Understanding the Great Commission

Church Basics

by Mark Dever, Jonathan Leeman (Editor)

God means to fulfill the Great Commission through local churches.   How did the apostles and the churches of the New Testament obey the Great Commission? By gathering Christians together in churches. The church is God’s plan for evangelism, discipleship, and the Great Commission. This connection between the Great Commission and the church dramatically impacts how both leaders and members should think about their work of making disciples. We do it together.

Genres: Ecclesiology, Christian, Church, Evangelism, Theology, Christian Living, Discipleship

72 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 2016

About the author

Mark E. Dever serves as the senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC. Since his ordination to the ministry in 1985, Dr. Dever has served on the pastoral staffs of four churches, the second being a church he planted in Massachusetts. Prior to moving to Washington in 1994, Dr. Dever taught for the faculty of Divinity at Cambridge University while serving two years as an associate pastor of Eden Baptist Church.

In an effort to build biblically faithful churches in America, Dr. Dever serves as the executive director for 9Marks (formerly The Center for Church Reform, CCR) in Washington, D.C. 9Marks encourages pastors of local churches look to the Bible for instruction on how to organize and lead their churches. Dr. Dever also teaches periodically at various conferences, speaking everywhere from South Africa to Brazil to the United Kingdom to Alabama. Feeling a deep burden for student ministry, Dr. Dever often addresses student ministry groups at campuses throughout the country. He has also taught at a number of seminaries, including Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, AL, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY, and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL. Dr. Dever’s scholarly interests include Puritanism and ecclesiology.

Dr. Dever currently serves as a trustee of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; he also serves as a member of the board, vice-chairman, and chairman of the Forum for the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. From 1995 until 2001, he served on the steering committee for Founders Ministries, a pastoral movement for biblical teaching and healthy church life within the Southern Baptist Convention. As Guest Senate Chaplain for two weeks in 1995, Dr. Dever opened the daily sessions of the United States Senate in prayer. He is a member of the American Society of Church History and the Tyndale Fellowship. He also held the J.B. Lightfoot Scholarship at Cambridge University from 1989 to 1991.

Reviews

[Joseph Potts]

Good book that shows the importance of church’s in the great commission

[Bobby James]

Wish I could give it 3.5 stars. It’s in between for me. Much of the material is a repeat from other 9 Marks books on church polity and membership. But I appreciate Dever’s brief yet careful walkthrough of Acts and seeing how the Apostles themselves understood how to fulfill Matthew 28:19-20. That is, “The local church is the normal means God has given us to fulfill the Great Commission.” (5)

[David Shoemaker]

This book is very helpful in understanding how the Great Commission is carried not on the backs of individual Christians but on the back of local churches. This is a very helpful book for this day in age when Christians are trying to do everything apart from the church, but we must do everything by the church because that is how God designed it for His glory and our good.

[Derric]

“The local church is the normal means God has given us to fulfill The Great Commission.”

Good and helpful. As the local church and its centrality to the mission is the main point, there are also many good sub-points that help understand church authority and church polity. I recommend reading it.

[Mark D.]

I suggest this entire series for church leaders. I also suggest that you make them available to your congregation. In Understanding the Great Commission, Dever encourages the church to take the Gospel to the world. A couple of quotes I loved. "We need to quit being so turfy about our churches, and look for ways to promote the gospel's advance throughout our cities, including other churches. Also Dever addressed an issue which he faces as pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC. He relates that a problem the church faces is the transient membership. Many people live in DC for a few years and move on. Instead of worrying about that condition, he said that as a church they have "embraced the transience." "We asked ourselves, assuming we have a person for two to four years, what's all the content for the Christian life we want to put in his or her backpack?" I love this thought. As a pastor of a church in rural Ky, where most teenagers leave for college and never return, I am thinking of embracing the situation instead of bemoaning it. I think I will lead our church to prepare our young people to be the best Christians they can be to help the new church they will go to when they move to a more progressive community.

[Alexander]

Short, Biblical, and Practical

This is the first book in the Church Basics series that I have read, but I’m excited to read the others. This book is short and easy to read. It is biblical, but also accessible. It is incredibly practical and intentional, with a plethora of examples of what Mark Dever and Capitol Hill Baptist Church do to advance Jesus’ kingdom throughout all nations.

[Kyla Schooling]

This small volume is part of the Church Basics series and addresses the topic of the Great Commission. Probably the most important point of the book is that the Great Commission is not the task of individuals working alone, but rather members of a church body working together. It is a very informative and quick read.

[Josiah Richardson]

A mostly good overview of the great commission and the Christian's responsibility to fulfill it. As Dever shows, this begins first with the church and moves outward from there. This is pretty much a broken down and slimmed up version of Dever's "The Gospel and personal evangelism."

[Andrew Krom]

Excellent! This is my favorite book in this series.

One thing I especially liked was the emphasis on church planting throughout - this would be a good book to use to encourage people to consider this.

[Esther Kim Park]

Very thought-provoking

I have never seen Great Commission in light of the author's explanation (corporate local church planting vs. individual evangelism). Awesome read!

[Jordan Shelvock]

The 9 marks guys just have a way of making big concepts seem easy and obvious. Especially when it comes to practically living out what you believe.

[Lori]

This is the second time I have read this book and I know I will go back and read it again. It is a quick read and a great reminder of how to obey the Great Commission today in our churches.

[Nate Weis]

I love these little books. Can be read in a few hours and are filled with vital content.

[Ashley McKnight]

A good, concise primer to the Great Commission and the role of the local church in it.

[Jay Budzilowski]

Concise and Helpful

--- Great insight on how the local church is to fulfill the the great commission.---- -- -- -- -- --

[Bill]

Very good read, putting into a nutshell of our (Christians) responsibility associated with the Great Commission.

[Dave]

Informative, nothing earth shaking, meaning it sticks prety well to Biblical truths.

[Alan Giles]

A good read. Most of the material is also covered in his other works. This is a great starting point for investigating the church’s call as a whole to fulfilling the great commission.

[Emma Schramm]

I read this book in preparation for a church missions trip and found it helpful, concise, practical, and short.

[Caroline McGill]

Simple, clear, and profoundly helpful, especially if you want to think wisely about church planting, and building up other churches.

[Ryan Ross]

Will help re-train your instincts to see fulfilling the Great Commission as something we do through the church, not just individually.

[Luke Schmeltzer]

A good little book on how the Great Commission is accomplished in and through the local church.

[Ben Wales]

This booklet presents the Great Commission not as a mission for individuals but through the operation of the local church.

[Joel Rockey]

Concise but good.

[Jennifer]

Good reminder to not be a spiritual lone ranger, but to value and be involved in the local church.

[Jennifer Putney]

Good reminder that the Church is important, and we're not supposed to play the lone wolf in our Christian life.

[Pedro.Lopes]

Uma leitura agradável, clara e encorajadora que nos motiva a levar o Evangelho às nações através do ministério da Igreja Local.

[Jónatas Rafael Lopes]

Livro interessante embora sendo muito pequeno.
É apenas um aperitivo.

[Sivianny]

Excelente recurso, recomendado

[Chris Caldwell]

I thought this was a helpful helpful orientation of the long-term strategy of any church.