Notes and quotes from Word-Centered Church by Jonathan Leeman.

1. Why don’t we trust words? Because people are constantly trying to sell us something with their words.

2. “Trusting God’s Word to build our churches is an act of faith. Faith in God. Faith in Word.”

3. God so identifies with His words, that our response to His words is our response to Him.

4. God acts when He speaks. He creates; He sustains; and He both establishes and breaks relationships.

5. “It takes faith to believe that invisible words and the invisible Spirit could give life to a valley of dry bones.”

6. God’s Word produces worship, obedience, communion and disciples.

7. “This is the dividing line that runs through all history and humanity: God’s people listen to God’s Word; no one else does. Every human belongs to one category or the other.”

8. How do you build a church from scratch? Through an evangelist. That evangelist could be a page of the Bible, a Christian on the street, or a tie-wearing pastor.  What they all must do is speak with words the good news of Jesus Christ.

9. Sin convinces the heart that God’s truth is a lie.

10. “If the individual heart is freed and given life exclusively through the Word, then priority in the local church must go to Word ministry – sharing the Word, preaching the Word, singing the Word, reading the Word, and praying the Word.”

11. Don’t use humour in the pulpit to attract, impress, or win hearers.

12. What do we want in our music in church? “Biblical words or mediations on biblical words. Music that suits the words.  Singable and memorable melodies.  Instrumentation that allows a congregation to hear themselves to sing to one another.”

13. “Our liturgy is how we arrange the public gatherings of our churches: what’s said, sung, prayed, and supped – and in what order.”

14. The goal for a church’s public gathering in Scripture is not that we be entertained, but that we be exposed to God’s Word.

15. Listening carefully is hard work.

16. “Seeds yield their fruit slowly. Rain feeds a crop slowly. And so the Word works slowly.  That’s a tough pill for us today to swallow.”

17. “The Bible knows what’s relevant to every congregation far better than the greatest of pastors. It knows what a congregation needs more than the congregation knows.”

18. An expositional sermon should not be able to be preached in a synagogue or a mosque.

19. “The secret of the gospel is that we actually do more when we hear less about all we need to do for God and hear more about all that God has already done for us.” (Kevin DeYoung)

20. “I suspect, the Word does its true work right there in the moment of preaching. Then and there, the Word awakens the dead heart. It gives hearing to the deaf ears.  It gives sight to the blind.  Or it calluses and hardens.  And once these things are accomplished, they’re accomplished.”

21. The songs we sing should echo Scripture. “A church’s songs should contain nothing more than words, paraphrases, or ideas of Scripture.”

22. In any Christian service, the most beautiful instrument is the sound of the congregation singing.

23. What is Christian prayer that seeks first the kingdom of God and His righteousness interested in?
Evangelism and conversion.
Holiness and love of God’s people – and their willingness to make decisions that look strange to the world.
Health of the local church and its commitment to God’s Word.
Success of other nearby churches – we’re on the same team.
Christians working for Christ in the workplace.
Husbands and wives living as Christian husbands and Christian wives.
Preaching of the gospel in all nations.
Ability to gather freely to worship.
Plight of persecuted brothers and sisters around the world.
The good of our non-Christian neighbours.
Faithful work of our governments.
Unity of saints in their wonderful God-given diversity.

24. Pray Scripture or according to scriptural priorities and patterns and you can be sure you are praying according to God’s will and for kingdom priorities.

25. “When a ninety-minute Sunday service includes less than five minutes of prayer, you can see whom they really trust.” Ouch!

26. “When the majority of a church’s prayer lists consist of health requests, you can see what the church really values.” Ouch again!

27. Christians who keep themselves at arm’s length from the local church are impoverished.

28. Discipleship is helping other brothers and sisters in the church to follow Christ by embracing the Word of His gospel.

29. “The gathered church must scatter, but it scatters to gather others in. It’s like a boomerang: We go out to bring back. To shout, “Come to the wedding feast!”