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Book Review: A Brief History of Sunday, by Justo González

Justo Gonzalez, A Brief History of Sunday: From the New Testament to the New Creation. Eerdmans, 2017. 176 pp, $16.00.   When I first saw the title of this book, I almost drooled. Theologically, the...

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Book Review: Church Order in the New Testament, by Eduard Schweizer

What you believe about God will be determined by what you believe about his Word. The latter belief can’t help but dictate both the content and confidence in your belief about who God is and what he...

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The Reformation’s Restoration of the Sacraments

The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century restored the gospel to the sacraments and the sacraments to the congregation. Why did the sacraments need restoring? Penance, purgatory, indulgences,...

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Mailbag #66: Is Preaching Necessary on the Mission Field? . . . Is “Closed...

Is preaching required in missionary contexts, or do Bible studies suffice? » “Closed communion” seems exclusive and arrogant. Is it in the Bible? » Dear 9Marks, I am a newly appointed missionary and am...

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Episode 26: On Multi-Site Churches (with Matt Chandler)

Over the past several decades, the multi-site church model has become quite popular. Recently, however, The Village Church, pastored by Matt Chandler, announced it was transitioning all of its sites...

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Episode 30: On Planning the Sunday Gathering (with Matt Merker)

What goes into planning the Sunday gathering? Who should pick the songs, the Scripture readings, the types of prayer? Should all these choices be thematically related to the text that will be preached?...

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Want Your Church to Sing? Then Train Them As Children!

We learn most of our disciplines and skills when we’re very young. This also applies to singing. Children sing with abandon and minimal self-consciousness—but often with little knowledge or skills of...

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Mailbag #72: Small Groups with Christians from Other Churches? . . . Which...

What do you think about small group Bible studies/prayer groups comprised of Christians from different churches? » How do you determine which churches to pray for publicly? » Dear 9Marks, What do you...

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Episode 41: On Bringing Back the Prayer Service

In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan Leeman and Mark Dever discuss the benefits and best practices of hosting a regular, church-wide prayer gathering—in addition to the Sunday service. iTunes...

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Book Review—The Whole Church Sings: Congregational Singing in Luther’s...

Robin A. Leaver, The Whole Church Sings: Congregational Singing in Luther’s Wittenberg (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2017). Pp. xiv + 206.   There are two things that make human beings different from all...

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The Local Church as a Counterculture

Friedrich Nietzsche was perhaps the most towering figure among 19th century philosophers and thinkers, those whom Richard Lints has called “secular prophets.” Alongside people like Marx, Hegel,...

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Episode 51: On How the Reformation Changed Sunday Gatherings (with Jonathan...

“Through the liturgies of the Reformation, evangelical doctrine was as much caught in public worship as it was taught in published writings.” This assertion comes from the new volume Reformation...

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C. S. Lewis on Corporate Worship

Early in both The Screwtape Letters and Letters to Malcolm, Lewis addresses the relationship between the individual Christian and the church. In Malcolm, Lewis primarily confronts the question of...

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Why We Added a Prayer of Lament to Our Sunday Gathering

The world is not as it should be—and we feel it. From natural disasters to school shootings to personal tragedies, we’ve all been affected by the brokenness of a fallen world. We yearn for Jesus’...

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What Does a Prayer of Lament Sound Like?

Editor’s note: Last week, we posted an article entitled “Why We Added a Prayer of Lament to Our Sunday Gathering.” Below are two samples of such prayers from Hinson Baptist Church in Portland, Oregon....

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Book Review: Practicing the Power, by Sam Storms

Sam Storms will not remember the first time I met him. I was a fly-on-the-wall local church pastor invited to join an evening discussion between Storms, John Piper, and Wayne Grudem after a long day of...

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On Earth as It Is in Heaven: A Biblical Theology of Worship

WORSHIP AT THE DAWN OF TIME  Since the beginning of time, there has been worship—in heaven and on earth. In heaven above, seraphim flew before God in the heavens, singing, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord...

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Episode 58: On Members Meetings

Are members’ meetings in the Bible? How can a pastor cultivate a culture where people care about the business of their church? What tone should mark these kinds of meetings? In this episode of Pastors’...

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Should Pastors Talk about Brett Kavanaugh on Sunday?

A number of pastors have asked us for counsel on how to address the Brett Kavanaugh nomination on Sunday. My basic counsel is, you don’t have to address it, but if you do, don’t pick a side. Instead,...

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Episode 71: On Canceling Church

In this episode, Mark and Jonathan discuss the biblical and theological principles for why Christians gather on Sundays, and why, generally speaking, those principles make canceling any Sunday...

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Episode 73: On The Lord’s Supper (with Bobby Jamieson)

In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan asks Mark and Bobby a bunch of questions about the Lord’s Supper. What’s the most biblical position: open, close, or closed? Should the Supper be given at...

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The Christian Life Is More Like a Bus Ride Than a Motorcycle Ride

Hey pastor, here’s some language I use to help my people understand how the gospel relates to our life together as a single congregation with a single gathering (no multiple services or sites). It’s...

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The Five Points of Calvinism and Your Church’s Sunday Meeting

It’s winter, which means each afternoon I make myself a cup of hot tea. I like it strong. If it doesn’t steep long enough, all you’ve got is brown water. The best worship services are like a mug of...

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You’re So Depraved, You Probably Think This Church Is About You: How Total...

The last time I wept during a church service I wasn’t even there. I was watching online. One Sunday night while scrolling through Facebook, I stumbled across an invitation to a church’s live-stream....

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Mailbag #76: The Role of Matthew 18’s “One or Two Witnesses” . . . Must...

