Devoted To God’s Church
Core Values for Christian Fellowship
| Weight | 0.3 kg |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 21.2 × 13.9 × 1.2 cm |
| ISBN | 9781848719767 |
| Binding | Paperback, eBook (ePub & Kindle), Paperback & eBook (ePub & Kindle) |
| Format | Book |
| Page Count | 200 |
| tags | Church membership, obedience of Christians |
| Topic | Church Life, The Church, Christian Living, Church Issues/Unity |
| Original Pub Date | 2020 |
ENDORSEMENTS
‘Many people “go to church.” Sinclair Ferguson, with his typical gentleness and wisdom, teaches us how to ‘be the church’ as Christ defines it. This simple, clear, and moving book will be great help for people interested in learning more about becoming members of a church. It is also a good tool for those who wish to inject fresh zeal and joy into the membership they already possess.’ — JOEL BEEKE
Book Description
Being a Christian is not an individualistic or isolated activity. Believing also involves belonging. Being a Christian, by definition, involves belonging to the church.
This is not a book full of ideas about how your church ought to change or what it needs to do in order to grow or to be successful. Rather it is about how we fit into our own church. There are hallmarks of church life that should be stamped on all our churches because they are applicable everywhere and anywhere — New Testament values for any size of church, in any part of the world, at any time.
Devoted to God’s Church will serve to help new Christians understand what it is to be part of a church, and will also be a refreshing reminder to every Christian of what it should look like to belong to the family of God.
Reviews
Table of Contents Expand ↓
| Introduction | ix | |
| 1. | Family Life OR What Is a Church? | 1 |
| 2. | What Is Your Story? OR Are You a Christian | 19 |
| 3. | Follow My Leader OR Being a Disciple | 35 |
| 4. | A Glorious Addiction OR What Is a Member? | 49 |
| 5. | Have You Ever Arrived at Church? OR Worship | 61 |
| 6. | Are You Hearing Me? OR The Bible | 81 |
| 7. | Does It Help to Know Some Latin? OR Christian Baptism | 99 |
| 8. | ‘The Christian’s Native Air’ OR Prayer | 115 |
| 9. | The View from the Foot OR Christian Service | 135 |
| 10. | Is There Anything Special for Supper? OR Communion | 153 |
| 11. | Home and Away OR Christian Witness and World Mission | 169 |
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ENDORSEMENTS ‘Many people “go to church.” Sinclair Ferguson, with his typical gentleness and wisdom, teaches us how to ‘be the church’ as Christ defines it. This simple, clear, and moving book will be great help for people interested in learning more about becoming members of a church. It is also a good tool for those […]
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ENDORSEMENTS ‘Many people “go to church.” Sinclair Ferguson, with his typical gentleness and wisdom, teaches us how to ‘be the church’ as Christ defines it. This simple, clear, and moving book will be great help for people interested in learning more about becoming members of a church. It is also a good tool for those […]
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ENDORSEMENTS ‘Many people “go to church.” Sinclair Ferguson, with his typical gentleness and wisdom, teaches us how to ‘be the church’ as Christ defines it. This simple, clear, and moving book will be great help for people interested in learning more about becoming members of a church. It is also a good tool for those […]
George Curry –
This excellent book is for pastors, believers and enquirers. For enquirers, to discover what God’s Church here on earth is to be; for believers, to know what they are to be; and for pastors, to be clear what they are to personally exemplify and encourage those they serve to be. A MUST read for all of us.
Gareth Russell –
Sinclair Ferguson provides a wonderful portrait of what it means to be a Christian, and especially what it means for a Christian to belong to a specific local church. It’s warm. It’s practical (e.g. here are seven big truths that communion shows us about the gospel). And having a church full of people shaped by Sinclair Ferguson’s wisdom would be a huge blessing to both the church and the wider world.
My only qualification would be that I don’t think this book would work so well in a church that had a more contemporary feel (in which case, I might recommend Crossway’s What Is A Healthy Church Member by Thabiti M. Anyabwile). But if you’re in a more traditional church or a church where the Banner of Truth is spoken of highly: THEN BUY LOTS OF COPIES. Give them to New Members. Read them with younger Christians. Or why not take advantage of the latest lockdown to start a church-wide reading group on the book?
Ephrem Sahlu –
A rare combination of an academic heavyweight writing a highly readable book, addressing a very basic topic, (church life) in a practically challenging way, pushing you to rethink your understanding of the topic.
Bill –
This book, by respected theologian Sinclair Ferguson, is about what it means for Christians to be members of a church. Some wonder if it is important to be members of a church. This would be a good book to read to help address that question. The author tells us that being a Christian, by definition, involves belonging to the church—and that, in turn, means belonging to a particular church.
Ferguson tells us that family is what the church is. Through faith in Christ, we become members of his family, and when we become church members, we are saying ‘I too am a disciple of Jesus’.
Among the topics covered in the book are church membership, worship, discipleship, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, prayer, service, witness, and evangelism.
Ferguson tells us that at the end of the day this is what it means to belong to a church:
• To be part of a fellowship that worships and serves locally, but whose vision stretches to the ends of the earth and to the end of history
• To be part of the family of Christ in which brothers and sisters are united in faith and hope and love.
He writes that it is the greatest privilege in the world to believe in Christ and to belong to his people.