Bøger udgivet af United Methodist Publishing House

Take a pilgrimage with Celtic Christians as your companions.

This Covenant experience will guide participants in a comprehensive, in-depth study of the Bible over twenty-four weeks. Unlike the learning participants may have experienced in other groups, this in-depth study of the whole Bible emphasizes the biblical concept of covenant as a unifying pattern through all the books in the Old and New Testaments. It underscores the unique relationship that God chooses to have with us as God's people. This relationship is grounded in the faithfulness of God's love and on our ongoing commitment to stay in love with God while we share signs of that love with others. Each episode connects to an aspect of this covenant relationship, which is summarized in the heading of each participant guide. LIFE, AS WE ALL KNOW TOO WELL, IS IMPERFECT. Difficulties are inevitable. That's why the final eight-weeks, Trusting the Covenant, looks at the crises that sometimes call covenant life into question, and how we are restored to trust in God when troubling things happen. This module discusses the loss of hope, and how it is restored by faithfulness in the midst of suffering. From the story of Job, to the Hebrew exile, to the apocalyptic visions in Daniel and Revelation, we learn how faithful love is at work in everything--to restore hope, freedom, and wholeness to our lives. Each participant in the group needs the Participant Guides and a Bible. The CEB Study Bible is preferred. The Trusting Participant Guide is 8 weeks long, and has a lay flat binding making it easy to take notes in the generous space provided on each page. The Trusting Participant Guide contains the following episodes: Episode 17: John; 1, 2, and 3 John For John the God we meet in Jesus is the one who keeps coming into the world, going out of the way to be in relationship with us. Jesus meets his followers in whatever ways they need with new and abundant life. Jesus draws people back into community and promises the Holy Spirit to those who follow him. Episode 18: Psalms Psalms are songs, poems, and prayers to and about God. There is diversity of authorship across the Psalms. Three major types of psalms are laments, thanksgiving psalms, and psalms of praise. The psalms are user-friendly and give voice to our conflicts, confessions, and cries for God's rescuing help. The Psalms teach us how to pray and that God's primary character trait is faithful love. Episode 19: Job Like the Bible as a whole, the book of Job offers a number of voices or perspectives. Job stages difficult human questions such as, "Why do human beings worship God?" or "Why do people suffer?" and even, "what is God's role in suffering?" The book of Job also asks, "Does good behavior bring blessing?" and "Does bad behavior bring curse and suffering?" Episode 20: Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel Jeremiah, Lamentations, and Ezekiel offer three different perspectives on the same catastrophic event: the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 587 CE and the exile of God's people to a foreign land. These books affirm the power of lingering with sorrow so we can hear the voices of those who are suffering. Any hope found in these books remains in the promise that God will bring life to dry bones or write a new covenant on hearts in a blessed but distant future. Episode 21: Isaiah 40-66 The story of how Israel gained and lost the land becomes a treasure that they carry with them into exile. The poetry in these passages is written to inspire and invite God's homesick people in Babylon to become pioneers and return home to Israel. The God of Israel is no regional deity but is the one and only God of all, everywhere and all the time. Through fire and water, chaos and captivity, the people called by God and redeemed by God also belong to God. Episode 22: 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah The people returning home from exile in successive waves must rebuild their whole way of life. Ezra and Nehemiah look at the practical need for city walls and a center for worship. The Chronicler stresses the importance of "re-remembering" our story in the right way in order to understand who we are in this new life. The practices that sustained the people in exile will define a people who weren't old enough to remember life before exile. Episode 23: Apocalyptic--Daniel Apocalyptic literature is not primarily about future events. It looks at traumatic events in the present and finds a divine plan at work. By using vivid symbols and imagery, the court tales and visions of Daniel stress that God is ultimately controls human events. The identity of faithful people is defined by living faithfully according to the covenant teachings in a context where those values are under threat. Faith has its price, but our hope in God empowers us to never give up. Episode 24: Revelation Revelation is a book written for poor people struggling under great duress. It uses vivid, terrifying images to express God's unswerving faithfulness and the faithfulness of those who stand firm in the face of dehumanizing forces in the world. The symbol of hope in Revelation is the new creation and loyal love between God and the faithful. This symbol provides comfort, courage, and assurance that the one who made a covenant with all things at the very beginning will be with us at the end of all things. More Questions? Visit http: //covenantbiblestudy.com/ for more information.

Heart-thumping suspense and intrigue--just what the doctor ordered.

Your monoethnic church can become a multiethnic, Christ-centered, healthy congregation!

Creating a culture of generosity beyond tithing.

An encourager most don't remember and an apostle many don't like

10 Tried and True Strategies for leading small group Bible studies in your church.

Get more than you thought possible out of every day, month and year.

With Adam Hamilton, we have traced the life of Jesus from his birth The Journey, through his ministry The Way, to his death and resurrection 24 Hours That Changed the World. What happened next? Follow the journeys of Paul, beginning with his dramatic conversion, as he spread the Gospel through modern-day Greece and Turkey. Travel to the early church sites and explore Paul's conversations with the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians. In this six-week study, you are invited to experience faith through Christ's greatest teacher and missionary. The Children's Leader Guide contains session ideas for younger and older children, including games, activities, craft ideas, and reproducible handouts.

With Adam Hamilton, we have traced the life of Jesus from his birth The Journey, through his ministry The Way, to his death and resurrection 24 Hours That Changed the World. What happened next? Follow the journeys of Paul, beginning with his dramatic conversion, as he spread the Gospel through modern-day Greece and Turkey. Travel to the early church sites and explore Paul's conversations with the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians. In this six-week study, you are invited to experience faith through Christ's greatest teacher and missionary. Everything needed to conduct a six-session study of Paul's travels and teachings geared to youth, including current examples that have meaning to young people grades 6-12. Can be used with the adult-level DVD.

