Everybody Welcome is the complete course to transform your church by improving your approach to newcomers. Believing that welcoming is a ministry for every member of the church, it offers guidance for your entire congregation and will help every individual play their part.
Everybody Welcome is the complete course to transform your church by improving your approach to newcomers. Believing that welcoming is a task for every member of the church, it offers guidance for your entire congregation and will help every individual play their part. This Members' Manual is designed for every individual taking part in the course.
Everybody Welcome is the complete course to transform your church by improving your approach to newcomers. Believing that welcoming is a ministry for every member of the church, it offers guidance for your entire congregation and will help every individual play their part.
Testing Fresh Expressions investigates whether fresh expressions of church really do what is claimed for them by the fresh expressions movement and, in particular, whether their unique approach helps to reverse trends of decline experienced by traditional churches. Part 1 examines those claims and untangles their sociological and theological assumptions. From a careful study of factors underlying attendance decline and growth, Part 2 argues that long-term decline can be resisted only if churches are better able to attract children, the non-churched or both. Part 3 tests the comparative ability of a group of growing parish churches and a group of fresh expressions to resist trends of decline and discovers some intriguing social dynamics common to both groups. Part 4 argues that fresh expressions do not fulfil the unique role often claimed for them but that they do have the capacity to help reinvigorate the whole church.
The Being With course is an introduction to Christianity with a difference. At its heart is the idea that God’s greatest desire is to be with us in Jesus. Grounded in the conviction that we already have a wealth of understanding of truth, beauty and goodness that signify God’s presence in our lives and everyday experiences, it aims to enable participants to discover dimensions of this presence and to live abundantly with God, with one another and with creation. This Leaders’ Guide provides: • an introduction to the theological perspective underpinning the course; • an explanation of its structure and an overview of each session; • practical guidelines for leading a group; • complete materials for hosting its ten 90-minute sessions in person or online. The sessions focus on the themes of Meaning; Essence; Jesus; Church; Bible; Mission; Cross; Prayer; Suffering and Resurrection. Drawing on the practices of Godly Play, the course uses storytelling, wondering and reflection to encourage and welcome the insights that each person brings. The Being With course was devised and created by Samuel Wells and Sally Hitchiner. It is one of many initiatives of St Martin-in-the-Fields, alongside HeartEdge, the Nazareth Community, the classical music and arts programmes and work with those experiencing homelessness. Located in London’s Trafalgar Square, St Martin’s is a community of hope, transforming church and society through commerce, culture, compassion and congregational life.
Help Others Experience God's Powerful Grace God's grace is all around us, but often we fall back into well-worn paths of discouragement, trying harder, or thinking that we've failed as Christians. In this powerful, eight-week study from internationally respected ministry Freedom In Christ, you will encounter God's grace like never before. This leader's guide for The Grace Course will help you move believers past behavior modification and into heart transformation. Through biblical teaching, reflection and discussion times, video testimonies, and practical exercises, participants will discover how to · deal with the false motivators of guilt, shame, fear, and pride · overcome striving and performing · remain secure in God's love · become agents of reconciliation and healing in the world You can use the accompanying videos or present the content yourself using the scripts in this Leader's Guide. Each participant will need a Participant's Guide as well. The Grace Course is part of The Grace & Freedom Project, a collaboration between Freedom In Christ Ministries, Bethany House, RightNow Media, and YouVersion. It features a range of top-quality resources to help people experience God's grace and freedom at such a deep level that they are forever changed and equipped to take the love and healing of Jesus to a broken world. See what's available at GraceAndFreedomProject.com or scan the QR code.
Pete Greig, the acclaimed author of Red Moon Rising, has written his most intensely personal and honest account yet in God on Mute, a book born out of his wife Samie's fight for her life and diagnosis of a debilitating brain tumor. Greig asks the timeless questions of what it means to suffer and to pray and to suffer through the silence because your prayers seem unanswered. This silence, Greig relates, is the hardest thing. The world collapses. Then all goes quiet. Words can't explain, don't fit, won't work. People avoid you and don't know what to say. So you turn to Him and you pray. You need Him more than ever before. But somehow . . . even God Himself seems on mute. In this heart-searching, honest, and deeply profound book, Pete Greig looks at the hard side of prayer, how to respond when there seem to be no answers, and how to cope with those who seek to interpret our experience for us. Here is a story of faith, hope, and love beyond all understanding.
Marriage Course, developed by Nicky and Sila Lee, is a seven-session study designed to help couples obtain the tools to build a strong and healthy relationship that lasts a lifetime. This Leader's Guide offers a concise yet thorough overview of Marriage Course. It includes timetables for each evening, suggested reading, details on how to set up and run the course, and practical tips for making your Marriage Course successful. The course covers: An Introduction to Marriage Course Building Strong Foundations The Art of Communication Resolving Conflict Forgiveness The Impact of Family - past and present Good Sex Love in Action Marriage Course Party Coping with Times of Separation (optional session) Marriage Course serves as a bridge between the church and local community by recognizing the need to go beyond the social, as well as physical, walls of the church to help couples with their relationships. The courses are easy to run, and the talks are also available on DVD (sold separately). If you enjoy hosting people and have a passion for strengthening family life, you could run a course!
Churches have made many converts but far too few real disciples. Many Christians struggle to take hold of basic biblical truth and live it out. We often take a painfully long time to mature. This is not because we lack resources or teaching, but because we struggle to connect with truth This is where the Freedom in Christ course comes in. It is specifically designed to help Christians take hold of who they are in Christ, resolve personal and spiritual conflicts through genuine repentance, and move on to maturity. This revised and updated edition of the popular course takes into account comments from the many who have used and reused it, and is accompanied by a completely new 3-disk DVD set. PRICE INCLUDES VAT
Leader's Handbook for this three-session, video-based outreach program showing that Christianity offers real hope, peace, and purpose. There are few emotions more powerful than hope. But these days, hope often feels hard to come by. Where can we find a hope that won’t disappoint us? Looking at the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus in Luke’s Gospel, this three-session series from Christianity Explored Ministries shows that Christianity is about real hope: a joyful expectation for the future, based on true events in the past, which changes everything about my present. It sounds good... but is it true? Whatever people do or don’t believe, Hope Explored offers them an opportunity to explore, to discuss, and to discover the hope, peace, and purpose Jesus offers. With only three sessions, Hope Explored does not require a huge time commitment from guests and is one of the easiest ways to introduce someone to Christianity. The Christianity Explored series can then be run as a follow-up course for those eager to explore the Christian faith more. The videos are presented by Rico Tice, Founder of Christianity Explored Ministries. They introduce the concepts for each session (Hope, Peace, Purpose) and deliver compelling Bible teaching from Luke’s Gospel. The ideas are then discussed as participants look at the Bible passage together.