Jonathan Leeman is the editorial director for 9Marks and cohost of the Pastors’ Talk podcast. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books and teaches at several seminaries. Jonathan lives with his wife and four daughters in a suburb of Washington, DC, and is an elder at Cheverly Baptist Church.

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Quotes

1. A people who don’t regularly assemble cannot be an assembly, a church. (Pg. 19)

2. We don’t want our church structures to demand more than the Bible says, but nor do we want them to demand less than the Bible says. (Pg. 22)

3. The church gathering is where the nations of the earth can step inside the kingdom of heaven, this embassy of the eschatology. And it’s where the citizens of that kingdom wield authority. (Pg. 42)

4. The church is an authoritative body, like an embassy. The very word ekklesia or “church” vibrates and glows with both kingdom and spatial significance. (Pg. 53)

5. The authority of the keys, which is the authority of Christians agreeing with one another and shaking hands on it, is the authority that creates a church. (Pg. 56)

6. When two or three gather to affirm the gospel with the authority of heaven, Jesus is there among them, identifying his authority with theirs and saying they represent heaven. (Pg. 61)

7. Baptism is the doorway into a church, while the Lord’s Supper is the regular family meal for the church. (Pg. 61)

8. Yet what makes a church a church, among other things, is that its members all meet together on Sunday – minus anyone who is sick, traveling, homebound, or otherwise unable to attend. So it was with the church in Jerusalem. They all met together. (Pg. 93)

9. Pastoral fellowship is critical for building catholic-mindedness and Great Commission purposefulness. (Pg. 112)

10. Planting by peaceable division is the most radical and self-denying alternative. It also paints a wonderful picture of Christian sacrifice, love, and generosity. (Pg. 124)

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Evan Knies is an elder of North Hills Church in West Monroe, LA. He is husband of Lauren and father to Maesyn. He is a graduate of Boyce College and Southern Seminary.