There Am I

“What an awesome place this is! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven!” Jacob’s words, spoken in the stillness of a Bethel morning, express his wonder at discovering that he had spent the night in the presence of God.

This book is built on the conviction that those words apply with equal force to the “house of God” in the present dispensation—“the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). Through a careful and contextual examination of key New Testament passages, Mark Sweetnam explores the purpose, pattern, and practice of the local assembly.

Demonstrating from Scripture that the assembly belongs to God and exists for His glory, the author highlights its unique place in the divine purpose. Important topics such as the Lord’s Supper, headship, spiritual gifts, reward and responsibility, and assembly oversight are considered with clarity and biblical precision.

Accessible, practical, and thoroughly rooted in Scripture, this volume provides an excellent introduction to the doctrine of the local assembly and will be of great value to every believer seeking to understand God’s design for His church.

About the Author
Mark Sweetnam is in fellowship in the assembly at Rathmines, Dublin, Ireland. He is Assistant Professor of English with Digital Humanities in the School of English at Trinity College Dublin, where he specialises in seventeenth-century literature and the history of evangelicalism.