In 2012 the author was invited by the Parish Pastoral Council in Newcastle, Co Down to help establish a Bereavement Ministry in the Parish. Unable to find exactly the course structure he was looking for, he designed his own course. He has divided it into five sections: • The Human Experience of Grief. (drawing on my own experiences and what some of the leading experts in grief have written) • The Liturgy of Mourning. (as used in the Catholic Church) • Grief in the Scriptures. (setting elements of section 1 within a scriptural context) • A selection of suggested Scripture readings with reflections and some sample prayers of intercession. (These are intended to be used by ordained and lay ministers for their personal reflection and in preparing funeral homilies. They may also be of solace to grieving people.) • A selection of prose, poems and prayers. This book is directed primarily to those involved in bereavement ministry.
In 2012 the author was invited by the Parish Pastoral Council in Newcastle, Co Down to help establish a Bereavement Ministry in the Parish. Unable to find exactly the course structure he was looking for, he designed his own course. He has divided it into five sections: • The Human Experience of Grief. (drawing on my own experiences and what some of the leading experts in grief have written) • The Liturgy of Mourning. (as used in the Catholic Church) • Grief in the Scriptures. (setting elements of section 1 within a scriptural context) • A selection of suggested Scripture readings with reflections and some sample prayers of intercession. (These are intended to be used by ordained and lay ministers for their personal reflection and in preparing funeral homilies. They may also be of solace to grieving people.) • A selection of prose, poems and prayers. This book is directed primarily to those involved in bereavement ministry.
The work unto which the servant of Christ is called is many sided. Not only is he to preach the Gospel to the unsaved, to feed God's people with knowledge and understanding (Jer. 3:15), and to take up the stumbling stone out of their way (Isa. 57:14), but he is also charged to "cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show My people their transgression" (Isa. 58:1 and cf. 1 Tim. 4:2). While another important part of his commission is stated in, "Comfort ye, My people, said your God" (Isa. 40:1). What an honorable title, "My people!" What an assuring relationship: "your God!" What a pleasant task: "comfort ye My people!" A threefold reason may be suggested for the duplicating of the charge. First, because sometimes the souls of believers refuse to be comforted (Psa. 77:2), and the consolation needs to be repeated. Second, to press this duty the more emphatically upon the preacher's heart, that he need not be sparing in administering cheer. Third, to assure us how heartily desirous God himself is that His people should be of good cheer (Phil. 4:4). God has a "people," the objects of His special favor: a company whom He has taken into such intimate relationship unto Himself that He calls them "My people." Often they are disconsolate: because of their natural corruption's, the temptations of Satan, the cruel treatment of the world, the low state of Christ's cause upon earth. The "God of all comfort" (2 Cor. 1:3) is very tender of them, and it is His revealed will that His servants should bind up the brokenhearted and pour the balm of Gilead into their wounds. What cause have we to exclaim "Who is a God like unto Thee!" (Micah 7:18), who has provided for the comfort of those who were rebels against His government and transgressors of His Law. The contents of this little volume have appeared from time to time in our monthly magazine during the last thirty years. They were, previously, sermons which we preached long ago in the U.S.A. and Australia. Here and there is an expression (especially where Prophecy is touched upon) that we would not use today; but since the Lord was pleased to bless them in their original form to not a few of His distressed people, we have not revised them. May it please Him to speak peace by them to afflicted souls today, and the glory shall be His alone. Pink (1890-1953) was a Baptist Preacher in England, Australia, and the United States. He is most famous for his book The Sovereignty of God. After its advent, he, assisted by his editor Mr. I. Herendeen, launched his yearly publication, Studies in the Scriptures in 1921. These continued until his death, totaling altogether 33 volumes of 288 pp. each. Most of Pink's books are taken from these yearly volumes (written monthly in 24 page format).
Combining three incredibly important books for the teaching of the church, The Goldsworthy Trilogy offers a complete and comprehensive guide to understanding the gospel throughout the whole of Scripture. This collection, containing the hugely popular Gospel and Kingdom, Gospel and Witness, and The Gospel in Revelation, will be an essential guide to be used again and again for those who seek to understand the Bible in the light of who Jesus is. Those already acquainted with Goldsworthy's work will be familiar with his pithy and engaging style. Straightforward in his approach, he looks at how the Bible can only be understood through the eyes of the gospel. From this base of interpretation, he studies the Old Testament and its application for today, Israel's wisdom literature and its role in the Christian life, and the purpose and contemporary relevance of the book of Revelation, while his knowledge of Old Testament idiom and structure enhances his writing. This trilogy follows the Bible chronologically to give the reader a complete overview of evangelical biblical interpretation, forming an essential one-stop reference that will last a lifetime.
For most of us, mourning is something to be endured. We are often merely passive spectators of our own pain, and we see our grief period as a grim mountain that we must climb over. But Maurice Lamm tells us it can be much more. Bereavement, he says, can often be an enriching experience, even as it is a sorrowful and often tragic one. Our faith in a higher power can move us to not only live through the present but also to stride into the future with renewed energy and a revitalized outlook on life. In this, his sequel to the best-selling The Jewish Way in Death and Mourning (over 350,000 copies sold), Rabbi Lamm helps mourners not just get through their grief, but also grow through it. He gently steers mourners on the path that allows their sorrow to teach them important lessons about life. And he shows consolers how to listen and speak with their hearts so that they can provide real comfort to others. His marvelous insights on the days of shiva, the year of kaddish, and the lovingkindness of others reveal the richness and true purpose of Jewish mourning rituals and customs. They prepare us to receive consolation and ready us for the journey that will take us beyond grief. His "Words for a Loss When at a Loss for Words" is a treasury of readings for finding and giving comfort by transforming the spiritual ideas of an ancient faith into contemporary language. Here there are stories and fables that illuminate our complicated lives, meditations from the depths of human experience, and a gallery of unforgettable images that speak to our souls during times of loss. Rabbi Lamm's words will help all who walk the path of grief to find their way to consolation--and then beyond, to an appreciation of the blessings and opportunities that present themselves to us when we confront loss. And they can even take us further, to discover the celebrated Jewish art--of wringing blessing out of tragedy.
Timely and profound philosophical meditations on how great figures in history, literature, music, and art searched for solace while facing tragedies and crises, from the internationally renowned historian of ideas and Booker Prize finalist Michael Ignatieff When we lose someone we love, when we suffer loss or defeat, when catastrophe strikes—war, famine, pandemic—we go in search of consolation. Once the province of priests and philosophers, the language of consolation has largely vanished from our modern vocabulary, and the places where it was offered, houses of religion, are often empty. Rejecting the solace of ancient religious texts, humanity since the sixteenth century has increasingly placed its faith in science, ideology, and the therapeutic. How do we console each other and ourselves in an age of unbelief? In a series of lapidary meditations on writers, artists, musicians, and their works—from the books of Job and Psalms to Albert Camus, Anna Akhmatova, and Primo Levi—esteemed writer and historian Michael Ignatieff shows how men and women in extremity have looked to each other across time to recover hope and resilience. Recreating the moments when great figures found the courage to confront their fate and the determination to continue unafraid, On Consolation takes those stories into the present, movingly contending that we can revive these traditions of consolation to meet the anguish and uncertainties of our precarious twenty-first century.
