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What Is the Mission of the Church? Making Sense of Social Justice, Shalom, and the Great Commission

The minute I finished this book I logged onto Amazon.com and ordered one for each of our ruling elders and I did so at my own expense.  It is that good.  I want them to read this book and I want the book to inform their ministry at Grace Community Presbyterian Church and the ministry of Grace Community Presbyterian Church.

ORGANIZATION
Part 1: Understanding our Mission
A wonderful introduction and definition of terms.

Part 2: Understanding our Categories
Careful and deeply exegetical.  Chapters 6 and 7 are worth the price of the book.

Part 3: Understanding What We Do and Why We Do It
Bringing balance to potential misunderstandings.

THOUGHTS
This is not the first book I have read from either of these guys (DeYoung's Just Do Something and Why We Love the Church, co-authored with Ted Kluck and Gilbert's What is the Gospel), and their writing doesn't disappoint.  They are both very engaging writers.  It is not a slog to get through this book.

These men root all they have to say in God's Word.  When you read this book (and you really should) do so with your Bible next to you and open.  They will be commenting and interpreting a number of passages, some of them relatively lengthy (Genesis 1 and 2) and you will want to read along with them.
They subtitle chapter 6 as exposition and subtitle chapter 7 as application.  When you read this book (and you really should) you will see a good bit of application in chapter 6 and some further exposition in chapter 7.  Excellent chapters, both of them.

DeYoung and Gilbert repeat throughout the book that they are not to be misunderstood to be saying don't bother with soup kitchens and after-school programs.  Then they devote all of chapter 9 to this very issue.  Talking about the difference between the church 'and a bunch of Christians' and how that plays into our callings, the mission of the church and the responsibility of individual Christians they bring balance and make a compelling and biblical case.

The Epilogue is a gem.  The authors manage to communicate pastoral wisdom through a fictional conversation between a seasoned pastor and a man new to pastoral ministry.


BUY IT AND READ IT
Authors: Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert
Publisher: Crossway
ISBN: 978-1-4335-2690-9
WTS Books
Amazon
Amazon Kindle





3 (out of 3) Highlighters









What Is the Mission of the Church?: Making Sense of Social Justice, Shalom, and the Great CommissionWhat Is the Mission of the Church?: Making Sense of Social Justice, Shalom, and the Great Commission by Kevin DeYoung
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Excellent!! A carefully exegetical and irenic treatment of the mission of the church. Ordering copies for all of our elders.

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