As a companion to Spiritual DNA of the Church On Mission, this workbook will provide teaching outlines, questionnaires, and other practical helps aimed at equipping pastors and church staff to prepare their churches to engage missionally in their communities.

In Spiritual DNA of the Church On Mission, author Bob Burton compares the missional foundation of the early church to human DNA. He argues that understanding the Church's missional DNA is the most effective starting point in engaging your church members on God's mission for the sake of total gospel transformation.

Systematic theology for the urban context DNA:The Foundations of the Faith presents each reader with a survey of systematic theology written in the heart language of the urban context. D.A. Horton writes with a conviction that every believer should have the privilege of being equipped with a working knowledge of what the principle teachings of Christianity are. This tool can be used in any setting from the seminary classroom to the local street corner. Written in a workbook style, readers will explore key scriptures and record all that is discovered as each person is equipped to live out the truths they learn. Whether attending ReachLife Institute, studying with a small group, or going through this workbook alone, your faith will be enriched as the study of these foundational truths are learned and applied to life.

Spent Matches explores the possibility that a few small paradigm shifts within the church might make the difference between extinction and effectiveness. In fact, taking a clue from the automobile industry, the church might be able to not only halt the rapid decay in attendance but also become an effective tool in achieving Jesus' final command. For instance, the Hybrid car has become the answer to Detroit's environmental and oil crisis issues. Finding the synergy between two technologies, gas and electric has created a new day for the auto industry. Likewise, Spent Matchesexplores how the church can find synergy between two seemingly competing thoughts: an invitation to come and a command to go. The Hybrid metaphor brings energy to the church's mission and an explanation to the age-old argument of Missional versus Attractional methods. Features include: Innovative ideas for growing the church Methods to reach those who may never have attended church Scripture passages that touch on the subject of church growth

Joseph Hellerman (PhD, UCLA) is Professor of New Testament at Biola University. He also currently serves as Team Pastor at Oceanside Christian Fellowship Church. Hellerman's other publications include The Ancient Church as Family, Reconstructing Honor in Roman Philippi, When the Church Was Family, and Jesus and the People of God.

Every person has been given at least one of the seven Endowment Gifts described in Romans 12:6-8. That gifting is part of the spiritual DNA programmed into us by God before we were born. His purpose is for us to develop our gifting and by so doing we find our true purpose and destiny.

Imagine an organizational model for church leadership that enables the entire team to unleash their full potential. The joy and vigor coming from a collective strength, intelligence, and skill in the community of leaders not only brings greater potency but better yields for your ministry. What would it be like to see this kind of healthy leadership reproduced into the second, third, and fourth generation, on multiple strands? Leveraging the metaphor Ori Brafman popularized in his NYT best-selling book, The Starfish and the Spider, Rob Wegner, Lance Ford, and Alan Hirsch show: How to take a close look at your church's organizational structure and how to adapt instead of simply adopt a certain kind of structural approach. How churches can function without a rigid central authority, making them nimbler in reacting to external forces. How seeding starfish networks inside today's churches will prepare the church of tomorrow to be agile while maintaining the accountability to be effective. The Starfish and the Spirit is about creating a culture where church leaders view themselves as curators of a community on a mission, not the source of certainty for every question and project. It's about creating a team of humble leaders "in the middle" of the church, not at the top--leaders who naturally reproduce multiple generations of leaders, from the middle out.

How and why did the early church grow in the first four hundred years despite disincentives, harassment, and occasional persecution? In this unique historical study, veteran scholar Alan Kreider delivers the fruit of a lifetime of study as he tells the amazing story of the spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire. Challenging traditional understandings, Kreider contends the church grew because the virtue of patience was of central importance in the life and witness of the early Christians. They wrote about patience, not evangelism, and reflected on prayer, catechesis, and worship, yet the church grew--not by specific strategies but by patient ferment.

What does living for Jesus look like in the everyday stuff of life? Many Christians have unwittingly embraced the idea that “church” is a once-a-week event rather than a community of Spirit-empowered people; that “ministry” is what pastors do on Sundays rather than the 24/7 calling of all believers; and that “discipleship” is a program rather than the normal state of every follower of Jesus. Drawing on his experience as a pastor and church planter, Jeff Vanderstelt wants us to see that there’s more—much more—to the Christian life than sitting in a pew once a week. God has called his people to something bigger: a view of the Christian life that encompasses the ordinary, the extraordinary, and everything in between. Packed full of biblical teaching, compelling stories, and real-world advice, this book will remind you that Jesus is filling the world with his presence through the everyday lives of everyday people... People just like you.

Alan Hirsch's paradigm-shifting classic remains the definitive statement of the church as dynamic missional movement. The bestselling first edition ignited a conversation about how to harness the power of movements for the future growth of the church. In this major update, Hirsch shares significant insights gained along the way, provides fresh new examples of growing churches, and reflects on the last ten years of the missional movement. The new edition has been thoroughly updated and revised throughout and includes charts, diagrams, an expanded glossary of terms, new appendices, an index, a new foreword by Ed Stetzer, and a new afterword by Jeff Vanderstelt. Known for his innovative approach to mission, Hirsch is widely acknowledged as a thought leader and mission strategist for churches across the Western world. He considers The Forgotten Ways the guiding work to all of his other writings. The book explores the factors that come together to generate high-impact, exponentially explosive, spiritually vibrant Jesus movements in any time and context. This extensive update to Hirsch's influential work offers a system of six vital keys to movements that will continue shape the future of the missional movement for years to come.