Download Free Studying Local Churches Book in PDF and EPUB Free Download. You can read online Studying Local Churches and write the review.

This practical handbook - aimed at final year undergraduates, Masters-level students, student ministers, church leaders and policy makers interested in local faith communities - guides readers through the various tools, methods of analysis and research skills needed for studying local churches. This resource takes full account of the UK context and is an ideal basis for students undertaking research projects and dissertations. After an historical overview. the handbook identifies theoretical foundations for the study of local churches, drawing on the 4 disciplines of anthropology, sociology, organisational studies and theology. Guidance is provided on both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Research processes covered include such issues as selecting a church, gaining access, selecting methods,analysing data, maintaining confidentiality, research reflexivity, and completing the final report. There is also a critical review of existing literature, as well as case studies and worked examples, demonstrating how key concepts from the 4 disciplines apply to actual local churches.The handbook contains a wide range of contributors with extensive theoretical and practical experience of studying local churches.
Christians know church is important, but sometimes it doesn't seem worth it. An eclectic assortment of people with differing personalities, political views, and parenting styles can make for awkward interactions and difficult connections. What’s the point of putting in the tough work to build relationships? But the Bible says God’s people ought to be bound together. It uses words like beloved, brothers and sisters, saints, and fellow laborers to describe their mutual relationship in the church. In this book, Megan Hill answers a common question of churchgoers: What’s so great about the church? With rich theology, practical direction, and study questions for group use, Hill encourages and equips both first-time visitors and regular members to delight in being a part of the local church—no matter how messy and ordinary it seems today. It is only when God’s people begin to see one another as the Lord sees them that they will truly find a place to belong.
How God Ministers to His People and the World through the Local Church The church is more than coffee with friends—it's a meaningful gathering of Christians that involves fellowship and growing in biblical truth. Given the rise of the internet and the availability of streaming church services, many ministry leaders and church members are asking questions about the purpose and mission of the local church: What is the church? Why does the church exist? How does the church function? What is the connection between the Christian and the church? Pastor and trusted scholar Edward Klink III addresses these questions and more with a thoughtful assessment of what the Bible has to say about God's intention for the local church body. Klink stresses its importance as God's way of revealing his presence, displaying his power, fulfilling his purposes, and manifesting his activity in the world. In today's hyperindividualized culture, this book not only demonstrates why it's vital for individuals to connect to a local church, but also reveals why it's vital to God's work in the world.
The church is political. Theologians have been debating this claim for years. Liberationists, Anabaptists, Augustinians, neo-Calvinists, Radical Orthodox and others continue to discuss the matter. What do we mean by politics and the political? What are the limits of the church’s political reach? What is the nature of the church as an institution? How do we establish these claims theologically? Jonathan Leeman sets out to address these questions in this significant work. Drawing on covenantal theology and the ‘new institutionalism’ in political science, Leeman critiques political liberalism and explores how the biblical canon informs an account of the local church as an embassy of Christ’s kingdom. Political Church heralds a new era in political theology.
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. 9Marks Church Questions is a new series that seeks to provide ordinary Christians with sound and accessible biblical teaching by answering common questions Christians have about church life. Each volume offers biblical answers and practical applications with the goal of nurturing healthy church practice and commitment. This booklet unpacks Scripture's teaching on the importance of church membership and the Bible's beautiful picture of life in a local church.
Key Traits of a Healthy Church to Develop within the Local Body What is an ideal church, and how can you tell? How does it look different from other churches? More importantly, how does it act differently, especially in society? Many of us aren't sure how to answer those questions, even though we probably have some preconceived ideas. This book answers those questions and many more. Author Mark Dever seeks to help believers recognize the key characteristics of a healthy church: expositional preaching, biblical theology, and a right understanding of the gospel. Dever then calls us to develop those characteristics in our own churches. By following the example of New Testament authors and addressing all members of the church, pastors and laity alike, Dever challenges all believers to do their part in maintaining the local church. Part of the 9Marks Building Healthy Churches series, What Is a Healthy Church? offers timeless truths and practical principles to help each of us fulfill our God-given roles in the body of Christ. Offers an Ideal Church Model: Encourages pastors and members to implement healthy church qualities within their local body Written by Mark Dever: Pastor, bestselling author, and president of 9Marks From 9Marks: Other titles in the Building Healthy Churches series include Church Discipline; Deacons; and Church Membership Replaces ISBN 978-1-58134-937-5
This first volume in the Striving Together Study Library is designed to be a practical study help to pastors, teachers, and layleaders who are eager to delve into God's Word verse by verse. This volume contains over 500 pages of expanded outlines and comments that cover every verse in the book of Acts. Thousands of hours in preparation, these pages will give you a strong foundational understanding of the first century church. Each of the eighty three studies brings practical application to the local church and to your Christian life.
The heartbeat of every local community is found in its local schools. Yet many Christians have little to no connection with school leaders, and few churches have an active ministry presence. If you want to effectively reach your community, you must take the time to invest in school administrators, teachers, and families. Not having a relationship just isn’t an option. Many schools today are facing budget crises’ and financial shortfalls or declining enrollment. School leaders and teachers are more open than ever before to partnering with parents, neighbors, and churches in a sustainable way. This book shares stories and examples of how schools and churches can work together for the common good of students and the community. You’ll gain a better understanding of the laws defining the line of separation between church and state, and you will learn how to best approach school leaders with creative ideas for working together. Serving Local Schools provides biblical support and practical resources to equip individuals and churches to meet the needs of local schools while faithfully witnessing to the good news found in Jesus Christ.
The local church is meant to be living, growing, distinct, and God-glorifying, yet many disagree about what a church really is and what it should look like. This study works through seven biblical aspects of the church and, in so doing, helps participants to discover a big-picture vision of the church. A series of ten 6–7 week studies covering the nine distinctives of a healthy church as originally laid out in Nine Marks of a Healthy Church by Mark Dever. This series explores the biblical foundations of key aspects of the church, helping Christians to live out those realities as members of a local body. Conveniently packaged and accessibly written, the format of this series is guided, inductive discussion of Scripture passages and is ideal for use in Sunday school, church-wide studies, or small group contexts.
This book explores the development of the cult of the saints in western Europe between c.400 and 1000 AD. The main emphasis is upon Anglo-Saxon England, post-Roman Britain, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, but there are important contributions on Francia and on western Europe as a whole. No other volume combines such a broad geographical spread with such a wide range of disciplines and approaches - textual, archaeological, genealogical, onomastic, as well as historical. Veneration of innumerable local saints and martyrs is one of the defining characteristics of early medieval society. This book looks at how such saints came to be recognized and how they were enshrined, the circumstances in which they proliferated, and the factors leading to the development of their often extremely localized cults. Throughout, the aim is to emphasize the pan-European context, to place insular developments in a wider continuum extending from Ireland through to Rome and Byzantium. The volume combines wide-ranging surveys providing fundamental orientation on a variety of core subjects, with crucial reference material (including a handlist of all known Anglo-Saxon saints). It will be indispensable to all interested in Early Britain and Ireland, Anglo-Saxon England and to the culture of early medieval Europe as a whole.