For nearly three hundred years, early Christians met almost exclusively in private homes initially built only for domestic use. In this study, Roger Gehring investigates the missional significance of house churches from the time of Jesus through Paul in light of both theological and socio-historical considerations. All church structures take shape in the tension between preestablished theological requirements and the concrete social situation. Even in the New Testament, the emergence of separate house churches involved the potential danger of splintering the Christian movement. Nevertheless their essential family-based foundation has proven to be the life-generating cell and fundamental core of the missional church. The development of early Christian ethics, the emergence of leadership structures, and the growth of ecclesiological concepts were all noticeably influenced by the households in which believers lived and gathered. In the last twenty-five years the house church phenomenon has generated a great deal of interest among New Testament scholars and church practitioners. Research has focused primarily on the architecture of these homes and on its corresponding social and theological implications. House Church and Mission offers scholars the first comprehensive summary of evidence concerning home churches in the New Testament and supplies pastors and lay leaders with a well-crafted discussion of the nature of "church" that explores the practical implications of house churches on outreach.

John Wesley was an eighteenth-century Anglican priest and Oxford tutor. He and George Whitefield were the primary leaders of the Evangelical Awakening which had a profound effect on the spiritual, social, and political life of both England and colonial America. Wesley gathered converts into a network of small groups for personal accountability, behavioral change, leadership training, and the transformation of their communities. Central to his system was the "class meeting," which proved to be one of the most effective tools for making disciples ever developed. This study examines the historical development, the theological foundation, and the social outcomes of John Wesley's class meeting.

Jesus' command to "go make disciples" is the foundational precept of the Great Commission. Pastor Stan Gleason explores the church's critical mandate to make disciples from biblical, theoretical, and practical viewpoints. An accomplished disciple maker himself, the author encourages every believer to make disciples.

Church growth models have often been long on promises and short on disciple-making. We continue to watch consistent church attendance shrink, and our desire to reach the lost is infected with a need for self-validation by growing our numbers at any cost. If we believe that God wants his church to grow, where do we go from here? What is the future of the church? Drawing from his 20 years and 15,000 hours of consulting, author Will Mancini shares with pastors and ministry leaders the single most important insight he has learned about church growth. With plenty of salient stories and based solidly on the disciple-making methods found in Scripture, Future Church exposes the church's greatest challenge today, and offers 7 transforming laws of real church growth so that we can faithfully and joyfully fulfill Jesus's Great Commission.

The Ways of the Alongsider is more than a Bible study. It's a new pathway for making disciples in life2life ways!

God calls us as parents to be key disciple-makers in our children’s lives, but if we’re honest, some days it’s a battle just to get them dressed and ready for school on time. How can you mold their hearts when sometimes you can’t even find their shoes? In Total Family Makeover, author Melissa Spoelstra gives parents a way—a sort of spiritual track to run on—when it comes to building family discipleship. She focuses on eight key habits of growth: • Spending Time in Prayer • Reading God's Word • Growing Through a Mentoring Relationship • Finding Community in the Church • Serving Others • Taking Time to Rest • Giving Back to God • Sharing Your Faith Disciples are made, not born. Whether your children are babes in arms or teenagers getting ready to leave the nest, making disciples at home starts with you! Give your family a makeover with this practical approach to helping your children learn what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

Diddy Disciples is a creative and playful new worship and Bible storytelling resource for babies, toddlers and young children. Diddy Disciples aims to encourage participation, discipleship and leadership from children’s earliest years, using storytelling, singing, colour, repetition, art and lots and lots of movement! Peer-learning is actively encouraged with many opportunities for young children to learn from each other. Groups are invited to build their own Diddy Disciples sessions, choosing from different options. Leaders can use the material to create a service to follow the pattern of their church’s Sunday worship, a simple midweek baby and toddler singing session, or anything in between! Book 1 includes: Over 20 weeks’ worth of fully worked-out sessions organized into 4-6 week units from September to December All the information you need to set up and run Diddy Disciples in your group Plenty of opportunities to tailor the material to your own context, resources and tradition All sorts of creative ‘starter ideas’ for using everyday art and play resources to spark children's imaginations and engagement as they respond to the biblical stories. The Units are: Jesus’ wonderful love: six weeks introducing some of Jesus’ most famous parables God the maker: six weeks on creation and caring for it, including a Harvest celebration In November we remember: four weeks including All Saints and Remembrance Sunday Getting ready for baby Jesus: five weeks journeying through Advent to Christmas