Shaped by the Gospel: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City

Written by Timothy Keller, Michael Horton and Dane Calvin Ortlund

Narrated by Sam Schott, John Behrens and Levi Wiggins

It is easy to assume that if we understand the gospel and preach it faithfully, our ministry will necessarily be shaped by it—but this is not true.  Many churches claim to be gospel-centered but do not have a ministry that is shaped by, centered on, and empowered through the gospel.  The implications of the gospel have not yet worked their way into the fabric of how that church does ministry. 

Gospel-centered ministry is more theologically driven than program driven. To pursue it, we must spend time reflecting on the essence, the truths, and the very patterns of the gospel itself.  The gospel is neither religion nor irreligion, but something else entirely—a third way of relating to God through grace. In Shaped by the Gospel, bestselling author and pastor Timothy Keller addresses several current discussion and conflicts about the nature of the gospel and shows how faithful preaching of the gospel leads to individual and corporate renewal.

This new edition contains the first section of Center Church with new reflections and additional essays from Timothy Keller and several other contributors.

Accompanying tables and discussion questions are available in the audiobook companion PDF download.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Release date: Feb 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9780310636182

Timothy Keller

Timothy Keller is the New York Times bestselling author of The Reason for God, The Meaning of Marriage, The Prodigal God, Jesus the King, and The Prodigal Prophet.

Reviews for Shaped by the Gospel

[Benjamin Sawyer · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book reminded me of the importance of seeing everything through Christ-centered lenses.
When you think of marriage, as a Christian, you need to see marriage as a reflection of Christ lovingly and sacrificially laying down his life (role of the husband) and the church humbly submitting itself unto Christ (the role of the wife).
More than anything - we ought to see that all Scripture points to knowing Christ, rather than merely knowing facts. It's when we see everything this way that God gets all the glory, and our desires are truly satisfied.
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. (Philippians 3:8)

[gwhittick · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This one is my book of the year. It is a clarion call to be faithful to the Gospel, while having a theological vision that is contextualised faithfully to the environment in which we work. It concludes with a ringing endorsement of the importance of church planting. This is a book that engages heart and mind in mission, provokes us to thoughtful faithfulness and drives us to a clear theological vision of mission in our context. The best I've read o the subject. Although it's quite long, it is not filled with unnecessary padding, has a very clear structure and progression as you read through it.