Zealous for Good Works: Mobilizing Your Church for the Good of Your Community

by Todd A. Wilson

Publisher:

Moody Publishers

, 2018

Overview

Todd Wilson’s church was devoted to the gospel and had long aspired to be the kind of city on a hill Jesus talks about in the Sermon on the Mount. They wanted their hurting neighbors to see the light of Christ and be drawn to meet Jesus. But how? What practices actually make something like that possible?

They found the answers they were looking for in Titus. In that often-overlooked book of the Bible, they discovered a call to be zealous for good works—the kind of good works that are like a bright light shining in the darkness. Zealous for Good Works is an exposition of Titus with a particular focus on mobilizing the church towards acting in kindness and goodness toward her neighbors. This book is for anyone who’s ever wanted to make a difference in the world, and see their church do the same, but wondered how to make it happen. Zealous for Good Works offers you field-tested, scripturally-based, practical answers that you and your church leaders will get excited about putting into practice.

Titus 2:11–14

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Key Features

• Guides the church in making a difference for Christ
• Explores the theological framework of Titus
• Identifies key spiritual practices prescribed by Paul

Contents

• Why Titus?
• What Turns a Place Upside Down?
• You’ll Never Rise Above Your Leader
• Fixing the Discipleship Deficit
• What God Does Matters More
• Stop, Look, and Listen
• Give Chief Attention to the Chief Things
• Devoted to Good Works
• Epilogue: A City on a Hill
• Appendix: Questions for Small Group Discussion

Praise for the Print Edition

Often when one hears of good works, we are asked to think of salvation and being clear good works do not save. Todd Wilson’s Zealous for Good Works has used the book of Titus to take a biblical tact. Good works are about mission, evangelism, and key characteristics that build credibility to be the city on a hill, to be what God called His community to be in the world. They show what salvation is for and how mission can be fueled by a walk that matches the talk.

—Darrell L. Bock, Senior Research Professor of New Testament Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary

God’s gospel is not only true and good; it is also beautiful. In this vibrant and practical exposition of Paul’s letter to Titus, Todd Wilson argues that the gospel is seen to be beautiful through a demonstration of good works by God’s people. Godly living is the goal of the gospel, and this is what is needed to close the church’s credibility gap and to make the gospel compelling in today’s culture. Wilson helps us to see that Paul’s instruction to Titus is as missional as it gets. Those who are tired of chasing the latest ministry fads and who want to listen again to God’s Word will be encouraged by this book. I was!

—Bill Kynes, Pastor, Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church, Annandale, VA

What a novel idea! A book on how to do mission and ministry based wholly on the Scriptures rather than choosing from among the transient directives of famous ministries. And more, to then ground the ministry on the brief, singular compass of the book of Titus. But this is where the power of Todd Wilson’s Zealous for Good Works lies—in the ordered sequence and irrefragable, Spirit-inspired, logic of the apostle Paul’s seven practices that will build “a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” and shine the gospel out to a darkening world. How grateful I am for the skillful exegesis of Dr. Wilson, a compassionate, seasoned scholar-pastor who lives it out with his wife, Katie, and their children in the bracing climate of Oak Park.

—R. Kent Hughes, Senior Pastor Emeritus of College Church in Wheaton

Product Details

• Title: Zealous for Good Works: Mobilizing Your Church for the Good of Your Community
• Author: Todd A. Wilson
• Publisher: Moody
• Publication Date: 2018
• Pages: 160
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Topic: Titus

About Todd A. Wilson

Todd A. Wilson (PhD, Cambridge University) is the president and cofounder of the Center for Pastor Theologians and the former senior pastor of Calvary Memorial Church in Oak Park, Illinois. He is the author, coauthor, or editor of a number of books, including Real Christian: Bearing the Marks of Authentic Faith, Galatians: Gospel-Rooted Living, The Pastor Theologian: Resurrecting an Ancient Vision and Mere Sexuality: Rediscovering the Christian Vision of Sexuality. He and his wife, Katie, have seven children and live in Oak Park.