Author Barnabas Piper states in the first chapter of his book:
“We are looking for something personal, something deeply meaningful, something with which we can identify. And this book is an invitation to find that in the church, because God wants us to …Part of God’s perfect strategy is offering hurting, tired, worn out, needy sinners like you and me a place to belong in … A place in which to encounter the profound, transformative, healing, restoring grace of Jesus Christ.”
This book explores how you can help to create a church where everybody feels at home: a place where fellow believers build genuine, honest, meaningful Christian relationships and enjoy deep fellowship as a community of believers.
You may be a new believer and wonder what it means to belong to a church; you may be reluctant to commit to your church because of past experiences; you may have recently relocated and want to find a church where you feel at home; or you may love your church and desire to commit to it more deeply and serve it more fully. Whatever the case, this book will help you to see that belonging to a church is a good gift from God, the outworking of our identity as brothers and sisters in Christ, and worth your time, love, and commitment.
There are discussion questions at the end of every chapter with action steps, making it ideal to read as a small group or even a whole church. Accompanying free downloads are available that can be used for small groups. There are downloadable worksheets, a PDF version of the book's discussion guide, introductory videos for each chapter and more.
Perfect if you are a pastor looking to encourage your church members to treasure their church family and play their part in making it a place where everyone feels they belong.
This is one of the first books in the new Love Your Church series, which is being written by a collection of Bible teachers from Acts29. It is designed to inspire every church member to love their church in practical ways by casting a biblical vision of what it means to be a local community of God’s family. The series will explore what it means to belong, to welcome, to gather, to care, to serve, and to honor one another, and to witness and send people out to spread the gospel.
“The Gift of Loving Your Church”
The second book in the series by Barnabas Piper is titled Belong: Loving Your Church by Reflecting Christ to One Another (2023). Everyone has the desire to belong. We all want to be part of something bigger than ourselves. Yet often times we look in the wrong place to satisfy this desire. The local church is the place, above all others, where people should feel that they belong. Yet this is not always the case and we can do better. This is what Piper discusses in the book.
A major aspect of belonging is unity. We live a society today that is far from unified, even among followers of Jesus. Yet this is what the church is called to be. The church is to be different from the society in showing unity across differences. Christianity is not just the faith of majority culture, but is the good news of salvation to all who would believe. Unity comes not when everyone agrees on every aspect of church life, but when we agree on the biblical gospel as the only hope for the world. The local church, then is the place where we should find belonging as we practice the “one anothers” of the Bible. It is a place where we “stir one another to love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24, ESV).
The Love Your Church series is an excellent set of resources for church leaders and lay people alike. Each volume exhorts local churches to be what the church is called to be by Jesus. The church is an institution established by the Lord to propagate the gospel to the ends of the earth. Jesus promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). This promise should give the church confidence in its mission, but also serve as a warning. It is only when we are standing on the biblical gospel, that we stand firm. For this reason, the church should be a place to gather for worship, find true belonging, and welcome others to come and find rest.
