Creature of the Word: The Jesus-Centered Church

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“A third empty well we commonly employ is that of respect and success. We want approval. We want acceptance.” (Page 27)

“He calls us to worship Him from both of these perspectives—in ‘spirit’ and in ‘truth’—from hearts inflamed through minds informed by the revealed Word of God and the indwelling Holy Spirit.” (Page 35)

“God gave His people laws about marriage, business, relationships, sex, parenting, worship, and even agriculture, not merely as isolated points of emphasis but as insights into His larger purposes and plans, to unify their corporate lives around His grand story of redemption.” (Page 10)

“This awesome reality—the fact that God spoke the Church into existence—would later lead the Reformers to call the Church ‘the Creature of the Word.’ What they meant was that the Church is not a human invention or institution; it was birthed from God’s Word. God spoke and created the universe. God spoke to Abraham and created Israel; and in the same way, God created the Church through the proclaimed gospel of the revealed Word, Jesus Christ.” (Page 15)

“For just as an individual must continually return to the grace of Jesus for satisfaction and sanctification, a local church must continually return to the gospel as well. Our churches must be fully centered on Jesus and His work, or else death and emptiness is certain, regardless of the worship style or sermon series. Without the gospel, everything in a church is meaningless. And dead.” (Pages 5–6)