What is the nature of the church? How should members behave toward one another? What does Christian unity mean? Packer explores these issues along with topics such as the celebration of the Lord's Supper. From dealing with the church as it is, Packer moves on to examine the church as it should be, discussing revival and renewal in a church context. Evangelism is then addressed both from an apologetic and a theological angle that reflects on the content of evangelism and the scope of the proclamation. Evangelism should lead into Christian living, and thus the final group of articles consists of reflections on sanctification, morality, leisure and conscience. Here Packer also addresses the issue of what to do if God seems distant. Throughout the volume readers will be both informed and encouraged in their faith.

J.I. Packer is Board of Governors' Professor of Theology at Regent College, Vancouver. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential thinkers and apologists for Christianity in the twentieth century. He is author of numerous books, including Knowing God, Rediscovering Holiness and Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Beliefs. The Collected Shorter Writings of J.I. Packer contain the majority of shorter pieces published by J.I. Packer over the past thirty years. The articles included in this four-volume set range from short devotional pieces published in church-sponsored journals, to opinion articles for popular journals like Christianity Today, to major articles for scholarly journals.