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There is much in our culture that keeps us from staying on a path of faith and enlightenment: Creature comforts entice us away from the rigors of a materially simple and charitable life. And the world is simultaneously awash with multimillionaires and homeless families.
Yet, in this hopeful book, The God of Second Chances, the insightful minister and caregiver Erik Kolbell looks back through Scripture and finds a wealth of words like reconciliation, redemption, and resurrection.
Eloquently exploring one “re” word in every chapter, each pointing to a well-recognized biblical theme, Kolbell reveals that even when our spirits are most weary, God never fails to give us a second chance.
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In this much anticipated follow-up to their two previous books on U.S. congregations, Cynthia Woolever and Deborah Bruce challenge church leaders to reframe their thinking about whether location determines the vitality of congregations.
Places of Promise carefully presents some of the different ways in which location is defined and in which it influences congregational life. Places of Promise then cogently demonstrates that every congregation can achieve strength and effectiveness in its present location if its ministry focus and leadership decisions parallel factors that are important to the community. Using charts and graphs and results from the U.S. Congregational Life Survey and other studies, Woolever and Bruce dispel myths about congregational vitality and offer insights on sources of strength in various locations of congregations.
Places of Promise is imperative reading for pastors, congregation leaders, and all who are involved with congregations ready to see their places as God-given strengths in the face of a rapidly changing context for ministry. |
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In News to Me: Gospel Stories for the Real World Lawrence Wood brings together insights from scripture with his own observations of the "real world" to create thirty-two moving reflections on the Christian life.
Drawing from the wells of history, the lives of famous and not-so-famous people, and his own observations of popular culture, Wood combines scripture with experience to offer a captivating view of the gospel at work. |
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Writing in an accessible and anecdotal style, N. T. Wright helps us to approach the rich and manysided story of the book of Acts in Acts for Everyone: Part One. Wright shows how the book builds on Luke's Gospel, laying out the continuing work and teaching of the now risen and ascended Jesus in the power of the Spirit.
His writing captures the vivid way in which Luke's work draws us all into the story, while leaving the ending open and challenging, inviting Christians today to pick up and carry on the story as we in turn live our lives in the service of Jesus. |
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In this new volume pastor and distinguished church leader John Buchanan reviews the history of the Christian community, examines the realities of tile church worldwide, and looks forward to the future where a new church may be needed to meet the challenges of a new world.
Drawing upon his belief that the church is a work in progress, Buchanan describes changes impacting the church and invites Christians to be hopeful and look for signs of what God might be calling the church to be in our time and beyond.
A New Church for a New World is all accessible and insightful guide for all who seek to understand the church as the body and reminder of Jesus Christ, the mission and work of the church in the twenty-first century and how God continues to call people to be the church in ways that are both old and always new. |
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