How to Build a Healthy Church: A Practical Guide for Deliberate Leadership (Mark Dever, Paul Alexander) 9781960877840 nett (Greenhouse)

Contents：

Foreword by D. A. Carson 15
Mark’s Preface 17
Paul’s Preface 21
A Note to the Reader 23
Introduction 31
   What Are We Building? 31
   How Should We Build It? 33
   What Will It Cost to Build Like This? 35

Section 1: Gathering the Church
1 The Four P’s 41
   Preaching 41
   Praying 44
   Personal Discipling Relationships 46
   Patience 48
2 Beginning the Work 53
   Clarifying the Gospel 53
   Cultivating Trust 56
   Cleaning the Rolls 58
   Conducting Reverse Membership Interviews 60
3 Doing Responsible Evangelism 63
   Including Essentials 63
   Extending Invitations 64
   Avoiding Entertainment 67
   Avoiding Manipulation 68
   Being God Centered 69
   Training Members 70
4 Taking in New Members 73
   Where Is Local Church Membership in the Bible? 74
   The New Members’ Class 76
   The Church Covenant 76
   The Membership Interview 79
   The Ministry of New Members 80
   The Margin of Error 81
5 Doing Church Discipline 83
   Formative and Corrective 83
   The Preventative Function of Accountability Relationships 84
   The Context 85
   The Care List 87
   Removing a Member from the Rolls 87

Section 2: When the Church Gathers
6 Understanding the Regulative Principle 95
   The Regulative Principle 95
   Worship Is the Purpose of Redemption 96
   God Cares How People Worship in the Old Testament 96
   God Cares How People Worship in the New Testament 97
   Why Does God Care about How We Worship Him? 98
7 Applying the Regulative Principle 101
   Read the Bible 101
   Preach the Bible 103
   Pray the Bible 104
   Sing the Bible 105
   See the Bible 107
   On Multiple Services 108
8 The Role of the Pastor 111
   Practitioner of the Marks 111
   Teaching Is Everything 112
   The Day-to-Day 114
   The Three G’s 116
9 Evangelistic Exposition 119
   What Expositional Preaching Does 120
   What Evangelistic Sermons Are 121
   How to Preach Expositional Sermons Evangelistically 123
10 The Roles of the Different Gatherings 129
   Adult Education Hour 129
   Sunday Morning Service 130
   Sunday Evening Service 132
   Wednesday Evening Service 135
   Members’ Meetings 137
11 The Role of the Ordinances 141
   Baptism 141
   The Lord’s Supper 143
12 Loving Each Other 147
   A Live, Active Culture 147
   Building a Corporate Witness 151
13 Music 153
   Congregational Singing 154
   Accompaniment 160
   Variety—a Staple Spice 163
   Getting There 165

Section 3: Gathering Elders
14 The Importance of Elders 173
   Brief Biblical Background 174
   The Practicality of Plurality 175
15 Looking for a Few Good Men 179
   Recognizing before Training 179
   What Is an Elder Not? 181
   What Is an Elder? 183
   Qualification Quadrants 183
16 Assessment 187
   Assessing Character 187
   Assessing Ability 189
   Assessing Fit 191
17 Why Character Is Crucial 195
   Modeling 195
   Meetings 197
   The Great Meeting 198
18 Getting Started 203
   Exposition 203
   Recognition 205
   Nomination 205
   Election 206
   Installation 206
   Cooperation 208
   Rotation 208
19 Staffing 211
   Why Not Specialize? 211
   What’s the Alternative? 216
   The Relationships between Staff, Elders, and Deacons 219

Section 4: When the Elders Gather
20 The Word and Prayer 225
   The Word 226
   Prayer 229
21 The Agenda: What to Talk About 235
   Preparation 235
   Categories for Conversation 236
   The Annual Budget Process 245
   Others in the Room 246
22 Decision-Making: How to Talk about It 249
   The Pastor’s Role 249
   Speaking Graciously 251
   Observing Order 253
   Voting 254
   Conclusion 257
   A Godward-Looking Church 257
   An Outward-Looking Church 259
   Appendix: Church Membership Interview Form 267
   Notes 271
   General Index 281
   Scripture Index 287