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Matthew Kruse

What Church Can Be: An Optimistic Vision Paperback – April 1 2020

by Matthew Kruse (Author)

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Are you committed to building a strong local church in a post-Christian context, but unsure what's possible, or how to go about it?

What Church Can Be was written for you.

Pastor and church planter Matthew Kruse's deeply loved hometown of Boston is a decidedly secular city where the gospel is primarily met with disinterest or disdain. The average Bostonian - wounded by one of the worst scandals in American church history and convinced that they have no need for "religion" - is out on church. And yet, by God's grace, Kruse has not only helped birth a beautiful and viable church that is thriving among the locals there, but he's also helped build a family of contextualized churches who are loving and leading New Englanders to the grace of the gospel.

In What Church Can Be, Kruse fuses theological exposition with personal memoir and a bevy of helpful blueprints into an optimistic and executable vision for leaders who are seeking to build healthy church cultures that foster gospel advance.

Matthew Kruse is the founding pastor of Seven Mile Road, a gospel-centered church just north of Boston. He and his wife Grace have four sons and daughters whom you'd love. Along with a handful of locals, Kruse planted the original Seven Mile Road in 2001 and has seen it become a family of churches stretching from Maine to the Cape. His work has been featured by The Gospel Coalition, Acts 29, Advance Initiative, and SEND Network. He doesn't drink coffee, own skinny jeans, or know how Pilates work, but he does love the gospel, the church, and a pickup game here and there.

Print length

346 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Xulon Press
Publication date

April 1 2020
Dimensions

13.97 x 2.18 x 21.59 cm
ISBN-10

1630505641
ISBN-13

978-1630505646
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Xulon Press (April 1 2020)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 346 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1630505641
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1630505646
Item weight ‏ : ‎ 363 g
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.97 x 2.18 x 21.59 cm

Best Sellers Rank: #615,321 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #541 in Christian Leadership (Books)
- #2,029 in Christian Ministry (Books)
- #23,608 in Memoirs (Books)

Customer Reviews:
22 ratings

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Matthew Kruse

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Matthew Kruse is the founding pastor of Seven Mile Road, a gospel-centered church just north of Boston. He and his wife Grace have four sons and daughters whom you'd love. Along with a handful of locals, Kruse planted the original Seven Mile Road in 2001 and has seen it become a family of churches stretching from Maine to the Cape. His work has been featured by The Gospel Coalition, Acts 29, Advance Initiative, and SEND Network. He doesn't drink coffee, own skinny jeans, or know how Pilates work, but he does love the gospel, his family, the church, and a pickup game here and there.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5

22 global ratings

5 star		78%
4 star		15%
3 star		7%
2 star 0% (0%)		0%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

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Top reviews from other countries

Mathew W. Moran

A Profound Book That Deserves A Wide Audience

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 9, 2020

Verified Purchase

I may be biased because I lived and pastored with Matt through much of this book. But I have not ever read a book with this combination of pastoral theology and raw intensity. There's nothing theoretical here. A book to repent with, a book to get inspired with, and a book to work through with your team as you solidify your church's local mission.

5 people found this helpful

NYCane

Be on Mission!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 10, 2020

Verified Purchase

What Church Can Be will make you experience so many emotions; laughter, tears, heartfelt reflection, wondering and so much more. This book is about what church and life can be when everyone makes the choice to be on mission for making the gospel the center of their lives. The author is genuine, honest, Bostonian without apology, godly, and reflective as he pens for us the experience of planting a church in the heart of Boston. At one point he says, "tears are the language of 'this matters,'" and if you wanted to see the difference an invested soul can make in the life of people, a community and a group of churches then read this book.

If you are a church planter looking to contextualize your setting & you are seeking to mobilize your people to be a disciple making church, then this is your book. If you are a parishioner and are wondering about your role in the life of the church, then read this book. If you are uncertain about where you are in life, if you doubt God even exists, then read this tome and see how a church can be when people make a conscious decision to live life to God's glory. This book hides nothing; in it you will see the ugliness of sin, the joy of obeying God, the power of God at work and the relentless pursuit of depending on God in order to fulfill the mission before us all; to help grow a church full of disciplemakers.

Matt Nunnelly

Encouraging for members and pastors alike.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 27, 2020

Verified Purchase

Though written for pastors of church plants, I feel like this book will be helpful to any Christian hoping to be a healthy, well-serving member of his or her local church.

This book functions like an extended sermon on Acts 20, and as such, is a great and doctrinally sound picture of how a healthy, Jesus- and people-loving community should be.

3 people found this helpful

Jared Kirk

Extremely well-written, entertaining, inspiring guide to church in a post-christian context

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 4, 2021

Verified Purchase

This book has become our go-to resource to develop leaders in our local church. What Church Can Be is a work of thoughtful depth. It clearly originates from decades of ministry in hard places. It contains the kind of insight and conviction you cannot fake. It is completely scriptural, yet shaped by the context of New England.

It is also exceptionally well-written which makes it enjoyable to read.

When I read, and re-read this book, I come away more committed to the work of starting churches in hard places, more convinced of God's goodness to me, and inspired to get the gospel to the world.

Luis R Villalta

Church in all its hopes and heartbreaks

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 9, 2020

Verified Purchase

Matthew Kruse pours his heart out on these pages. He challenges and encourages, he is funny and poignant, but, most of all he is true to who he is in ministry. His is a hard-won experience, and one that he shares, warts and all.

This book will show you how gospel empowered ministry rhythms will help you. But, most of all, this book will make you want to rise to the challenge to boast only on Christ.

2 people found this helpful

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Buy new: $27.09

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What Church Can Be: An Optimistic Vision Paperback – April 1 2020

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About the author

Matthew Kruse

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Top reviews from other countries

Buy new:

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