Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    A Short Guide to Church
    A Short Guide to Church
    A Short Guide to Church
    Ebook127 pages1 hour

    A Short Guide to Church

    By Dean Inserra

    ()

    Switch to audiobook
    Read preview

    About this ebook

    A common claim in modern American Christianity is that you don’t have to go to church to be a Christian. The writers of the New Testament, however, would find a Christian faith separate from the church to be unrecognizable. Dean Inserra has often said to his congregation, “There is more to being a Christian than going to church, but there certainly isn’t less.” Belonging to a local church is not something made up by a Christian subculture. The local church was God’s design. It is his grand idea to display his glory and provide the avenue for his people to flourish as his missionaries to the world. When one begins to see the church as God’s plan, the mindset shifts from going to church in order to claim Christianity to seeing oneself as a participant in what God has given his people as a gift.
     
    There is a purpose, design, and reason for why the church functions in the manner she does. Consistent practices that may seem as merely tradition upon first glance, are prescribed by God for his people to practice together until Christ returns. The local church, congregated together, is the Lord’s primary plan for discipleship, fellowship, and mission for the Christian life. A Short Guide to Church is not a technical treatment of ecclesiology, but rather a book to put in the hands of every prospective and current church member, to help the body of Christ, expressed locally, to see the purposes and plan of the local church for their life of faith, and why it truly is the best thing going.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBH Publishing Group
    Release dateJun 4, 2024
    ISBN9781430091967

    Read more from Dean Inserra

    Related to A Short Guide to Church

    Related ebooks

    Christianity For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • UNLIMITED

      Botswana

      Nov 22, 2024

      On the 1st of November 2024, Botswana – and the world – woke up to the stunning news of a completely new government in that country. For the first time since independence, the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) lost the elections in a landslide victory

      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Turning Points

      Jul 21, 2023

      Change. Does this word scare or inspire you? Herbert Spencer said, “A living thing is distinguished from a dead thing by the multiplicity of the changes at any moment taking place in it.” Change is evidence of life. It is impossible to grow without c

      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Letters To The EDITOR

      Jun 24, 2022

      Dear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to [email protected] for a chance to be featured – please try to ke

      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      FAITH Is Aught Not Caught

      Dec 30, 2019

      As Christians, we have all kinds of pithy sayings that make their way through churches and establish themselves as generally accepted truths. Some end up on bumper stickers, some on wall decals, and some just get repeated so many times that people th

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Joy! News

      Sep 29, 2023

      Joy! News
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Ask Val

      Mar 18, 2022

      Ask Val
      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Ask Val

      Sep 23, 2022

      Ask Val
      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Uncharted Cultural Waters

      Mar 18, 2022

      Uncharted Cultural Waters
      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Where is God IN THE CHAOS?

      Mar 18, 2022

      We live in extremely challenging times. Our unemployment rate is among the highest in the world. Our economy is tanking. Skilled people are emigrating. Crime, poverty, corruption, and violence are endemic in our society. Chaos seems to be overtaking

      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Kingdom In The Marketplace

      Apr 13, 2020

      There are so many Christians in the marketplace who remain hidden or silent, despite so much teaching available from the church, internet, TV, and other media. Why are these believers and their faith so hidden? Here are a few pointers to assist you i

      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      God’s Gift of Rest

      Sep 23, 2022

      God’s Gift of Rest
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Ask Val

      Jul 21, 2023

      Ask Val
      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Midgey’s Moments

      Dec 31, 2021

      It’s a brand new calendar year and for many humans, maybe a time to start afresh? But for us doggies, every day is brand new! Life for humans seems so busy, there is so much to do and so many distractions – people try to do what is called ‘multi-task

      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Pastors Need A Firm BIBLICAL FOUNDATION

      Dec 30, 2019

      The Gospel is the most powerful force on this earth. The transformative power of the Cross changes lives around the world daily. If the Gospel is not changing hearts, then it is not the full Gospel that is being preached. In Africa today we see a num

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Fake News, Fake Gospels!

