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...

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...

What Makes for a Healthy Church? You may have read books on this topic before but not like this one. Instead of an instruction manual for church growth, this classic text points to basic biblical principles for assessing and strengthening the health of your church. Whether you're a pastor, a leader, or an involved member of your congregation, studying the nine marks of a healthy church will help you cultivate new life and well-being within your own...

In this honest book, pastor and author Scott Sauls exposes the real struggles that Christian leaders and pastors regularly face. Sauls shares his own stories and those of other leaders from Scripture and throughout history to remind us that we are human, we are sinners, and we need Jesus to help us thrive as people and leaders. For Christian leaders-both inside and outside of the church-weaknesses that are left unchecked can lead to a downfall that...

The idea of Christian unity presents an attractive ideal. Yet it is more than an ideal. Those who have been joined together with Christ through the new covenant have also been joined together with one another. Such ideas can be difficult to accept considering the overall state of the church today. But God has a plan for these last days, and it involves the members of His unified body loving one another and working together to fulfill His purposes. Greater...

¿Qué hay en el corazón mismo de plantar una iglesia? El componente humano más importante que tiene la plantación de toda iglesia es su propio fundador. Las Escrituras se refieren con frecuencia a la personalidad y la labor que desempeñan los que son llamados a ser líderes. Sin embargo, gran parte de esa sabiduría que procede de Dios es echada a un lado para sustituirla con estrategias y métodos humanos, lo cual termina haciéndonos pagar...

Recentering the Goal of Pastoral Ministry to Cultivate Christ-Treasuring Church Plants As churches rapidly expand, Christians risk viewing the church with an entrepreneurial mindset. Church planters can be tempted to fixate on gaining numbers and achieving financial stability as their only metrics for success. They fail to focus on lifting up Christ's people within the church. In Planting by Pastoring, author Nathan Knight challenges our view of...

You have something important to say. Are you sure your audience is listening? Clocks start ticking in the minds of your listeners the minute you begin your presentation. These clocks measure the amount of time you have to interest them before their attention wanders elsewhere. Could be three minutes. Could be thirty seconds. But make your audience laugh and they forget about their clocks. They are too busy listening. Make them laugh and they will...

There's a growing desire among believers to reach beyond the walls of their churches to impact communities for God. But when the average church size hovers around 150 members and the problems of even midsized cities seem insurmountable, how can we hope to make a difference? A New Kind of Big tells the inspiring story of how Perimeter Church in suburban Atlanta started a partnership called Unite! with other area churches in order to increase its reach...

Many times people wrack their brains for succinct, "preachable" quotations to drop into sermons or teaching materials. Now they can relax! 101 Quotations that Connect features inspiring observations from a wide spectrum of influential people of the past two millennia, culled from the collection of Christianity Today. This volume-which contains the reflections of church fathers, missionaries, poets, and celebrities-is a gold mine for preachers, teachers,...