June 2021 New Releases
New Books
Below is a list of the new and notable resources releasing from Crossway this month. Titles include The Heritage of Anglican Theology by J. I. Packer and How Can I Serve My Church? by Matthew Emadi.
How Can I Serve My Church?
Church Questions is a series that seeks to provide ordinary Christians with sound and accessible biblical teaching by answering common questions about church life. Each volume offers biblical answers and practical applications with the goal of nurturing healthy church practice and commitment.
Believers display the greatness of God’s kingdom to a hostile world when we selflessly serve each other and those around us. In this short booklet, Matthew Emadi explains the vital roles we play within the church. Through acts of service including hospitality, ministry, and evangelism, we bless our communities and long to hear Jesus one day say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
“Christians are pressed by very real questions. How does Scripture structure a church, order worship, organize ministry, and define biblical leadership? Those are just examples of the questions that are answered clearly, carefully, and winsomely in this new series from 9Marks. I am so thankful for this ministry and for its incredibly healthy and hopeful influence in so many faithful churches. I eagerly commend this series.”
—R. Albert Mohler Jr., President and Centennial Professor of Christian Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
How Can I Get More Out of My Bible Reading?
Reading the Bible is essential to the Christian faith, but many believers struggle to study it faithfully. In this short booklet, Jeremy Kimble explains how the church acts as God’s school, helping us read and follow Scripture through teaching, fellowship, and discipleship. He also gives advice to improve your own Scripture reading so you can understand the big picture, ask good questions, and apply what you learn.
“Sincere questions deserve thoughtful answers. If you’re not sure where to start in answering these questions, let this series serve as a diving board into the pool. These minibooks are winsomely to-the-point and great to read together with one friend or one hundred friends.”
—Gloria Furman, author, Alive in Him and Labor with Hope
Why Is the Lord’s Supper So Important?
Have you taken the Lord’s Supper without understanding what it means? Do you wonder about its relevance to your Christian life? This ordinance doesn’t have to be mysterious. Pastor Aubrey Sequeira shares five ways the Lord’s Supper enriches the church as it invites believers to look backward (remembrance), outward (togetherness), upward (spiritual nourishment), inward (reflection), and forward (anticipation).
“Where can we Christians find reliable answers to our common questions about life together at church—without having to plow through long, expensive books? The Church Questions booklets meet our need with answers that are biblical, thoughtful, and practical. For pastors, this series will prove a trustworthy resource for guiding church members toward deeper wisdom and stronger unity.”
—Ray Ortlund, President, Renewal Ministries
Man of Sorrows, King of Glory
Christians, rightly called “people of the cross,” look to Jesus’s death and resurrection as the central points of his earthly mission. But in order to understand more fully the person and work of Christ, it’s important for believers to fix their minds on his entire ministry—his life, death, resurrection, and ongoing ministry today—and not solely on his work on the cross.
In Man of Sorrows, King of Glory, Jonty Rhodes uses the traditional roles of Jesus as prophet, priest, and king (often referred to as his “threefold office”) to show how his whole life—in humiliation on earth and now exaltation in glory—is lived for us. As believers explore Jesus’s life, death, resurrection, and ascension, they will develop a holistic portrait of the Messiah and a deeper appreciation for God’s plan to reclaim sinners.
“As soon as we begin to speak of Jesus, we’re doing the work of theology. This book provides sound teaching for that task, exploring the person and work of Christ with a fresh sense of wonder. Man of Sorrows, King of Glory is rich without being dense, theological without being stuffy, and corrective without being combative.”
—Nancy Guthrie, Bible teacher; author, Even Better than Eden
The Heritage of Anglican Theology
The Anglican Church has a rich theological heritage filled with a diversity of views and practices. Like a river with a main current and several offshoot streams, Anglicanism has a main body with many distinct, smaller communities. So what constitutes mainstream Anglicanism?
Influential Anglican theologian J. I. Packer makes the case that “authentic Anglicanism” is biblical, liturgical, evangelical, pastoral, episcopal (ordaining bishops), national (engaging with the culture), and ecumenical (eager to learn from other Christians). As he surveys the history and tensions within the Anglican Church, Packer casts a vision for the future that is grounded in the Scriptures, fueled by missions, guided by historical creeds and practices, and resolved to enrich its people.
J. I. Packer has done it again! He has brought together in a systematic way the core of Anglican belief about God within the various historical movements of Anglicanism. His summary of Anglican thought is a gift not only to modern Anglicans but to the whole Christian church.”
—Foley Beach, Archbishop and Primate, Anglican Church in North America
Luke: Good News of Great Joy
The angel said to the shepherds, “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people” (Luke 2:10). Born in a lowly manger, Jesus might not have been the messiah people expected, but he was the Messiah they needed.
Join Lydia Brownback as she digs deeper into the book of Luke and answers the question: Who is this son of a carpenter who could preach, heal diseases, and cast out demons? Pointing to Jesus as the promised King of kings, Brownback shows how his earthly ministry is good news for all, especially the downtrodden, the hurting, and the outsider.
The Flourish Bible Study series equips women to study the overarching storyline of the Bible book by book. Designed for individual or group use, each 10-week workbook features conversational teaching that aims to make in-depth Bible study accessible to women in all seasons of life, along with practical application questions and additional recommended resources.
The brilliant and beautiful mix of sound teaching, helpful charts, lists, sidebars, and appealing graphics—as well as insightful questions that get the reader into the text of Scripture—make these studies that women will want to invest time in and will look back on as time well spent.”
—Nancy Guthrie, Bible teacher; author, Even Better than Eden
The Supremacy of God in Preaching
People are starving for the greatness of God. Where will their souls be fed? Can they say, “I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory”? As we look out over the wasteland of a secular society, do we not ask, “Who but Christian preachers will say to the people, ‘Behold your God!’?” Who will paint for them the landscape of God’s grandeur? Who will remind them with tales of wonder that God has triumphed over every foe? Who will cry out above every crisis, “Your God reigns!”?
John Piper pleads for preachers to make the supremacy of God the bracing air of their sermons. He longs to see a new generation of preachers, and a revived band of seasoned brothers, set aflame with the grandeur of God—his glory as the goal of preaching, his cross as the ground of preaching, his Spirit as the power of preaching.
It is fitting that The Supremacy of God in Preaching now appears in hardcover for the first time. It has proven to be an enduring work through the decades.
“Here’s a book that every preacher should read at least once a year. This book is a powerful antidote to the unbalanced, self-centered preaching of today.”
—Erwin W. Lutzer, Pastor Emeritus, The Moody Church, Chicago