Leading One Another E-Book

Bobby Jamieson

• Herausgeber: Crossway
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 70

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

Because it can be abused, leadership is a risky business for those in it and those under it. But God has good plans for leadership within the church. This study explores God's plans for authority by focusing on God's revelation of himself as shepherd, and how God calls leaders to image him. The rest of the study looks at the special responsibilities and roles within the church, fulfilled by elders, deacons, and church members themselves. 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.

Leseprobe

“9Marks, as a ministry, has taken basic biblical teaching about the church and put it into the hands of pastors. Bobby, by way of these study guides, has taken this teaching and delivered it to the person in the pew. I am unaware of any other tool that so thoroughly and practically helps Christians understand God’s plan for the local church. I can’t wait to use these studies in my own congregation.”

Jeramie Rinne, Senior Pastor, South Shore Baptist Church, Hingham, Massachusetts

“Bobby Jamieson has done local church pastors an incredible service by writing these study guides. Clear, biblical, and practical, they introduce the biblical basis for a healthy church. But more importantly, they challenge and equip church members to be part of the process of improving their own church’s health. The studies work for individual, small group, and larger group settings. I have used them for the last year at my own church and appreciate how easy they are to adapt to my own setting. I don’t know of anything else like them. Highly recommended!”

Michael Lawrence, Senior Pastor, Hinson Baptist Church, Biblical Theology in the Life of the Church

“This is a Bible study that is actually rooted in the Bible and involves actual study. In the 9Marks Healthy Church Study Guides series a new standard has been set for personal theological discovery and corresponding personal application. Rich exposition, compelling questions, and clear syntheses combine to give a guided tour of ecclesiology—the theology of the church. I know of no better curriculum for generating understanding of and involvement in the church than this. It will be a welcome resource in our church for years to come.”

Rick Holland, Senior Pastor, Mission Road Bible Church, Prairie Village, Kansas

“In America today we have the largest churches in the history of our nation, but the least amount of impact for Christ’s kingdom. Slick marketing and finely polished vision statements are a foundation of sand. The 9Marks Healthy Church Study Guides seriesis a refreshing departure from church-growth materials, towards an in-depth study of God’s Word that will equip God’s people with his vision for his Church. These study guides will lead local congregations to abandon secular methodologies for church growth and instead rely on Christ’s principles for developing healthy, God-honoring assemblies.”

Carl J. Broggi, Senior Pastor, Community Bible Church, Beaufort, South Carolina; President, Search the Scriptures Radio Ministry

“Anyone who loves Jesus will love what Jesus loves. The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus loves the church. He knows about and cares for individual churches and wants them to be spiritually healthy and vibrant. Not only has Jesus laid down his life for the church but he has also given many instructions in his Word regarding how churches are to live and function in the world. This series of Bible studies by 9Marks shows how Scripture teaches these things. Any Christian who works through this curriculum, preferably with other believers, will be helped to see in fresh ways the wisdom, love, and power of God in establishing the church on earth. These studies are biblical, practical, and accessible. I highly recommend this curriculum as a useful tool that will help any church embrace its calling to display the glory of God to a watching world.”

Thomas Ascol, Senior Pastor, Grace Baptist Church of Cape Coral, Florida; Executive Director, Founders Ministries

9MARKS HEALTHY CHURCH STUDY GUIDES

Built upon the Rock: The Church

Hearing God’s Word: Expositional Preaching

The Whole Truth about God: Biblical Theology

God’s Good News: The Gospel

Real Change: Conversion

Reaching the Lost: Evangelism

Committing to One Another: Church Membership

Guarding One Another: Church Discipline

Growing One Another: Discipleship in the Church

Leading One Another: Church Leadership

Copyright © 2012 by 9Marks

Published by Crossway 1300 Crescent Street Wheaton, Illinois  60187

All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.

Cover design: Dual Identity inc.

First printing 2012

Printed in the United States of America

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture references marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.  Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

All emphases in Scripture have been added by the author.

Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-2560-5

PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-2561-2

Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-2562-9

ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-2563-6

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

LB           20    19    18    17    16    15    14    13    12

15   14   13   12   11   10   9   8   7   6   5   4   3   2   1

CONTENTS

Introduction

An Important Mark of a Healthy Church: Biblical Church Leadership, by Mark Dever

WEEK 1

Is Authority Bad?

WEEK 2

God, the Shepherd of His People

WEEK 3

Elders: Ministers of the Word and Shepherds of the Church

WEEK 4

Finding the Right Men: Qualifications for Elders

WEEK 5

Deacons: Servants of the Church

WEEK 6

Your Responsibility for the Church

Teacher’s Notes

INTRODUCTION

What does the local church mean to you?

Maybe you love your church. You love the people. You love the preaching, the singing. You can’t wait to show up on Sunday, and you cherish fellowship with other church members throughout the week.

Maybe the church is just a place you show up to a couple times a month. You sneak in late, duck out early.

We at 9Marks are convinced that the local church is God’s plan for displaying his glory to the nations. And we want to help you catch and live out that vision, together with your whole church.

The 9Marks Healthy Church Study Guides are a series of six- or seven-week studies on each of the “nine marks of a healthy church” plus one introductory study. These nine marks are the core convictions of our ministry. To provide a quick introduction to them, we’ve included a chapter from Mark Dever’s book What Is a Healthy Church? with each study. We don’t claim that these nine marks are the most important things about the church or the only important things about the church. But we do believe that they are biblical and therefore are helpful for churches.

So, in these studies, we’re going to work through the biblical foundations and practical applications of each one. The ten studies are:

Built upon the Rock: The Church

(the introductory study)

Hearing God’s Word: Expositional Preaching

The Whole Truth about God: Biblical Theology

God’s Good News: The Gospel

Real Change: Conversion

Reaching the Lost: Evangelism

Committing to One Another: Church Membership

Guarding One Another: Church Discipline

Growing One Another: Discipleship in the Church

Leading One Another: Church Leadership

Each session of these studies takes a close look at one or more passages of Scripture and considers how it applies to the life of the whole church. So, we hope that these studies are equally appropriate for Sunday school, small groups, and other contexts where a group of anywhere from two to two-hundred people can come together and discuss God’s Word.

These studies are mainly driven by observation, interpretation, and application questions, so get ready to speak up! We also hope that these studies provide opportunities for people to reflect together on their experiences in the church, whatever those experiences may be.

Leaders can make life much better or much worse, can’t they? Think of loving parents who make countless sacrifices for their children’s good, a gifted teacher who not only instructs but also inspires, a wise head of state who pursues justice and peace, a pastor who faithfully teaches, preaches, counsels, and cares for his people.

On the other hand, we are all too familiar with abusive or irresponsible parents, teachers who are lazy or uncaring, oppressive military dictators, and pastors who spout heresy and fleece their flocks.