Crossway Church Collection (7 vols.)

by Mark Dever; Jamie Dunlop; Raymond C. Ortlund Jr.; Jared C. Wilson

and

5 more

Publisher:

Crossway

, 2014–2016

Overview

The purpose of the church is to make more disciples and worshipers of Christ. At times, individual Christians need help gaining the proper perspective on the church. Our initial views can be faulty because of human sin, distractions in the world, and purposeful disruption by Satan. This collection is filled with instruction on how to capture God’s vision for the church and will help church leaders to influence their congregations for the good. Gain insight on how to show compassion like Jesus, to set up biblical elders, to minister to the poor, and how to make the gospel central and evangelism prominent in the life of your local congregation.

Key Features

• Contains books from the 9Marks and 9Marks: Building Healthy Churches series
• Filled with practical, applicable teaching
• Designed to help Christians think about their corporate role as church members

Product Details

• Title: Crossway Church Collection (7 Vols.)
• Publisher: Crossway
• Volumes: 7
• Pages: 1,216
• Christian Group: Evangelical
• Resource Type: Monographs
• Topic: Ministry Resources

Blind Spots: Becoming a Courageous, Compassionate, and Commissioned Church

• Author: Collin Hansen
• Publisher: Crossway
• Publication Date: 2015
• Pages: 128

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

The world needs bold, united followers of Jesus. It needs you and me to understand and appreciate the contributions of our brothers and sisters in faith. However, too often, our blind spots lead to divisions and disagreements, preventing God’s people from testifying to his grace with one voice.

In this provocative book, Collin Hansen helps us view our differences as opportunities to more effectively engage a needy world with the love of Christ. Highlighting the diversity of thought, experience, and personality that God has given to his people, Blind Spots lays the foundation for a new generation of Christians eager to cultivate a courageous, compassionate, and commissioned church.

Collin Hansen is one of the best younger writers and thinkers in the Lord’s church today. Here he calls on followers of Jesus to manifest three marks, each of which is essential for full-orbed discipleship: holy boldness, loving kindness, and a gospel witness that crosses all bounds.

—Timothy George, founding dean, Beeson Divinity School; general editor, Reformation Commentary on Scripture

Collin Hansen (MDiv, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) serves as the editorial director for the Gospel Coalition. He previously worked as an associate editor for Christianity Today magazine and coedits the Cultural Renewal series with Tim Keller. He and his wife belong to Redeemer Community Church in Birmingham, Alabama, and he serves on the advisory board of Beeson Divinity School. You can follow him on Twitter at @collinhansen.

Church Elders: How to Shepherd God's People Like Jesus

• Author: Jeramie Rinne
• Series: 9Marks
• Publisher: Crossway
• Publication Date: 2014
• Pages: 144

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

What does effective church leadership look like? In this conversational book, pastor Jeramie Rinne sets forth an easy-to-understand “job description” for elders drawn from the Bible’s teaching on church leadership.

Offering practical guidance for new elders and helping church members better understand and support their spiritual leaders, this succinct volume will encourage elders to embrace their calling with grace, wisdom, and clarity of vision.

Leadership, like the other gifts of the Spirit, is for the edifying of the body of Christ. Paul made it plain to Titus that things were not in order in a church until proper leadership was established. Most unsolved problems in church life can be traced back to defective leadership. Jeramie Rinne unpacks what the Bible has to say about the identity and activity of the local church elder with a freshness and clarity that is profoundly helpful. This is a book that elders can read together to their profit and one that will help a congregation to pray for and support its leaders so that their work will be a joy and not a burden.

—Alistair Begg, Senior Pastor, Parkside Church, Chagrin Falls, Ohio

Jeramie Rinne (MDiv, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) serves as the senior pastor of Evangelical Community Church in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. He has been a regular contributor to the 9Marks Journal, a devotional writer for the Good Book Company, and an instructor for the Simeon Trust Workshops on biblical exposition. He lives in Abu Dhabi with his wife, Jennifer, and their four children.

Church in Hard Places: How the Local Church Brings Life to the Poor and Needy

• Authors: Mez McConnell and Mike McKinley
• Series: 9Marks
• Publisher: Crossway
• Publication Date: 2016
• Pages: 208

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

It is impossible to alleviate poverty—in its fullest sense—apart from the local church. In recent years, Christians have shown an increased commitment to helping the poor. But this renewed interest in poverty alleviation is doomed to fail if it is not rooted in the local church—God’s established means of drawing downtrodden people into a transformative relationship with himself. Emphasizing the priority of the gospel, Mez McConnell and Mike McKinley, both pastors with fruitful ministries among the poor, offer biblical guidelines and practical strategies for planting, revitalizing, and growing faithful churches in hard places—in our own communities and around the world.

Two pastors from opposite sides of the Atlantic come together to share their stories of pastoring people in hard places. Mike McKinley and Mez McConnell care about what the Bible says, they care about people, and they care about the local church. Their stories communicate love, joy, humor, and wisdom. I pray that this convincing and compelling book encourages others to labor for the spread of the gospel where today there is no witness.

—Mark Dever, pastor, Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Washington, DC; president, 9Marks

Mez McConnell is senior pastor of Niddrie Community Church in Edinburgh, Scotland. He has been involved in pastoral ministry since 1999 and is the founder of 20schemes, a ministry dedicated to planting gospel-centered churches among the poorest of the poor throughout Scotland. He is the author of Is There Anybody Out There? and Preparing for Baptism.

