churches. GROWING THE NUMBER OF CHURCHES IN THE CITY The way to grow the number of Christians in a city is not mainly through church renewal but through church planting. When stagnant churches go through a renewal phase and begin to grow, it is typically through transfer growth from other churches. Strong programs attract believers who are

THE WORLDVIEW BEHIND YOUR WORK Are you helping people think about the worldviews behind their work? Encourage them to ask questions like these: 1. What worldviews are predominant in my profession? 2. What are the underlying assumptions about meaning, morality, origin, and destiny? 3. What are the chief fears or threats? What groups or ideas are

but the text answers that fear,” or “If you are not a Christian or not sure what you believe, then you surely must think this is narrow-minded — but the text says this, which speaks to this very issue.” Fifth, consider demeanor. The young secularists of New York City are extremely sensitive to anything that smacks of artifice to them. Anything that

First, be sure to preach sermons that ground moral exhortation in Christ and his work (see the section in chapter 6 titled “Preaching for Renewal”). Show how we live as we should only if we believe in and apply Christ’s work of salvation as we should. In this way nonbelievers hear the gospel each week, yet believers have their issues and problems

Christians changed history and culture by winning the elites as well as by identifying deeply with the poor.

substitute for incarnational involvement.11

Commuter Christianity (living in salubrious suburbia and commuting to an urban church) is no

It is no exaggeration to say that in Acts the church is almost exclusively associated with the city.4

In the early church, God’s redemptive mission no longer centered on a particular city such as Jerusalem or Babylon.