God's New Community: New Testament Patterns For Today's Church

by Graham Beynon

When someone uses the word 'church', what comes into your mind
- A building where a congregation meets
- A room inside such a building
- The main Sunday meeting
- A denomination?

Graham Beynon shows that when the Bible talks about 'church', it is always only referring to people, and a particular sort of people at that. From a range of key passages in the New Testament, he explains what church is, what it is for, how it is to work, how it is to be led, and what it means to belong to God's new community in Christ.
Many Christians are hard-pushed to give good answers to these questions. This clear, simple, biblical and practical guide will deepen your understanding and enrich your experience of church. Few things could be more important for Christians than that.'

Genres: Christian, Church, Christianity

200 pages, Paperback

First published September 17, 2010

Reviews

[Eustacia Tan · Rating 5 out of 5]

When my sister found out that my cell group is focusing on community, she recommended that I read her copy of God’s New Community, which she left behind when she moved to New Zealand.

God’s New Community looks at various New Testament verses and expounds on what Church really mean. It’s not a building but a community of people. And there should be real relationships in this community, where we love one another, help each other grow, and support one another in times of need.

Out of all the chapters, the one on “concrete love” made the deepest impression. “Concrete love” is coined as the opposite of “fluid love”. Where fluid love seeks relationships that bring comfort but not obligation, concrete love binds itself to others, taking on responsibilities that may be unpleasant but are a part of loving other people.

Another point that resonated with me was about the depth of relationships in the Church. If we are the body of Christ, and if we are to called each other, then how can a once-a-week relationship with our fellow Church members be enough? We must cultivate deep relationships with one another, which in turn will make it easier for us to offer love and support without worrying about being rebuffed.

Overall, I found this book to be practical and useful. It’s a fairly short book, slightly over 130 pages, but it provides a clear definition of what it means to be a Church and how Christians can move forward to become the body of Christ.

This review was first posted at Eustea Reads

[Cameron McCartney · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book giving a fairly concise overview on the New Testament’s treatment of the concept of “church”. Graham Beynon writes with both a challenging tone and clear explanation. Chapter 8 entitled “Making it Work” was a breath of fresh air and huge relief, addressing a topic which I feel is quite often left out in highly idealistic books on practical ecclesiology. The inclusion of this chapter, referencing Colossians 3, was probably the book’s main strength in my opinion.

I wouldn’t say this is the best book I have read on the topic of church, as I feel that leaving out considerable details of what the Old Testament has to say about the church feels quite limiting. That being said, I don’t think that this was Beynon’s intention with writing this book, so that can’t be a significant criticism. Beynon also made no comment on some secondary issues which were raised in some of the Bible passages quoted, particularly in relation to complementarianism/egalitarianism. However, I see this is neither a weakness nor a strength.

Overall a good book, worth reading if you find that you are struggling to express what church is.

[Cherry Goh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A clear overview of church according to the Bible. Very biblical and clear outworking of what it would look like to apply the principles in church. Great exhortation to persevere in loving each other. I would have liked to see some acknowledgement of the richness and beauty in cultural and ethnic diversity in some churches that are very multicultural. For me, that is a picture of what heaven is like when brothers and sisters from different background, ages, sharing community together because of Jesus.

[Helen Griffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. Very challenging and relevant. Superb.

[Phil Griffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. Very challenging and helpful.

[Crissie Tan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must say this is an intense book about what a church community is supposed to look like, from shaping how we are supposed to live and behave with God's people to the history of God's temple (His community) and how we can build up the church in the right direction through teaching and learning. This book provides study questions for every chapter and I like how they are structured in a way that we can recap what was told in the chapter. As a Christian, I would definitely recommend this book and share it with your loved ones about what a church/God's community means to each other. It is suitable for cell group study as well.

[Joel Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is a church? Certainly not the building on the corner (my church doesn’t have a building!) and not even a meeting on Sunday morning. God’s salvation plan involves this community called church and Graham Beynon’s book is a really helpful guide to see what that might look like. Not necessarily practically but in terms of who we are as a church and what we are committed to. I believe in the local church as the way God will grow his kingdom, and this is a really helpful and encouraging book to grow that develop that conviction.