Mike McKinley (MDiv, Westminster Theological Seminary) is senior pastor of Sterling Park Baptist Church in Sterling, Virginia. Formerly, he served on staff alongside Mark Dever at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC. He is the author of a number of books, including Am I Really a Christian? and Church Planting Is for Wimps.

The Compelling Community: Where God's Power Makes a Church Attractive

• Authors: Mark Dever and Jamie Dunlop
• Series: 9Marks
• Publisher: Crossway
• Publication Date: 2015
• Pages: 224

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

God’s people are called to a togetherness and commitment that transcends all natural boundaries—whether ethnic, generational, or economic. But such a community can be enjoyed only when it relies on the power of God in the gospel.

In The Compelling Community, pastors Mark Dever and Jamie Dunlop cast a captivating vision for authentic fellowship in the local church that goes beyond small groups. Full of biblical principles and practical advice, this book will help pastors lead their congregations toward the kind of community that glorifies God, edifies his people, and attracts the lost.

The Compelling Community provides an alternative to running your church on the building blocks of specialization and segmentation. The book is well-timed. After all, many of us long to see the gospel build community along the lines of generalization and integration instead. Great stuff from two men who have given their lives to the welfare of the local church.

—David R. Helm, Pastor, Holy Trinity Church, Chicago; Chairman, The Charles Simeon Trust

Mark Dever (PhD, Cambridge University) is the senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC, and president of 9Marks (9Marks.org). Dever has authored over a dozen books and speaks at conferences nationwide.

Jamie Dunlop has served as an associate pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church since 2009. Prior to that, he managed a line of business for a large management consultancy. He is the coauthor (with Mark Dever) of The Compelling Community.

The Prodigal Church: A Gentle Manifesto against the Status Quo

• Author: Jared C. Wilson
• Publisher: Crossway
• Publication Date: 2015
• Pages: 240

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

In The Prodigal Church, Jared Wilson challenges church leaders to reconsider their priorities when it comes to how they “do church” and reach people in their communities, arguing that we too often rely on loud music, flashy lights, and skinny jeans to get people in the door.

Writing with the grace and kindness of a trusted friend, Wilson encourages readers to reexamine the Bible’s teaching, not simply return to a traditional model for tradition’s sake. He then sets forth an alternative to both the attractional and the traditional models: an explicitly biblical approach that is gospel focused, grace based, and fruit oriented.

Jared Wilson provides a stern warning against the excesses of pragmatic approaches to church growth while reminding us that if the power of the gospel is not driving our ministries, we may build a crowd, but we are not building a church.

—Thom S. Rainer, President and CEO, LifeWay Christian Resources

Jared C. Wilson is the director of content strategy at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, and managing editor of the seminary's website for gospel-centered resources, For the Church. He is a popular author and conference speaker, and also blogs regularly at Gospel Driven Church hosted by the Gospel Coalition. His books include Your Jesus Is Too Safe, Gospel Wakefulness, Gospel Deeps, The Pastor’s Justification, The Storytelling God, and The Wonder-Working God.

The Gospel: How the Church Portrays the Beauty of Christ

• Author: Raymond C. Ortlund Jr.
• Series: 9Marks
• Publisher: Crossway
• Publication Date: 2014
• Pages: 144

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

In this timely book, Pastor Ray Ortlund makes the case that gospel doctrine creates a gospel culture. In too many of our churches, it is the beauty of a gospel culture that is the missing piece of the puzzle. But when the gospel is allowed to exert its full power, a church becomes radiant with the glory of Christ.

Churches don’t make the gospel true, but when ‘the sweetness of the Lord’ is upon us, the church becomes a powerful testimony of God’s grace. With both realism and hope, Ray Ortlund tells us how that grace can thrive among us—even as broken as we are—so that Christ’s glory will radiate from us.

—Bryan Chapell, President Emeritus, Covenant Theological Seminary; Senior Pastor, Grace Presbyterian Church, Peoria, Illinois

Raymond C. Ortlund Jr. is the pastor of Immanuel Church in Nashville, Tennessee. He is the author of several books, including the Preaching the Word commentary on Isaiah, as well as a contributor to the ESV Study Bible. He and his wife, Jani, have four children.

Evangelism: How the Whole Church Speaks of Jesus

• Author: J. Mack Stiles
• Series: 9Marks
• Publisher: Crossway
• Publication Date: 2014
• Pages: 128

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Every few years, churches jump into the latest evangelistic fad. Leaders administrate the new program, and members go on a raid. But picture a church where evangelism is simply part of the culture. Leaders share their faith consistently and openly. Members follow, encouraging one another to make evangelism an ongoing way of life.

Such is the way of evangelism presented by this brief and compelling book. No program here. Instead, it just might give your church a new way to live and share the gospel together.

Anyone who knows Mack Stiles knows he would find it difficult to be boring, even if he decided to be. The book you are holding incites Christians, not least pastors, to burn to see evangelism become part of the local church’s culture, a driving component of its spiritual DNA. This book is rich in practical implications, not despite its incessant focus on Jesus and the gospel, but precisely because of such focus. It deserves to be read, pondered, and implemented.

—D. A. Carson, Research Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School; Cofounder, The Gospel Coalition

J. Mack Stiles is CEO of Gulf Digital Solutions and general secretary for the Fellowship of Christian UAE Students (FOCUS) in the United Arab Emirates. He has worked for many years with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in the United States. He is the author of Marks of the Messenger and Speaking of Jesus.