The Crucial Challenge ― How to Engage Your Church in Disciple Making

Among the people who file into your church on a typical Sunday, how many would you say are living as true disciples of Jesus Christ? Why does the church exist? What are the roles of the laity in the church and in the world? These are the questions facing today's church leaders who wish to battle the tone of the day, complacency. Within the context of today's ailing churches, many are now recognizing the need to reestablish the critical role of the laity in building a healthy church. Reverend John H. Oak's piercing and impassioned manual, The Crucial Challenge: How to Engage Your Church in Disciple Making (formerly, Called to Awaken the Laity), has become the main driving force behind the disciple-making movement in South Korea. Throughout these pages, we sense the unflinching spirit of a pastor who devoted his all to the raising up of each member of his congregation to realize and fulfill their calling as disciples of Christ. More than just a theological study on ecclesiology, this book helped establish Sarang Community Church as one of the largest Presbyterian churches in the world-a faithful and thriving body of believers. This book has already impacted a multitude of churches, not only in Korea, but around the world. The Crucial Challenge is an urgent appeal to pastors and laity alike, to face and embrace our God-given calling to live as disciples and disciple-makers. In this invaluable resource, Rev. Oak lays out tried-and-tested principles of discipleship as a fundamental biblical strategy, which is essential to the calling of the church as revealed in the Scriptures.

The late Rev. John H. Oak (DD, Graduate School of Practical Theology; DMin and DD, Westminster Theological Seminary; ThM, Calvin Theological Seminary; MDiv, Chongshin Theological Seminary; BA, Sungkyunkwan University) was the influential senior pastor who launched Sarang Community Church in Seoul, Korea with a handful of people; it grew into one of the world's largest Presbyterian churches, with over 30,000 members. He often described his passion for discipling individuals as wildly enthusiastic. Indeed, he is lovingly remembered as a voice calling out in the wilderness for churches and lay members to function as salt and light in our world today, and he is still greatly missed by many around the world. Rev. Oak's beloved wife, three grown sons, and six grandchildren survive him.not applicable