Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, 4th Edition (Dever)

Description

You may have read books on this topic before but not like this one. Instead of an instruction manual for church growth, this classic text points to basic biblical principles for assessing and strengthening the health of your church. Whether you’re a pastor, a leader, or an involved member of your congregation, studying the nine marks of a healthy church will help you cultivate new life and well-being within your own church for God’s glory.

This revised edition includes two new chapters; updated material on prayer, missions, evangelism, and the gospel; and a foreword by H. B. Charles Jr.

Contents

Foreword by H. B. Charles Jr.
Preface to the Fourth Edition (2020)
Preface to the Third Edition (2013)
Preface to the [2nd] “New Expanded Edition” (2004)
Introduction

Chapter 1: Expositional Preaching
Chapter 2: Gospel Doctrine
Chapter 3: A Biblical Understanding of Conversion and Evangelism
Chapter 4: A Biblical Understanding of Church Membership
Chapter 5: Biblical Church Discipline
Chapter 6: A Biblical Concern for Discipleship and Growth
Chapter 7: Biblical Church Leadership
Chapter 8: A Biblical Understanding and Practice of Prayer
Chapter 9: A Biblical Understanding and Practice of Missions

Appendix 1: Tips for Leading the Church in a Healthy Direction
Appendix 2: “Don’t Do It!” Why You Shouldn’t Practice Church Discipline
Appendix 3: The Original 9 Marks Letter

Endorsements

“From my early days as a football coach, my football mentor instilled in me a sense of urgency to be clear on what we were looking for as we set out to build championship teams. All championship teams own distinctive marks that we look to reproduce year after year. In my formative days as a pastor, Mark Dever has helped me gain biblical clarity on what a healthy local church looks like through Nine Marks of a Healthy Church. As leaders of our local churches, it is critical that we are clear on how Christ is building his church so that we can faithfully come alongside him in his work.”
—Rocky Seto, Senior Pastor, Evergreen Baptist Church of San Gabriel Valley

“Here are the timeless biblical truths that inform what the church is, how God creates and nurtures it, and how its pastors and members participate in that work. Nine Marks of a Healthy Church has helped me as a young pastor see through the fog of church growth models to the essential architecture of ecclesiology. This book is far and away the clearest and most biblical account of what the church is that I’ve come across. Most importantly, the vision of the church displayed here is so God-centered that it places the magnificent responsibility of sustaining and leading it back on the right shoulders, namely, his.”
—Samuel D. Ferguson, Rector, The Falls Church Anglican, Metro Washington, D.C.

About the Author

Mark Dever (PhD, Cambridge University) is the senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC, and president of 9Marks (9Marks.org). Dever has authored over a dozen books and speaks at conferences nationwide. He lives in Washington, DC, with his wife, Connie, and they have two adult children.