It’s a question hundreds of pastors ask every day:What is the best way to grow?
A lot of books give a lot of answers, but the best one comes from Scripture. Word-Centered Church brings that answer into sharp focus. Written by Jonathan Leeman, editorial director for the reputable ministry 9Marks, Word-Centered Church offers a thorough treatment of one of God’s greatest concerns: growing His people and growing His church. 
As simple as the concept may seem, it’s one that many churches miss, and to their own detriment. Because when churches center everything they do on God’s Word—when the pulpit ministry gives direction to every aspect of the church’s life—growth happens God’s way. God’s Word is what creates the church, and it’s what sustains it, too.
Theological and practical, Word-Centered Church focuses on how the church hears, responds to, discusses, implements, and is transformed by Scripture. It’s not about high-octane production, superstar personalities, or postmodern entreaties, but stuff that is really old, really good, and really powerful.
Word-Centered Church is the ministry-model book that churches need, because it advances the model God designed. For anyone who wants to grow or help others grow, Word-Centered Church is indispensable.

Word-Centered Church: How Scripture Brings Life and Growth to God's People

Leeman, Jonathan

Religion & Spirituality

Moody Publishers

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 covenant 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.

Political Church: The Local Assembly as Embassy of Christ's Rule (Studies in Christian Doctrine and Scripture)

History

World

IVP Academic

Crossing to Christ aims to help readers answer two life-shaping questions: “Who is God?" and “Who am I?" The first half of the book helps readers understand and know the God of the Bible – the saving, speaking, creating, promise-keeping, and triune God. The book's second half guides readers through the way the Bible describes the identity of Christian believers: as children of God, disciples of Christ, members of the body of Christ, worshippers of God, and evangelists. These questions about God and identity are being answered in all sorts of confusing ways in the surrounding culture. This book – aimed at young Christians and new believers – gives solid, biblical answers to those same questions, giving readers a strong foundation on which to build a life of Christian faithfulness and fruitfulness.

Crossing to Christ

Hamilton Jr., James M.

Gilbert, Greg

Whitney, Donald S.

DeWitt, Dan

Hall, Kevin

Damico, Matt

Breland, Randall

Chitwood, Paul

Ezell, Kevin

Crossings Press

Like our previous 9Marks Journal on this topic, this journal attends to both elements and forms. Several us think about membership from the Bible. Several more consider why it is crucial around the world and not just in the United States. And still more recommend different forms—what we call “best practices.” Also worth highlighting is the fact that church membership often has been abused. After all, members involves the use of authority, and fallen sinners will abuse the good gift of authority. Authority biblically practiced, however, gives life.Our goal is to give you something solid, something Christians can both feet upon because it’s from the Bible. Whether theculture loves us or hates us, we all want to know how God means to mark off his saints, put them on display, sanctify them, and putthem to work.

Church Membership: Following the Lord Together | 9Marks Journal

Independently published

How the Nations Rage: Rethinking Faith and Politics in a Divided Age

How can we move forward amid such political strife and cultural contention?
We live in a time of division. It shows up not just between political parties and ethnic groups and churches but also inside of them. As Christians, we’ve felt pushed to the outskirts of national public life, yet even then we are divided about how to respond. Some want to strengthen the evangelical voting bloc. Others focus on social-justice causes, and still others would abandon the public square altogether. What do we do when brothers and sisters in Christ sit next to each other in the pews but feel divided and angry? Is there a way forward?
In How the Nations Rage, political theology scholar and pastor Jonathan Leeman challenges Christians from across the spectrum to hit the restart button. First, we shift our focus from redeeming the nation to living as a redeemed nation. Second, we take the lessons learned inside the church into our public engagement outside of it by loving our neighbors and seeking justice. When we identify with Christ more than a political party or social grouping, we avoid the false allure of building heaven on earth and return to the church’s unchanging political task: to represent a heavenly and future kingdom now. It’s only when we realize that the life of our churches now is the hope of the nation for tomorrow that we become the salt and light Jesus calls us to be.

Thomas Nelson

How can the church move forward in unity amid such political strife and cultural contention? 
As Christians, we’ve felt pushed to the outskirts of national public life, yet even within our congregations we are divided about how to respond. Some want to strengthen the evangelical voting bloc. Others focus on social justice causes, and still others would abandon the public square altogether. What do we do when brothers and sisters in Christ sit next to each other in the pews but feel divided and angry? Is there a way forward? 
In How the Nations Rage, political theology scholar and pastor Jonathan Leeman challenges Christians from across the spectrum to hit the restart button by shifting our focus from redeeming the nation to living as a nation already redeemed rejecting the false allure of building heaven on earth while living faithfully as citizens of a heavenly kingdom letting Jesus’ teaching shape our public engagement as we love our neighbors and seek justice 
When we identify with Christ more than a political party or social grouping, we can return to the church’s unchanging political task: to become the salt and light Jesus calls us to be and offer the hope of his kingdom to the nations.