      Dec 31, 2021

      Fake News, Fake Gospels!
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Josh & Tara McCauley On A REDEMPTIVE Mission

      Sep 4, 2020

      Whilst his friends were out playing cops and robbers, a young Joshua would sit in the front row of church listening to the sermons of his dad (Rhema Church founder, Pastor Ray McCauley) blissfully unaware that one day he too would be standing behind

      10 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Letters To The Editor

      Dec 30, 2019

      Letters To The Editor
      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for A Short Guide to Church

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      A Short Guide to Church - Dean Inserra

      Table of Contents

      Foreword

      Chapter 1: What’s the Deal with Church? Do I Have to Go?

      Chapter 2: Why Do We Do Church?

      Chapter 3: Why Do We Preach the Bible?

      Chapter 4: Why Do We Gather Every Week?

      Chapter 5: Why Do We Sing?

      Chapter 6: Why Do We Take the Lord’s Supper?

      Chapter 7: Why Do We Baptize?

      Chapter 8: Why Do We Give?

      Chapter 9: Why Do We Evangelize?

      Chapter 10: Why Do We Send Missionaries?

      Conclusion: A Plea from the Heart Regarding the Local Church

      Notes

      A Short Guide to Church

      Copyright © 2024 by Dean Inserra

      All rights reserved.

      Printed in the United States of America

      978-1-4300-9196-7

      Published by B&H Publishing Group

      Brentwood, Tennessee

      Dewey Decimal Classification: 254.5

      Subject Heading: CHURCH / DISCIPLESHIP / CHURCH MEMBERSHIP

      All Scripture references are taken from the Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.

      Cover design by Darren Welch Design.

      Illustration by Peacefully7/shutterstock.

      Author photo by City Church staff.

      1 2 3 4 5 6 • 27 26 25 24

      To Alex Scott and Ashlyn Portero. Thank you for loving the local church.

      Acknowledgments

      I CANNOT WRITE A book about the local church without thanking City Church of Tallahassee, for being the home church of my family, and a place we love. It truly is the dearest place. Thank you for being a church we would want to be members of even if I wasn’t on the staff. We love our church.

      I would also like to thank Giana Hall for always being the first person who sees my writing and a trusted and gifted friend.

      I am grateful for Erik Wolgemuth at Wolgemuth and Associates, and B&H Publishing Group for giving me this opportunity, along with my guide throughout the process, Logan Pyron.

      Finally, I would like thank the Elders and Executive Staff at City Church for being the trusted leadership we need to flourish.

      Foreword

      I GREW UP AS an only child of divorced parents. I was deeply loved by my parents, but I didn’t really grow up around family. No grandparents, no siblings, no aunts, or uncles. I also didn’t really grow up in the church, nor did I have an understanding of the gospel. Our family rhythms were centered around work, sports, and school.

      I was in college when I first heard the gospel presented to me. Someone sat down with me in the university student center and presented a gospel tract to me. He shared with me that God made me, that I was living in rebellion to him, that Jesus paid the price for my sin, and that I could have everlasting life with him by placing my faith in Christ. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, God used this simple gospel message to transfer me from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of his Son. I was dead, but God made me alive.

      I spent the next several years very engaged in campus ministry. My parents once said it felt like I was majoring in ministry and minoring in college. During those years, I learned how to share my faith. I spent time in Christian community and grew in my love for the Lord. These were really sweet years for me, but one thing I never really understood was the church. What is a church for when I have what I need in campus ministry? Is the church really necessary? During those years, I was growing in Christ, but I was separated from his body. In fact, where I pastor now, by far the greatest area of confusion for confessing Christians is the church.

      Over the last several decades evangelicals have attempted to center the gospel in all that we do. This gospel-centered movement has rightly emphasized the holiness of God, the sinfulness of humanity, the sacrificial and atoning work of Christ, and the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. But what about the church?

