Church
Explore the nature, purpose, and function of the local church. Understand its biblical structure, leadership, communal life, and its essential role in spiritual formation and mission.
Hiring and Firing Pastors
Does the Bible have any mechanisms for the hiring or firing of pastors? Are “men…
Maintaining Your Minister
In a Christian world populated with prosperity-gospel preachers, how should a faithful, Bible-believing church approach…
The Apostles’ Creed—Part 6—The Holy Universal Church
What do we mean when we speak of the “universal church”? How do you join…
User Error
A common term in modern parlance is now ‘user error’ – where the fault is…
The Pastor’s Ten Commandments—Part 3
If a pastor attended a performance review, what would be on the evaluation scorecard? While…
The Pastor’s Ten Commandments—Part 2
Some pastors languish under a kind of aimless approach to ministry. These need not be…
The Pastor’s Ten Commandments—Part 1
Many pastors are depressed or despondent about ministry. Often this is because they are doubtful…
The Extraordinary Ordinary Church
Within that ordinary looking book is the inspired Word of God. Clothed in ordinary Jewish…
The Deacon and His Wife
God blesses the church with the office of deacon. Who are these men, and what…
The Ordinary Pastor
What is an ordinary pastor? Today we hear plenty of scandalous news reports about outrageous…
Church Officers
1 Timothy makes the leadership of the church quite plain: there are to be two…
Selfless Unity
Unity in the local church comes from a deliberate, Christ-imitating effort to repeat of selfish…
The Privilege of a Pilgrim Church
The church is called to ‘go out the camp’ to where Jesus is. We are…
Practices of the Christian Life—Unity in the Local Church
Maintaining unity is essential to life in a healthy local church.
Practices of the Christian Life—The Local Church
The local church is fundamental to the practice of the Christian life.
The Disciplined Church
Christians can mistake the doctrine of grace with passivity, and give way to spiritual laziness.…
A Meal of Fellowship
The Lord’s Supper is emblematic of partaking and union together.
The High Cost of Community
Everyone enjoys the benefits of community – not all are willing to pay the price.…
Pilgrim Leadership
Leaders in God’s church are to be different: in how they are appointed, in their…
Pilgrim Fellowship
The church is to have a kind of unity and commonality unlike anything the world…
The Pilgrim Church
Is the church supposed to belike the world to win the world? Should it ‘redeem’…
Biblical Change—Part 8—The Church and Change
What part does the local church play in biblical change? According to Galatians 6, there…
The Complacent Church—Laodicea
What happens to churches when the air of comfort, freedom and materialism begins to infect…
The Conquering Church—Philadelphia
No other church is commended and praised by Christ the way the Philadelphian church is.…
The Corpselike Church—Sardis
What does a church look like when all spiritual life has left it? The church…
The Corrupt Church—Thyatira
When compromise is tolerated, sin corrodes the health of church.
The Compromising Church—Pergamos
Some churches do not deny the faith explicitly. Instead, they subtly allow what is hostile…
The Crowned Church—Smyrna
The suffering, persecuted church is often the purest church. We consider Smyrna, and find out…
The Cooling Church—Ephesus
A church can have so many things right, and yet be wrong. Sound doctrine, diligent…
The Practices of the Christian Life—The Local Church
What is a healthy local church? At the heart of practised Christianity is the local…
The Healthy Church
The book of Acts gives is glimpses of very healthy churches. The church at Jerusalem…
When Your Church Does Not Grow
How does a pastor judge success? What is the criterion for knowing if his work…
Recovering Body Life
What is life in the church supposed to be? The image of the human body…
The Church as Worship—Part 3—The Roles in the Church
What is a pastor’s role in the church?
The Church as Worship—Part 2—The Roles in the Church
How do we glorify God by serving in the church? God has set the church…
The Church as Worship—Part 1—The Goal of the Church
What is the goal of the church? Why did God create it? How do we…
Incarnating the Gospel
What did Jesus mean by saying He was giving Peter the ‘keys of the kingdom’?…
Becoming a Disciple-Making Church
The church’s mandate to make disciples is actually a three-phase command, contained in Christ’s Great…
The Growing Family of God
Within the church of God, believers are at various stages of maturity. John commends and…
A Christ-Saturated Church
What does it look like when a Christian, or an entire local church is centred…
Maintain the Unity
How do very different people dwell together in a church with genuine, heartfelt unity?
Don’t Interrupt the Unity
What precautions must we take so as to maintain, and not interrupt, the unit yin…
The Unity of the Body
The unity of the church in Christ is a precious and supernatural thing, to be…
Corporate Worship—Church Discipline
It might sound unlikely, but church discipline is part of the worship of the church.
Corporate Worship—Discipleship
Since Christlikeness is a secret of worship, one of the forms of corporate worship will…
Corporate Worship—Fellowship
Though often considered separately, fellowship forms a part of worship – for our worship of…
Corporate Worship—Public Profession of Faith
In corporate worship, God’s people have expressed their love for God through public professions of…
Corporate Worship—Giving
Corporate worship includes giving – giving of ourselves, our time, and our substance.
The Forms of Corporate Worship—Part 5—Commitments, Covenants and Vows
When God’s people have worshipped, they have bound themselves in vows and covenants, signifying the…
The Forms of Corporate Worship—Part 1—The Local Church
Corporate worship centres on the local church. To understand its centrality is to understand how…
Make the Church a Refuge
Sadly, for many a Christian attending many a church, Sunday or Wednesday is anything but…
Body Life
Of all the metaphors that the Holy Spirit could have chosen to describe the relationship…
Church Unity
Unity in a local church is a miraculous thing. A church is the only place…
Don’t Date the Church
Too many people treat the local church like a casual dating relationship: no commitment, seriousness,…
Church Discipline—Part 2
Church discipline preserves purity, which preserves unity. Unity at the cost of purity is not…
Church Discipline—Part 1
Unity or purity – what is more important? Should we focus on building the unity,…
Four Ways to Kill a Church
Christ’s commendations and warnings to the Seven Churches in Revelation serve as a guide for…
The Five Kinds of People in the Church
Nehemiah provides us with a fascinating overview of the kinds of people associated with the…
Should We Abandon the Church?
Today there are growing calls to abandon the organised, structured local church, and to meet…
The Marks of a Good Church
If a church is a family, then some of the marks of a family will…