Episode 13: On Being a Word-Centered Church

It’s a question countless pastors ask every single day: How can I grow my church? In his new book WORD-CENTERED CHURCH, Jonathan Leeman offers a biblical answer to that question. In summary, God intends to grow his church through the proclamation of his Word—and once proclaimed, God intends for that Word to reverberate out from the pulpit and into the whole church’s life and ministry. WORD-CENTERED CHURCH encourages pastors and church leaders to resist the temptation of pragmatism and to instead build their churches on a more trustworthy foundation. For this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Mark chatted with Jonathan about all this and more. SHOW NOTES: – What’s necessary for a church? Does it require a dependence on the Bible? (:30) – If a church is built on the Word, what room does that leave for good deeds? (4:30) – What’s the role of preaching? Why “Word-centered church” and not “Christ-centered church”? (6:20) – When people think about worship, should they associate it strictly with music? (9:30) – How does the Word reverberate throughout the church and its church’s life? (11:30) – What do you say to the pastor who doesn’t spend time to study the Word? (13:15) – In a church with a lot of nominal Christians, how should preaching being prioritized? (16:30) – What’s Word-Centered Church all about, and how does it differ from Reverberation? (18:00)