      Throughout the past fifteen years, my understanding of the gospel has grown wider and deeper. More specifically, I understand that being adopted into the family of God, the church, is part of the gospel. The good news of the gospel is not just that we are saved from something, the judgment of God, but that we’re also saved into something—the family of God. Entrance into this new family should be good news for all Christians. For all of us who are lonely, outcasts, spiritual or physical orphans, or to anyone looking for a family, the church is good news. God has not just saved us from hell, he has adopted us into his family.

      The church is good news, because when we are saved into this family, we stand on God’s Word together. We are full of the Holy Spirit together. We pray together. We sing together. We encourage one another together. We invite sinners to repentance, belief, and baptism together. We enjoy the Lord’s Supper together. And we will, one day, enjoy a kingdom without end together.

      I am thankful you’ve picked up this book about the church, but you may still be asking the question, Why does the church matter? It is because the gospel matters.

      —J. T. English, pastor, professor, author of Deep Discipleship and coauthor of You Are a Theologian

      CHAPTER 1

      What’s the Deal with Church? Do I Have to Go?

      THERE IS MORE TO being a Christian than going to church, but there is certainly not less. The local church is significant in the lives of those who follow Jesus Christ, whether through its presence or its absence. Of all the pushback I get on social media from professing Christians, the most consistent negative comments come when I assert what I thought was a basic understanding: Christians should go to church. The rebuttal is predictable, almost automatic: You don’t have to go to church to be a Christian. And, of course, church attendance does not forgive sins or reconcile anyone to God. It is by grace we have been saved, through faith, not by works (Eph. 2:8–9). We are forgiven and saved from God’s just punishment of sin through the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ. One does not have to go to church or do any other work whatsoever to be saved, since Jesus has done all the work through his perfect life, death on the cross, and glorious resurrection.

      The New Testament is full of inferences and references to the role of the church in the life of a believer. The professing Christian who does not go to church will say that one can have church—on a boat, playing golf, sitting on the back porch enjoying a Sunday morning coffee. It is about your personal relationship with God. While I want to acknowledge that these individuals may have been taught that at some time in their lives or been convinced of it by a friend, Scripture just does not recognize an unchurched Christianity. Yes, we can have a personal experience with God anywhere in creation, but that is not the ultimate point regarding the Christian and the church. The better option is to discover and pursue what God has willed and designed for his people to live out the Christian life and experience.

      Throughout the New Testament, God’s design for his people is the church. Outside of an important instruction from the writer of Hebrews for the Christians not to neglect gathering together (Heb. 10:25), you may not think there are an abundant number of slam-dunk, drop-the-hammer, case-closed commandments about the Christian being part of the church. However, the letters of the New Testament are written in the assumed context of local church congregations. If I am telling you about the game Tom Brady played where he threw touchdown passes, I don’t also have to inform you that he’s playing football. The context is the football game. Similarly, the Holy Spirit-inspired New Testament letters are addressed to actual churches. Local churches are the context.

      The claim that "we are the church; we don’t go to church sounds spiritual (and is not completely wrong), but there is much scriptural emphasis on the local church, perhaps even more than the universal church. The New Testament letters were written to actual, organized churches that existed at the time. This is the context for living out the new life to which we are called. Jonathan Leeman wrote that membership in the universal church must become visible in a local gathering of Christians."¹

      The New Testament letters were written to actual, organized churches that existed at the time.

      As a pastor, I officiate weddings on a regular basis. I count it as a privilege to be asked by a couple to stand with them on their wedding day, share the Scriptures concerning marriage, lead them in their vows, and pronounce them husband and wife. My relationship with the couple is certainly a major reason officiating is meaningful, but there is an even greater reason. I am getting to take part in God’s model for his church: a husband loving his wife as Christ loved the church.

      At the beginning of the ceremony, after I welcome the guests on behalf of the bride and the groom, I remind the wedding guests that they did not simply fill

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1