Ed Silvoso’s book, Ekklesia, is the core textbook for term two of our marketplace ministry training curriculum. Silvoso opens with a statement that when Jesus announced the Church, he described it not in religious terms but as his ekklesia – a secular term used by the Greeks and Romans to describe an institution operating in the marketplace in a governmental capacity.
The implications are immense, as the author explains:
“The Temple and the synagogue were static institutions that functioned in buildings that members had to go to on specified occasions, whereas the Ekklesia was a building-less mobile people movement designed to operate 24/7 in the marketplace for the purpose of having an impact on everybody and everything.”
The book provides a glimpse of what God is doing in this generation to awaken the Church to Jesus’ original intent, and an encouragement to put our faith to work to transform nations.
The second core textbook is Rick Hereen’s Thank God It’s Monday, a practical and encouraging guide to putting our faith to work every day through our role in the marketplace.
Heeren describes his book as a guide on “How to take God to work with you” and his inspiring stories of God at work through everyday people as they develop their careers for the Lord will inspire followers of Jesus to do just that.
Having covered the core books, the following three elective books work together to encourage and inspire us to operate as the Ekklesia in power to change the world around us.
Scattered Servants, Alan Scott
In his book, Scattered Servants, Alan Scott describes the huge impact that can be made for good when the Church is envisioned and empowered to operate as Church every day. He illustrates that this was how the early Christians learned to operate:
“Gathering together as believers had given them access to exceptional teaching and astonishing generosity, but going together had given them the authority to bring hope to hurting humanity.”
Scott’s book is not simply a theological idea; it is a testimony from Northern Ireland of Church at work in the community through love, light, and power, illustrating that the most exciting things followers of Jesus did and still do, do not happen inside the gathered Church meeting but out here in the world.
As I read Scattered Servants I was so inspired from the start, and every chapter made me hungry for more of God at work in and through us. Expect to be challenged and for your faith to grow when you read this book.
Everyday Supernatural, Mike Pilavachi and Andy Croft
If you are hungry to see God work more in you through his Holy Spirit, Mike Pilavachi and Andy Croft provide a refreshing encouragement through their down-to-earth stories of adventures with the Lord. They encourage us to move closer to God and take simple steps of obedience in everyday, mundane situations, to grow in faith as He works through us.
The authors’ honest accounts of mistakes, blunders and victories, told in a very British, almost self-deprecating way, prove that we do not need to be superhuman to see God at work every day, we simply need to step out in faith and to rely on Him:
“I have found… that the times when I step out, the times when I am genuinely dependent on God, are the times he does the most”.
It’s a faith-builder with very practical steps for seeing God work through us.
The Way of Life, Bill Johnson
Bill Johnson captures what I sense God is doing all over the world in the life of the Church in this generation, as He inspires Jesus’ followers to operate in His power every day. As the leader of Bethel Church in Redding, California, Johnson shares essential elements of the culture of Church life that permeate into the community in order to change the world.
The book is also an encouragement to keep building community with other believers, for the sake of the world, and to put God’s principles to work in our everyday lives. Johnson has seen God move powerfully through miracles and he reminds us that anything is possible with Christ:
“What we think is possible during our lifetime has a radical effect on our approach to life. The believer has an advantage as we have the privilege of living with no impossibilities. If this becomes true in our attitude and thoughts, it helps to shape our worldview.”