Gracepoint Ministries' Readings » Book Excerpt

Many churches nowadays can be more accurately described as a collection of individuals rather the united body of Christ. Individualism has become the paradigm of today’s culture, and unfortunately, this mindset has also permeated the church. However, as Christians, we are “members of one body” (Eph 4:25), who are called to “reach unity in the faith” (Eph 5:13). How can we be united as one church despite the culture of individualism? In order to answer this question, Randy Frazee turns to the early church. Frazee noted that one characteristic of the early church was that Christians were not only involved in local groups, but were also part of a larger, worldwide Christian movement. Acts 2: 42-44 reads, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.” In other words, they had a common purpose. Similarly, in order for the church today to be “one body”, the members of the Christian community “must act like members of something that is larger than themselves.”

Excerpt: Being the Body

garyzhao — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 07:27:24 +0000

Being the Body

By Charles Colson and Ellen Vaughn

Click here to download the excerpt of this chapter.

In this excerpt from Colson’s Being the Body, Colson recognizes that a very important aspect of the early church has been lost in today’s Christians: character as a whole. “The church’s role in the world is not a series of independent items on an action checklist. Instead, the church’s role (what it does) is dependent on its character (what it is) as a community of believers.”

“If the church is the Body, the holy presence of Christ in the world, its most fundamental task is to build communities of holy people who are just like Jesus. And the priority of those communities is to disciple men and women to maturity in Him and then to equip them to live their faith in every aspect of life and in every part of the world.”

Excerpt: The Volunteer Revolution

garyzhao — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 02:38:22 +0000

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

—Ephesians 2:10

Willow Creek Community Church senior pastor Bill Hybels calls us to a life of excitement and thrills of serving at church. The 13-page excerpt is filled with examples and testimonies that would challenge our fundamental identity as a servant of Jesus Christ.

“What would it feel like to lay your head on your pillow at night and say, ‘You know what I did today? I teamed up with God to change the world’?”The Volunteer Revolution

By Bill Hybels

The Volunteer Revolution

By Bill Hybels

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

—Ephesians 2:10
Click here to download the excerpt of this chapter

Willow Creek Community Church senior pastor Bill Hybels calls us to a life of excitement and thrills from serving at church. The 13-page excerpt is filled with examples and testimonies that would challenge our fundamental identity as a servant of Jesus Christ.

“What would it feel like to lay your head on your pillow at night and say, ‘You know what I did today? I teamed up with God to change the world’?”

Stop Dating the Church (Chapter 3 and 4) – by Joshua Harris

mikelim — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 07:18:51 +0000

Joshua Harris’ book Stop Dating the Church addresses the Christian phenomenon of “rolling-stone” Christians who do not plant themselves deeply within a single church. In chapter 3, he goes through why the church is more than just a gathering of people, and and an optional extra curricular for Christians. In chapter 4, Joshua Harris engages in an amazing discussion on the every day church go-er’s level of passion for the church. He notes that we are often signed up to different clubs that we devote ourselves to, and walks the reader through a “Profile of Commitment,” describing how a life of passion and commitment to the church can change peoples’ lives. It becomes evident that a passionate Christian who is involved in the church begins to undergo more than mere surface-deep transformations and thrive in their relationships with God as well as with other Christians…

Exerpt: Resident Aliens

johncai — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 04:49:30 +0000

“The church exists today as resident aliens, an adventurous colony in a society of unbelief…” How can today’s church impact a world that is increasingly hostile to faith? Does the church focus on building a better society through the humanization of social structures? Should it instead reject any kind of secular humanism and focus instead on inward change? In this excerpt, Hauerwas and Willmon discuss what the church must be to reach and transform a dying world.

Book: The Calvary Road (Roy Hession)

Admin — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 07:44:19 +0000

This book by missionary and evangelist Roy Hession has been a long-standing “must read” for decades at our church. Thankfully, the entire book is now available as a PDF document and is posted here: The_Calvary_Road_(RoyHession).pdf

It’s only 29 pages but it’s loaded with challenges that will spark personal revival! Some highlights include Chapter 4 “The Highway of Holiness” and Chapter 10 “Protesting Our Innocence?” (which was included in our Passion Readers). It’s well-worth reading again and again…

[Note: This pdf was made available from http://www.christianissues.biz/pdf-bin/sanctification/thecalvaryroad.pdf ]

Excerpt: When the Church was a Family

jeannielee — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 19:33:24 +0000

Decision Making in the Family of God

by Joseph H. Hellerman

Click here to download the excerpt of this chapter.

He replied to them, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” And looking about at those who were sitting in a circle around Him, He said, “here are My mother and My brothers! Whoever does the will of God is My brother and sister and mother.” Mark 3:33-35

Nick and Tina (not their real names) attended a church where I served in the late 1980’s. They came to see my on a Wednesday evening in mid-October, having just finished their weekly ministry in our children’s department. The couple had met at a church softball game a couple of months earlier. Now they wanted to get married in December. I did the math. Nick and Tina would have just four months together from acquaintance to the altar. The way that Nick and Tina wrestled with this major life decision helpfully illustrates what can happen when the church family functions as God intends it to.