Who Needs the Church?: Why We Need the Church

by Terry L. Johnson

A thought–provoking introduction to the importance of the local church It seems that increasing numbers of professing Christians in the West do not attend church. Church, to many, has become a place to go when it is convenient, to have one’s needs met. Terry L. Johnson asks whether our individualistic, dismissive attitude to the gathering of the local church can be squared with that of the New Testament. Examining what the Bible has to say about the church, Johnson shows why the local body of believers is an essential part of the life of every believer – and the role that each individual believer plays in the life of the church. This thought–provoking, challenging book will benefit every believer. Contents I.          Introduction             1.         Our Collapsing Ecclesiology                                                             II.         What Scripture teaches             2.         Jesus and the Church              3.         Keys of the Kingdom             4.         Where Jesus is             5.         The Good Shepherd and the Sheep             6.         The Apostles and the Church             7.         One Anothers and Community             8.         Life Together             9.         Covenantal Priority III.       Clarifying Perspectives             10.       Definitional Confusion             11.       Visible or Invisible?             12.       Hypocrites at Church             13.       Denominationalism             14.       Parachurch or Quasi–church? IV.       Historic Perspectives                                                                                                  15.       Mother Church             16.       Body and Bride             17.       Slighting the Church             18.       Sola A Sixth Sola?   

128 pages, Hardcover

Published May 13, 2022

About the author

Terry Johnson was born and raised in Los Angeles. He studied history at the University of Southern California and also studied at Trinity College, Bristol, England, and Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, before earning his D. Min in 2008 from Erskine Theological Seminary.

Reviews

[Tim]

Johnson does an excellent job of answering the title question, "Who Needs the Church?" This is an ideal monograph for a Bible study group and/or to serve as sermon starters that analyzes this vital Biblical doctrine. Normally studies of this sort can be a bit weighty, but I found this to be an easy and enjoyable read. I highly recommend this book to all pastors, lay leaders, church members, and folks who think that the Church is irrelevant.

[Colton Brewer]

Good quick read on why the church is necessary and important. It is written from a decidedly Confessional Presbyterian angle, a plus for me, but maybe not for others.

[David Mohler]

An easy read, emphasizing the need, in fact biblical requirement, for every Christian to be engaged in the life of the local church.