5 Questions about the Local Church
Ultimately, the local church makes visible what is invisible, and reflects in words and deeds the kingdom life that is to come.
Articles on Church Membership
108 results found
An Open Letter to the Churchless Christian
It is impossible to have a faithful walk with Christ and Christian life—biblically or practically—without committed participation in a local church.
The Importance of the Gathered Church
Love is messy. You know what else? The gospel is messy. It means loving sinners—people like you and me.
Church Membership Is Not a One-Way Street
What is church membership? It’s the commitment Christians make to keep one another accountable for regularly gathering and centering their lives together on the gospel.
4 Ways to Prepare for Ministry
Perhaps you’re looking for boxes to check, some way to easily measure your progress toward the pastorate. Now you’re left feeling a bit frustrated. So what now?
The antidote to hypocrisy is humility. What good deeds do you do that are seen by few or none? When did you last volunteer for a menial task?
11 Notable Quotes from A Place to Belong
Though our congregations are made up of ordinary people engaged in predictable practices, we are an outpost of heaven itself.
Podcast: What Keeps You from Going to Church? (Jonathan Leeman)
Jonathan Leeman discusses the vital importance of in-person church fellowship, how we can and should prioritize involvement with the people of God in a local church—especially after a year like 2020.
Dangers for the Churchless Christian
If you try to grow as a Christian apart from a church, your growth will be misshapen.
You Don’t Get the Church You Want, but the One You Need
Collin Hansen, Jonathan Leeman
You have many reasons not to go to church. That’s why we see this moment in history as an opportunity to rediscover church.
5 Questions about Church Membership
The local church is the authority on earth that Jesus has instituted to officially affirm and give shape to my Christian life and yours.
5 Guidelines for Preparing Congregational Prayer
Effective public prayer must be well-prepared prayer. This is the engine that will move all the other principles.
Should the Church Operate Like a Business?
How we think about the church will affect how we think about our service in the church.
Tithing in Financially Tight Times
Giving out of scarcity declares in an especially profound way that God is better than money.
Pastor: What Your Wife Wishes You Knew about Being a Pastor’s Wife
Having been a pastor’s wife for many years, let me share with you some of the struggles your wife may be dealing with.
3 Causes for Political Tension between Christians
Jonathan Leeman, Andrew David Naselli
What is going on when a disagreements affects your heart’s posture or hinders fellowship with another person in your church?
Why You Can’t Be a Christian without the Church
A Christian is someone who, by virtue of his reconciliation with God, has been reconciled to God’s people.
5 Questions about Church Discipline
What is church discipline? Is it biblical? Jonathan Leeman answers five questions about church discipline.
Why should you get baptized? Christ not only commands believers to get baptized, baptism is also a gift he graciously gives for our benefit and blessing.
Ask for Grace and Go to Church
The reasons you don’t feel like going to church might be good, bad, or ugly. But, as a fellow sheep loved by the same Shepherd, I’m asking you to trust God, ask for grace, and go.
3 Questions about Small Groups
We should be asking ourselves if we act like family members of the church and whether or not our participation in the church strengthens or weakens it.
Help! My Small Group Is Not Working
When we say community isn’t working, what we are really saying is that our expectations were not met.
Podcast: What If I Don’t Feel Like Going to Church? (Gunner Gundersen)
What do we do when we just don't feel like gathering with God's people in corporate worship, and how has the pandemic affected us in this area?
10 Reasons to Come Back to Church after COVID-19
Many churches are now resuming our meetings, or will soon. But these new services feel strange. Some believers may feel tempted not to come at all.
10 Things You Should Know about the Church after COVID-19
In all the important ways, nothing has changed about church. We are still the people of God, gathered in the presence of God, to bring glory to God.
Help! My Kids Don’t Like Going to Church
One of parents’ chief responsibilities is to train our children to be worshippers. And bringing our kids to church, whether they like it or not, is an essential act of discipleship.
5 Common Ways Church Members Go Astray
How can church elders engage relationally with their local fellowship and keep a watch out for church members who may be straying?
4 Ways Paul Encourages Us to Love the Church (Even When It’s Hard)
Like it did for Paul, the truth should shape us, so that belonging to an ordinary gathering of unremarkable people becomes one of the highest joys and greatest privileges of our lives.
Loving Others through Political Difference
Jonathan Leeman, Andrew David Naselli
What is wisdom? It’s a capacity of mind that combines the fear of the Lord with the skill of living in God’s created but fallen world in a way that yields justice, peace, and flourishing.
16 Ways Pastors Can Work for Unity in Politically Divisive Times
Jonathan Leeman, Andrew David Naselli
In an increasingly anti-Christian culture, what’s important is how we respond to those who vote or believe differently, to learn how to make at least some space for them, and to encourage charity and forbearance.