Becoming the Church

Many today have given up on church. But God has not and does not give up on the church. The church is God's idea. And once we truly understand what God has in mind for his people, we can become who he wants us to be.

BishopClaude Alexander shows how the original Christians did not always understand what the church was supposed to be, but God worked in them anyway to become the community that he intended. After the resurrection of Jesus, his followers were transformed from disillusion and doubt to become a people of conviction and new life. The book of Acts describes the unfolding purposes, principles, and practices discovered by the apostles as they gave themselves to Christ's call. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we too can be transformed by Jesus and model to the world what it means to know him―as the church.

Bishop Claude R. Alexander Jr. is senior pastor of The Park Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. He serves on the board of Christianity Today, Mission America Coalition, Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, and Movement.org. He is the chair of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary's board of trustees and a past president of the Hampton University Ministers Conference. He and his wife, Kimberly, have two daughters. He is also the author of Necessary Christianity.