doug Schaupp and Val Gordon explain how our churches can become conversion communities, where evangelistic growth becomes the new normal and the whole community itself becomes a winsome, thriving witness to those around it.
Building on the works of David Bosch, Lesslie Newbigin and others, Ross Hastings delivers a comprehensive theology of mission founded on the trinitarian doctrine of God and a "defiant optimism" about the possible re-evangelization of the Western world.
Using original interviews with over thirty missional house churches, J. D. Payne examines the influence of the house church movement on local communities throughout the United States.