I am thrilled that Church with Jesus as the Hero, written by me and my church ministry team, is now available for purchase (order here). This simple and short book is the fruit of a shared ministry commitment to read, apply, and preach the Bible, as well as serve and live together in the church with Jesus as the Hero. The goal of the book is to help Christians gain a Jesus-centered, gospel-focused mentality as they live and serve together in local churches.

We attempted to exclude technical jargon from Church with Jesus as the Hero so that it would be accessible to a wide and diverse range of readers. We consider it a quick-start guide to cultivating a more Christ-centered ministry trajectory. Our hope is that the pastors, staff, and congregational leaders will find it a helpful resource to use with ministry teams or the entire church community. We have attempted to be specific enough for it to easily applicable but not overly specific in a way that fails to reckon with the fact that all real ministry takes place in specific and unique geographical contexts.

Church with Jesus as the Hero is not a simplistic, one-size-fits-all ministry book designed to answer all of your how-to ministry questions in an instant. Rather, the book is designed to provide a way of cruciform thinking that equips readers with Christ-centered instincts to make gospel-focused decisions about the Bible, life, and ministry in their own unique lives and ministry contexts. Jesus does not simply save his people from hell one day in the future; he is the living Lord who redefines every category in our lives right now. Our prayer is that this little book will be a tool to help churches “walk in step with the truth of the gospel” (Gal 2:14) in every aspect of life and ministry.

Below is the table of contents:

Preface

-Tony Merida

Introduction: Rejecting Little Bo Peep Christianity

-David E. Prince

Part One: Interpreting the Bible with Jesus as the Hero

1. A Simple Guide to Reading and Applying the Bible with Jesus as the Hero

-David E. Prince

2. Reading and Applying the Bible with Jesus as the Hero: David and Goliath (1 Sam. 17)

-David E. Prince

3. Reading and Applying the Bible with Jesus as the Hero: Balaam and the Donkey (Num. 22)

-Jeremy Haskins

4. Reading and Applying the Bible with Jesus as the Hero: Queen Esther (Esther 2:1-18)

-Casey McCall

5. Reading and Applying the Bible with Jesus as the Hero (for Kids): Jesus Feeds the 5,000 (John 6)

-Todd Martin

Part Two: Preaching with Jesus as the Hero

1. Jesus: The Savior of Expository Preaching

-David E. Prince

2. Why Legalistic Preaching and Ministry Do Not Work

-David E. Prince

3. Preaching Judges with Christ as the Hero

-David E. Prince

4. But if I Preach Christ from Every Text: Andrew Fuller, Being Dead, Still Speaks

-David E. Prince

Part Three: Ministry with Jesus as the Hero

5. Jesus: The Savior of Singing in the Church

-Nate BeVier and Clay Tabor

6. Jesus: The Savior of Counseling

-Casey McCall

7. Jesus: The Savior of Missions

-Jeremy Haskins

8. Jesus: The Savior of Adoption Ministry

-Jeremy Haskins

9. Jesus: The Savior of Ethnicity

-David E. Prince

10. Jesus: The Savior of the Sermons between the Sermons—Even Announcements

-David E. Prince

11. Jesus: The Savior of Spiritual Growth

-Andrew Fuller

Appendices

Appendix A: A Historical Model for Leading the Church with Jesus as the Hero: Andrew Fuller

-David E. Prince

Appendix B: Historical Quotes with Jesus as the Hero

-Compiled by Justin Camblin and Jon Canler

Appendix C: A Checklist for Preaching with Jesus as the Hero