Why the Future Belongs to Churches that Send
People are leaving the church J.D. Greear pastors. Big givers. Key volunteers. Some of his best leaders and friends. And that’s exactly how he wants it to be.
When Jesus gave his disciples the Great Commission, he revealed that the key for reaching the world with the gospel is found in sending, not gathering. Though many churches focus time and energy on attracting people and counting numbers, the real mission of the church isn’t how many people you can gather. It’s about training up disciples and then sending them out. The true measure of success for a church should be its sending capacity, not its seating capacity.
But there is a cost to this. To see ministry multiply, we must release the seeds God has placed in our hands. And to do that, we must ask ourselves whether we are concerned more with building our kingdom or God’s.
In Gaining By Losing, J.D. Greear unpacks ten plumb lines that you can use to reorient your church’s priorities around God’s mission to reach a lost world. The good news is that you don’t need to choose between gathering or sending. Effective churches can, and must, do both.
Hott Review:
I always want to love non-fiction but it seems to fall short when I read it. I either don’t connect with the author, I’m to exhausted to process it, or well, it’s just not interesting.
Gaining By Losing wasn’t like that at all! I loved J.D. Greear’s sense of humor. He writes like it’s a coffee break & we’re chatting. I frequently found myself responding to him… out load. Yeah… Even when I was tired, his simple methods and writing style were easy to understand and enjoy. I found myself reading much more than I’d intended and loving every second! Plus, Gaining By Losing was enthralling. When you’re reading it makes such perfect sense and it’s easy to see why it works. I just had to constantly ask myself “why are we making this so difficult?”
After reading on my own, I joined a study group to read through Gaining By Losing with peers at church in response to our church’s mission that models the precepts outlined throughout. Digging in and reviewing this with others as even more enjoyable! I loved hearing additional viewpoints and possibilities for growth in our community. Hubby and I have always maintained that we were called to do His work on the field of our community, we just frequently differ on what that is. Now we each have many more opportunities though our church to give Him our best.
Here’s what Gaining By Losing makes me think of:
More…
| Author: | J.D. Greear | ||
| Source: | I purchased Gaining By Losing on April 7, 2017. It was on sale for $3.99 (it’s MUCH cheaper now) and I’d heard my church’s leadership would be using the book for their mission. Hubby & I then took the church’s class this fall & purchased a hard-copy to review in class, as well. | ||
| Publisher & Date: | September 13th 2016 by Zondervan (first published July 21st 2015) | ||
| Genre: | Christianity > Discipleship | ||
| ISBN: | 0310533953 (ISBN13: 9780310533955) | ||
| Pages: | 256 | ||
| Grade: | A | ||
Excerpt:
Author Bio:
J.D. Greear, Ph.D., did his degree work in Christian and Islamic theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC. He is Lead Pastor of The Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham, NC. The Summit’s vision is to plant 1,000 churches in by the year 2040. Currently, they have planted 11 and have several church planting teams stationed around the world.
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