150 years of Grace
Jim Sayers writes: How important to my spiritual life is my local church? Is it just one more thing to help me, alongside Bible study notes, journaling, conferences, books and the blogger-sphere? On the contrary, Biblical church life is at the heart of a healthy Christian life.
Jim Sayers
That was the essence of Mark Dever’s message, speaking at a landmark day for Grace Baptist Churches in London recently. The AGBC(SE) celebrated its 150th anniversary at Homerton Baptist Church with Dever (who pastors Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington DC) as guest speaker. In his keynote session, Dever looked at why ecclesiology matters, tracing out many fads that have eroded the centrality of the local church. Touching on a wide range of current trends, he noted that while nominalism in churches rises the age of baptism decreases, ‘so that we baptise pagans and call them saints’. How children relate to a church is important to its long-term health.