Built upon the Rock (9Marks Healthy Church Study Guides) [eBook]

The Church

The local church is meant to be living, growing, distinct, and God-glorifying. Yet many disagree about what a church really is and what it should look like. This study works through seven biblical aspects of the church and, in so doing, helps participants to discover a big-picture vision of the church.

A series of ten 6–7 week studies covering the nine distinctives of a healthy church as originally laid out in Nine Marks of a Healthy Church by Mark Dever. This series explores the biblical foundations of key aspects of the church, helping Christians to live out those realities as members of a local body. Conveniently packaged and accessibly written, the format of this series is guided, inductive discussion of Scripture passages and is ideal for use in Sunday school, church-wide studies, or small group contexts.

BOBBY JAMIESON serves 9Marks as assistant editor and website manager. After graduating from the University of Southern California, Jamieson was a pastoral intern at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC. He is currently a MDiv student at Southern Seminary, and he lives with his wife and daughter in Louisville, Kentucky.

“9Marks, as a ministry, has taken basic biblical teaching about the church and put it into the hands of pastors. Bobby, by way of these study guides, has taken this teaching and delivered it to the person in the pew. I am unaware of any other tool that so thoroughly and practically helps Christians understand God’s plan for the local church. I can’t wait to use these studies in my own congregation.”
—Jeramie Rinne, Senior Pastor, South Shore Baptist Church, Hingham, Massachusetts

“Bobby Jamieson has done local church pastors an incredible service by writing these study guides. Clear, biblical, and practical, they introduce the biblical basis for a healthy church. But more importantly, they challenge and equip church members to be part of the process of improving their own church’s health. The studies work for individual, small group, and larger group settings. I have used them for the last year at my own church and appreciate how easy they are to adapt to my own setting. I don’t know of anything else like them. Highly recommended!”
—Michael Lawrence, Senior Pastor, Hinson Baptist Church, Portland, Oregon; author, Biblical Theology in the Life of the Church

“This is a Bible study that is actually rooted in the Bible and involves actual study. In the 9Marks Healthy Church Study Guides Series a new standard has been set for personal theological discovery and corresponding personal application. Rich exposition, compelling questions, and clear syntheses combine to give a guided tour of ecclesiology—the theology of the church. I know of no better curriculum for generating understanding of and involvement in the church than this. It will be a welcome resource in our church for years to come.”
—Rick Holland, Senior Pastor, Mission Road Bible Church, Prairie Village, Kansas

“In America today we have the largest churches in the history of our nation, but the least amount of impact for Christ’s kingdom. Slick marketing and finely polished vision statements are a foundation of sand. The 9Marks Healthy Church Study Guides Series is a refreshing departure from church-growth materials, towards an in-depth study of God’s Word that will equip God’s people with his vision for his Church. These study guides will lead local congregations to abandon secular methodologies for church growth and instead rely on Christ’s principles for developing healthy, God-honoring assemblies.”
—Carl J. Broggi, Senior Pastor, Community Bible Church, Beaufort, South Carolina; President, Search the Scriptures Radio Ministry

“Anyone who loves Jesus will love what Jesus loves. The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus loves the church. He knows about and cares for individual churches and wants them to be spiritually healthy and vibrant. Not only has Jesus laid down his life for the church but he has also given many instructions in his Word regarding how churches are to live and function in the world. This series of Bible studies by 9Marks shows how Scripture teaches these things. Any Christian who works through this curriculum, preferably with other believers, will be helped to see in fresh ways the wisdom, love, and power of God in establishing the church on earth. These studies are biblical, practical, and accessible. I highly recommend this curriculum as a useful tool that will help any church embrace its calling to display the glory of God to a watching world.”
—Thomas Ascol, Senior Pastor, Grace Baptist Church of Cape Coral, Florida; Executive Director, Founders Ministries

“Today’s evangelical world abounds with hidden, worldly assumptions about the nature of the church which, in turn, have led to wrong-headed approaches to pastoral leadership and practice. Whether we like it or not, western culture has conditioned us to view successful churches and their ministries in terms of size and numbers. We have created a toxic culture where pragmatism rules and self-promotion flourishes. Bobby Jamieson, Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman provide the antidote by giving us a healthy dose of the doctrine of the church in Built upon the Rock: The Church in a way that is thoroughly biblical, personal and accessible. Church leaders will discover that this is an important resource that will challenge and enlarge our understanding of the church and invites us to recalibrate our views and expectations about ministry. I will be recommending this book to our students as a ‘must-read.’”
—Peter Hastie, Principal, Presbyterian Theological College of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia