The Evangelizing Church: A Lutheran Contribution (Lutheran Voices)

This is not an easy book, but it is an important book for any Lutheran who, having received the loving grace of a God Who comes down to save us from our sin, wants to return a portion of that love by helping God in His mission to save all of mankind.The motto of the book is "With the gift comes a call." The gift, of course, is that of faith and grace, which alone account for our salvation. The call is to move out of our comfort zone and share the remarkable Lutheran message of God's loving and saving grace with those who have not heard it.The authors draw a distinction a church that engages in "evangelism" as one of the things a church does and an "evangelizing church." Evangelism is something we do, they say, whereas an evangelizing church is what a church is - or should be, or should at least be in the process of becoming. They make the point that Lutherans have historically not been very good at evangelism, and the counter-point that evangelizing is the reason for the church.This is not a how-to book for increasing church attendance or church membership. It is a call to action for those of us who profess to be Lutherans but who have forgotten that we are commanded to follow Christ and become fishers of men.

This book was used as a textbook in a class I was taking. I must say that it was very difficult to read due to the use of what i term $3 words that constantly sent me to the dictionary....and I am no novice reader and am somewhat familiar with the subject matter. That being said, the book itself presents a revolution in rethinking the approach the Lutheran Church has been taking to present itself. Though difficult to read, the message is very clear...will it be heeded by the oldest of protestant denominations?

Not only were the authors of each chapter eloquent wordsmiths, the whole process of editing by committee has resulted in a theological and practical book. For anyone who cares about spreading the gospel in this day and age, this book will leave you wiser. It is thought-provoking, especially when the study guide in the back of the book is used along with each chapter.

More theological than practical, this book is great for someone thinking about what it means to be the Church in the 21st century. Evangelizing isn't just a program or a task, but is part of the the baptismal vocation. This book attempts to reclaim a Lutheran understanding of evangelism, and I think it succeeds.

Not light reading, but served the purpose for a class. There were multiple authors, some easier to read than others. Chapter 5 best. Wyvetta Bullock.

The book arrived before the eta and was in excellent condition. I will buy from this seller again.

I think this book represents a good start, (I really do!!!) but lutherans have a long way to go in missional thinking and praxis. I beginning to understand that the theological categories, maybe especially for the Lutherans, represent language barriers that hinders us in communicating the content of our case adequately, even to young lutherans in a postmodern world. That is a challange! But this challange is not an underlying principal in this book, and therefor it might just end up regaining evangelizing living in a context that's no longer here, even if this is a good shot.