Pastors' and Theologians' Forum on Corporate Witness
"What must pastors do to help their members regain a sense of the church’s corporate witness, which is so vital to evangelism? What stands in the way of that recovery?"
Answers from
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How to Make Membership Matter
By
Welcome to Membership Matters, the new members’ course of Capitol Hill Baptist Church. Before you get started, we have a few suggestions for how you might use this material in the most beneficial way.
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By Class XI: Serving and Giving
By Jamie Dunlop
In Mark 10:45, Jesus says, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many." Jesus also calls us to take up the cross and follow him. Part of how we do this is to serve Christ’s body, the church. As he says in Mark 10:43, "Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant." Greatness in Jesus' eyes is serving others, especially in the church.
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Class VIII: Church Leadership
By Jamie Dunlop
Hebrews 13:17 is a hard word for Christians today. "Obey your leaders and submit to them," it says, "for they keep watch over your souls, as men who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you."
Obey. Submit. Those are strong words, particularly in our egalitarian, individualistic culture.
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Class III: Preaching
By Jamie Dunlop
As Christians, we probably all agree that preaching is important. But what's not immediately obvious is how the act of preaching—and the act of listening to preaching—contributes to the unity of a local church.
How exactly does preaching foster unity in the church? How we can be good stewards of the preaching we hear, not just for our own individual growth, but for the health and maturity of the church as a whole? These are some of the questions we'll consider today.
I. God Creates his People Through His Word
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Class II: Church Membership
By Jamie Dunlop
I. INTRODUCTION
Good morning and welcome! This is the second class in a thirteen-week course on living together as a church. This morning, we will consider the idea of church membership and how it facilitates unity within the church. Before we begin, let's pray.
Church Membership—Why Bother?
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Class I: Introduction
By Jamie Dunlop
Welcome to the first of thirteen classes on our life together as a church. In this introductory class, my hope is to give you some idea of why we as Christians need a class like this in the first place. To put it simply, we need this class because two things are true:
First, God calls Christians to gather together in local churches to worship him and to reflect his glorious character to the world.
Second, we are still sinners.
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Class XIII: Corporate Evangelism
By Greg Gilbert
Christians today often see evangelism as either 100 percent the job of the church or 100 percent their own job. So either they structure church life around the needs and interests of non-Christians and then invite people to church; or they see the church's job as training Christians to share their faith with family and friends.
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Class XII: Worship
By Jamie Dunlop
What is worship? What does it mean to worship God? And what does worship have to do with the unity that should exist in the body of Christ?
There is a strong connection between worship and unity. For one thing, worship is one of the sweetest and most valuable fruits of the unity we've been discussing. Also, true worship will naturally foster unity. When we focus our hearts and minds on Jesus Christ, finding our greatest satisfaction in him, the Holy Spirit also fills us with a desire to love those around us. And that contributes mightily to unity.
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