When corrective discipline moves to the second step of bringing one or two witnesses (Mt 18:16), what purpose and obligations do the witnesses have in the matter? » Are Christians required to be at...

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Why Charismatics and Non-Charismatics Can Get Along

We live in a world where we like to talk about our disagreements. Debates are exciting, and some say that if we agreed on everything life would be boring. But if we think about the new creation that’s...

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What Can Miserable Christians Sing?

Editor’s note: Ten years after writing this piece, Carl wrote down a few follow-up reflections. You can read them here. * * * * * Many of us despise the health, wealth, and happiness teachings of the...

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Putting the “Service” Back in Worship Service

Week after week, many of us attend a worship served not a worship service. Don’t understand what I mean? Perhaps this will help. How many of your Sundays look like this? You show up, and parking lot...

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3 Reasons We Ought to Corporately Lament

Some pastoral lessons are learned the hard way. After a morning worship service, an African-American brother asked me if we were going to pray about a racially-charged story that had been all over the...

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Episode 85: On What Can Miserable Christians Sing (with Carl Trueman and Matt...

If someone walks into your church next Sunday and they’re miserable from life’s trials and tribulations, what songs will you ask them to sing? Sadly, many evangelical churches only sing joyful choruses...

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Mailbag #83: Protecting the Sunday Gathering by Limiting Reasons to Be Out of...

To what extent should the church protect the Sunday morning gathering by limiting reasons for members to be “at church” but out of the room? » What do you do to care for the spiritual health of your...

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Two Reasons a Church Shouldn’t Have Multiple Gatherings

I’ve pastored my church for over twelve years. We’ve always had two morning services, and I never gave them much thought. And even if I did think about them, I thought of them positively. To me, they...

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Mailbag #88: Must Elders Agree on Tongues & Prophecy? . . . How Can We Wisely...

How much agreement must elders have on the issue of tongues and prophecy? » In a congregational church, how should we hire a new pastor from the outside? How can we give enough time for the church to...

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3 Ways Baptism & the Lord’s Supper Ought to Shape our Monday through Saturday

It’s a typical Sunday at First Baptist Church for Dustin. Pastor Jon had just finished his sermon and announced that after the closing hymn he is going to baptize Thomas, a college student who, after...

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Your Church Needs More Time for Personal Testimonies

If you’re reading this, you probably have a strong view of expositional preaching, corporate prayer, and the church ordinances (baptism and communion). You also might get nervous when someone...

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Ten Atonement Songs You Should Consider Singing

Over the years, I’ve realized that not all songs about the cross are created equal. Some use the word “cross” without explaining what it means. Others see the cross merely as a selfless act of love for...

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Why and How We Started a Sunday Evening Service

On the first Sunday of 2019, our church started a Sunday evening service. Actually, it’s more accurate to say that we “resurrected” it. Like many churches, our Sunday night service died a slow death...

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What the Psalter Should Teach Us about the Songs We Sing

How can we foster a culture of theological depth in our churches? It must begin with the faithful exposition of God’s Word. If our people aren’t regularly being fed from the Word of God, then there’s...

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Must Women Be Silent in Churches? (1 Corinthians 14:34)

The interpretation of 1 Corinthians 14:34–35 has proven to be more than a little controversial over the years. The reason for that is due in no small part to the clash that this text brings to modern...

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Episode 115: On the Regulative Principle

God has told us in his Word how we ought to approach him in worship. This should shape how we plan our Sunday gatherings. But it also raises a question: Are we free to do things in our gatherings that...

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25 Hymns to Sing in Troubled Times

The Preacher of Ecclesiastes tells us, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. . . . A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance...

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The Easy Application Your Sermon Is Probably Missing


In the course of sermon preparation, as you consider applications of the text, who do you have in mind? Maybe you picture particular church members. Perhaps you think of different life stages. You ask,...

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Has COVID-19 Made 9Marks Raise the White Flag on Multi-Site and Multi-Service...

For more resources related to COVID-19, visit our new site: COVID-19 & The Church. For more on the topic of multi-site and multi-service churches, check out Jonathan’s book One Assembly. * * * * *...

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How To Plan A Sunday Morning Service . . . Outside

For more resources related to COVID-19, visit our new site: COVID-19 & The Church. * * * * * In recent days, Christians have longed not for the return to a sacred space, but the return to a sacred...

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A Strict But Clear Definition of the Church Brings Freedom

When you set out to plant churches, what exactly is it that you’re trying to plant? What must be in place in order for you to say that you’ve planted “a church” and not something else?  I suspect that...

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Moving from Programs to a Culture of Discipleship in an Immigrant Church

I like to-do lists. They provide both structure and a sense of achievement. But they also have their limitations. What’s listed isn’t necessarily a mirror of my life. They don’t measure my attitudes,...

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The Government Says We Can’t Sing! What Should We Do? (A Forum)

A pastor friend recently emailed me the following question: Do you know of anyone who has navigated state mandates against congregational singing indoors? Washington state just outlawed it for the next...

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Not Gathering with the Church Hurts You Spiritually

Some will think this is insensitive, some will think it’s overdue, but I want to make sure it’s said: not physically gathering with the church hurts you spiritually. So, pandemic-weary Christian, work...

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Forum: Which Doctrinally Rich Songs Should Your Church Should Sing?

Editor’s note: We asked the question, “What songs should churches sing that teach their people sound doctrine?” Below, we’ve recorded several responses. * * * * * Matt Merker “Hark! The Herald Angels...

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What the Doctrine of the Trinity Means for Our Corporate Worship

The Trinity is definitive for corporate worship. Apart from the being and works of the triune God, corporate worship would not exist. Accordingly, the church directs its worship to the Trinity in...

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