With Adam Hamilton, we have traced the life of Jesus from his birth The Journey, through his ministry The Way, to his death and resurrection 24 Hours That Changed the World. What happened next? Follow the journeys of Paul, beginning with his dramatic conversion, as he spread the Gospel through modern-day Greece and Turkey. Travel to the early church sites and explore Paul's conversations with the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians. In this six-week study, you are invited to experience faith through Christ's greatest teacher and missionary. This 96-page Leader Guide contains everything needed to guide a group through The Call Bible study program. Includes session plans and discussion questions, as well as multiple format options. This guide centers around the book, the videos, and Scripture.

A gunman who has nothing to lose faces a doctor who could lose it all to prove his innocence.

John Wesley's own strategies for reaching non-churched people.

A new model for post-apologetic preaching in a pluralistic world.

Five questions to unwrap the Christmas season and cherish its treasures all year long.

Overcoming these odds will take more than a miracle drug--it will take a miracle.

Two Christmas novellas from popular Amish author Barbara Cameron.

A new approach for local church giving that is accessible, achievable, and effective.

Pastoral counseling is a wisdom ministry of care, connection, and restoration.

The gown of the Bride of Christ is being shredded by sibling rivalry within the Christian community. The Church's life is weakened and its witness compromised. This is nowhere more evident than the issue of homosexuality. Dr. Steve Harper laments this sad state of affairs and offers a way of love through the dilemma. His pastoral spirit and practical counsel offer guidance and hope for the future. "A dark picture is emerging--a contentiousness between professing Christians and a persecution of the homosexual community by professing Christians. In the season of Lent, the Holy Spirit broke my heart one morning by speaking into it these words, "My Bride, the Church, is being abused. Her gown is being torn to shreds by siblings who are trying to end up with the biggest piece of the cloth, and who would rather expose her nakedness than give up the fight. Enough is enough!" "I was stunned-- so much so that I kept the experience to myself. I'm old enough to know the difference between a passing feeling and a sacred impression." -- Excerpted from the introduction. "Steve Harper writes as an evangelical who loves the United Methodist Church. He has written a thoughtful, helpful, and surprising book on the church he loves and the ways it might wrestle with the issues that divide it." --Rev. Adam Hamilton, United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, Leawood, Kansas "For The Sake of the Bride is a helpful reflection on the unity of the church concerning human sexuality. He risks moving deeply into the conversation, and he does so in a way that is evangelical (Christocentric) and mystical. His rediscovery of E. Stanley Jones's round-table discussion points a way beyond our tribalism. I hope you will read this book, for the sake of the bride--the church of Jesus Christ." --Bishop Kenneth Carter, The Florida Annual Conference, The United Methodist Church "Steve Harper has written a book for "just such a time as this." He provides a balanced theological reflection on the crisis facing The United Methodist Church today. Reflecting upon Scripture, tradition, and the work of E. Stanley Jones, Harper lovingly proposes a way forward." --Rev. Steve Manskar, Director of Wesleyan Leadership, Leadership Ministries, GBOD, The United Methodist Church "For the Sake of the Bride sets aside the all-too-easy rhetoric of division and antagonism and invites the divided church to fully engage the greater way of love that Jesus models and bids us follow. Harper writes with pastoral courage, sensitivity and genuine humility, inviting us not to a particular position, but to generous dialogue on behalf of the church we cherish." --Dr. Kandace Brooks, Senior Pastor, Tamoka United Methodist Church, Ormond Beach, Florida "Steve Harper succeeds in his desire to move the Church beyond the impasse of name calling and shouting and calls for schism, and brings us to the table, the Round Table, in a spirit of grace filled love, integrity, honesty and mutual respect for all parties. That's a difficult place for many to maintain, but it's where we all must meet." --Dr. Dan Johnson, Senior Pastor, Trinity United Methodist Church, Gainesville, Florida "Steve Harper reflects the evangelical and holiness traditions of American Methodists. From this framework of traditional Christian piety, he shows how we can reflect faithfully on these contemporary issues in ways that honor each other as the presence of Christ, the "Bride of Christ." This is a breath of fresh air amid the rancor that has too often polluted church conversations in recent years. His concern is that Christians damage the church--not just the institution of the church but the church as the body and "bride of Christ"--by the uncharitable and unprofitable conversation we too often carry on, especially over the issue of same-sex relationships." --Ted Campbell, Associate Professor of Church History, Perkins School of Theology "Steve Harper courageously shares his thoughts after weeks of prayerful reflection on a topic that has challenged the Church for millennia. Pay particular attention to his mention of E. Stanley Jones' use of the roundtable. Steve has renewed my own desire to be more loving and far less judgmental." --Robert G. Tuttle Jr., Emeritus Professor of World Christianity, Asbury Seminary "Invaluable . . . Steve Harper is 'spot-on' for what he describes as a need for a third way. In our social media-driven culture, selecting the enter button often creates environments fueled by vitriol, instead of love for the sake of the Bride." --Toni King, retired registered nurse, Department of Veterans Affairs "Steve Harper entrusts us with a deeply personal account about his unexpected, prayer-born call to reexamine the church's embattled position regarding same-gender relationships. Intimate, prayerful, and tenderly biblical--this book reminds us that we already share a way forward--and the way is Love." --Pam Hawkins, discipleship pastor and former associate editor ofWeavings, Belmont United Methodist Church, Nashville, Tennessee "Steve Harper does not provide easy answers to our problems, but challenges a polarized church to focus on Christ through our Wesleyan tradition." --Kyle Cuperwich, pastor, Bernardsville and Gladstone United Methodist Churches, New Jersey