CHRIST AND HIS PEOPLE:
Eight Convictions About the Local Church
By Mark Ashton
Christian Focus. 68 pages. £3.99
ISBN 978 1 781 918 296
Mark Ashton was vicar of the Church of the Holy Sepulchure in Cambridge from 1987 until his death in 2010.
He writes clearly, simply, but above all biblically, about the priorities for local church life. There are eight short chapters, beginning with the importance of having a Bible-based ministry in the context of a local church, where the preaching is central and largely expository, but not too long! Later chapters deal with the minister himself, focussing on what the church can do, rather than trying to do everything and not succeeding. Then there is a powerful chapter on sacrifice, a subject too often ignored today. The book concludes with a chapter on prayer, asserting that ‘prayer must lie at the very heart of the local church’ (p.63), surely a statement with which we would all heartily agree. He speaks about the value of personal quiet times and church prayer meetings.
