As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“Over 80% of churchgoers predict a promising future for their churches. Is this figure what you would expect? Until I saw the research, I would not have guessed optimism was so high among churchgoers.” - Sam Rainer
“The church’s biggest problem is the lack of assurance in pursuing God’s glory. Slow giving trends are a symptom of a greater problem. The decline in average worship attendance is a symptom of a greater problem. Poor leadership is a symptom of a greater problem.” - Sam Rainer
“Eighty-four percent of pastors say the local church’s role in community is to ‘tell others about Jesus’” vs. 58% of Christians and 30% of non-Christians. - Barna
What Is a Church? - 9 Marks
“the ‘officialese’ is far less important than the notion, ‘I really belong here and am absolutely committed here.’ To turn away from that, to reject it, or to deny it is really to repudiate what Christ has brought you into” - Sinclair Ferguson
My journey with The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry took me to Kansas this past weekend, to speak four times at a church in Salina.
I have now spoken on behalf of The Friends of Israel upon the soil of the following 12 states: California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin. Later this year, Lord willing, I will add Missouri and Wyoming to the list—along with the nation of Israel!
“On one page, Jesus says that he will build his church, and that the gates of hell will not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18)…. a couple pages later, the young believer encounters Jesus telling the disciples they should address unresolved sin by telling it ‘to the church’ (Matt. 18:17).” - 9 Marks
“…later, a brand-new missions team took me in. And then something happened that I didn’t expect. I was asked to stop attending church because our new team needed to bond on Sundays. This struck me as odd. What about the church?” - 9 Marks
“…some pastors may be tempted not to include a class on their own local church’s history. Not so fast! Your congregation’s story is worth retelling for at least three reasons.” - 9 Marks
I want to talk about what “the church” is. This will be a high-level discussion, not a defense of a particular kind of church (Baptists v. Methodists, etc.). I want to talk about this because I fear we forget just how important it is to get this right. As sectarian battles light up social media and the news (with no end in sight), this deceptively simple issue deserves some consideration.
There are different ways we use the word “church:”
Discussion