Church Basics Bible Study Book includes small-group experiences for six sessions, individual study opportunities, applicable Scripture, "How to Use This Study," and tips for leading a group. A leader guide is included at the back to help leaders navigate the content while developing better practices for small group leadership. 
God cares about His glory, and He wants to display His glory through the church. God's revelation, purpose, and will are perfect. However, because He's chosen to involve His people in His work, carrying out His mission includes our organization and effort. For this reason, it's imperative that we understand the basics of church. A comprehensive and rich understanding of the church, its organization, and its practices strengthens our service and ministry as the body of Christ on earth. 
Church Basics Bible Study:
<ul>
<li>provides a biblical explanation of baptism</li>
<li>explains the meaning of the Lord's Supper, how it relates to the church's life together, and who should celebrate it</li>
<li>reveals that the congregation's mission is to promote and protect the gospel</li>
<li>shows how church discipline demonstrates love for an individual caught in sin</li>
<li>explores the roles of elders, deacons, members, and the congregation</li>
<li>illustrates how God intends to fulfill the Great Commission through local churches</li>
</ul>
Individual study may be customized for the group or even for each individual. Study options include a weekly reading plan, journaling exercises, and interactive devotions. 
Session titles:
<ol>
<li>Baptism and the Lord’s Supper</li>
<li>The Congregation’s Authority</li>
<li>Church Discipline</li>
<li>Stewardship</li>
<li>Church Leadership</li>
<li>The Great Commission and the Church</li>
</ol>
Features:
<ul>
<li>Biblically rooted and gospel-centered</li>
<li>Leader guide at the back of each book</li>
<li>Individual study opportunities for ongoing spiritual growth</li>
<li>Six sessions with group and personal study</li>
</ul>
Benefits:
<ul>
<li>Give group members a better understanding of church basics for more effective ministry.</li>
<li>Expose individuals to a biblical model of church that confronts more casual and even inaccurate understandings.</li>
<li>Help group members understand the meaning and importance of baptism.</li>
<li>Gain a transformational understanding of the Lord's Supper.</li>
<li>Affirm that the church is more about its mission than about programs and meetings.</li>
<li>Understand the heart of church discipline.</li>
<li>Rally individuals around a Great Commission commitment.</li>
<li>Grasp a biblical model of church leadership.</li>
</ul>
Author:
Robert Bruce Jamieson III is a PhD student in New Testament at the University of Cambridge. He previously served as an assistant editor for 9Marks and is the author of Going Public: Why Baptism Is Required for Church Membership.
Jonathan Leeman (PhD, University of Wales) is an elder at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., the editorial director at 9Marks, and the author of Don't Fire Your Church Members: The Case for Congregationalism.
Mark Dever (PhD, Cambridge) is the senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. and the president of 9Marks. He has written multiple books on the church, including The Church: The Gospel Made Visible.

Basics - Bible Study Book: Understanding the Foundations of a Healthy Church

Dever, Mark

Nation, Philip

Jamieson III, Robert Bruce

LifeWay Press

When the world speaks of "love," it often means unconditional acceptance. Many churches have adopted this mind-set in their practice of membership and discipline-if they have not done away with such structures entirely. "Yet God's love and God's gospel are different than what the world expects," writes Jonathan Leeman. They're centered in his character, which draws a clear boundary between what is holy and what is not. It's this line that the local church should represent in its member practices, because the careful exercise of such authority "is God's means for guarding the gospel, marking off a people, and thereby defining his love for the world." So how should churches receive and dismiss members? How should Christians view their submission to the church? Are there dangers in such submission? The Church and the Surprising Offense of God's Love responds with biblical, theological, and practical guidance-from both corporate and individual perspectives. It's a resource that will help pastors and their congregations upend worldly conceptions and recover a biblical understanding and practice of church authority.

The Church and the Surprising Offense of God's Love: Reintroducing the Doctrines of Church Membership and Discipline (9Marks)

Crossway

Church discipline is essential to building a healthy church. So how exactly do we practice church discipline?
Jonathan Leeman helps us face the endless variety of circumstances and sins for which no scriptural case study exists, sins that don’t show up on any list and need a biblical framework to be corrected appropriately in love.
Here is a contemporary and concise how-to guide that provides a theological framework for understanding and implementing disciplinary measures in the local church, along with several examples of real-life situations and the corresponding responses.

Church Discipline: How the Church Protects the Name of Jesus (9Marks: Building Healthy Churches)

Why should you join a church?
Becoming a member of a church is an important, and often neglected, part of the Christian life. Yet the trend these days is one of shunning the practice of organized religion and showing a distaste or fear of commitment, especially of institutions.
Jonathan Leeman addresses these issues with a straightforward explanation of what church membership is and why it’s important. Giving the local church its proper due, Leeman has built a compelling case for committing to the local body.

Church Membership: How the World Knows Who Represents Jesus (Building Healthy Churches)

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Leeman, Jonathan. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Leeman, Jonathan

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Leeman, Jonathan. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Word-Centered Church: How Scripture Brings Life and Growth to God's People

Political Church: The Local Assembly as Embassy of Christ's Rule (Studies in Christian Doctrine and Scripture)

Crossing to Christ

Church Membership: Following the Lord Together | 9Marks Journal

How the Nations Rage: Rethinking Faith and Politics in a Divided Age

How the Nations Rage: Rethinking Faith and Politics in a Divided Age

Basics - Bible Study Book: Understanding the Foundations of a Healthy Church

The Church and the Surprising Offense of God's Love: Reintroducing the Doctrines of Church Membership and Discipline (9Marks)

Church Discipline: How the Church Protects the Name of Jesus (9Marks: Building Healthy Churches)

Church Membership: How the World Knows Who Represents Jesus (Building Healthy Churches)