Thursday, October 10, 2019

Book Review: God's Word For Today...The Church by John Stott

Ask the everyday, normal person what is the church, you will indeed get a lot of different answers. One of the most common ones is the church is that building on that street. Many people define the church as a building, a meeting place where people sing songs and hear a guy talk. For Christian, we know the church is not the building, but there are some Christian that still cannot grasp that concept for one reason or another.

John Stott takes through what is means to be the church in the fourth book of the "God's Word For Today" series which focuses on the church. He starts off by saying the church is God's chosen people who are loved by Him that worship Him while reaching out to a world that does not know Him. The church is not the building, it is the people. Stott addresses the challenges that the church will face in the modern world, which is important because those who do not know Christ will not accept the people of God because we live for the glory of God.

Stott goes on to address evangelism. For many Christians, they think that the pastor or church staff are responsible for evangelism, which is partially true. Yes, they are responsible for evangelism, but so is the rest of the church. For some it could be one-on-one evangelism where people engage in a personal level. There is mass evangelism where a man preaches either in a pulpit or on a street corner the gospel. The church is called to evangelize, but, as Stott points out, it must not forget the church is also called to worship the Lord. Worship exalts the Lord and will even move our hearts to share the gospel where we want people to come to worship the God who saved us. Stott also wrote that for a church in engage in proper evangelism, it must have proper theology. We must have a sound, biblical grasp into who God is and what He has done for us in order to proclaim to a lost world what we believe.

Stott addresses renewal in the church reflecting on the High Priestly prayer of Jesus in John 17. Jesus prayed that we be one as He and the Father are one. In unity, we must unified in the truth of God's word and striving for holiness. Next, Stott reflects on how Jesus led as an example for the pastors of our churches to lead. Pastors are to feed, lead, know, and protect their flock as Jesus showed the disciples in His earthly ministry.

Many Christians have an unhealthy view of the church for a long time. There are other great books on the subject to help believers understand what the Bible says about it. I am delighted to recommend this book as one of those resources.

Thanks InterVarsity Press for letting me review this book.

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