This useful, theologically informed guide "prepares the soil" for teachers in the church, whose purpose is to awaken, support, and challenge faith. Richard Osmer offers practical suggestions for preparing good lectures and leading lively discussions. He explores four important dimensions of faithfaith as belief, as commitment, as relationship, and as mysteryand describes different teaching approaches that can address each of these dimensions. Osmer demonstrates that teaching is a crucial task in the church today.
Jennifer Sands, a 9/11 widow, found herself at the crossroads of faith - remain bitter at God and the world or pick herself up, take a deep breath and move onward. She uses her own daily experiences during this remarkable faith journey to illustrate how to gain knowledge of God and build a committed relationship with Him through challenges. She shares what God has taught her through her struggles in a poignant yet lighthearted style. Regardless of their own life circumstances, readers come away with wisdom, direction and inspiration to strengthen their own relationship with Christ. This is Jennifer's second book describing her journey after 9/11. Her first, A Tempered Faith, endorsed by Joni Eareckson Tada and Phillip Yancey chronicles her emotional and spiritual journey in the first year after the terrorist attacks.
Osmer provides a strong understanding of the teaching office which is a part of Reformation heritage. He discusses why the teaching office is important in mainline churches.
Shares examples of everyday opportunities for promoting and teaching Christian values, from imparting beliefs about empathy and compassion in children to countering media messages about sexuality.
A Real-Life Field Guide to Doing What Jesus Did The things Jesus did are not just for Bible times. They are for today. For everyone. Chicagoland pastor Robby Dawkins sees this again and again in his ministry to hurting people and even to gang members. Everyday people are seeing God's power unleashed through simple faith in God's Word; they are healing the sick, routing demons, and making a dynamic impact for the Kingdom of God. But many other believers are missing out, unaware that they have far more power and authority than they realize. Dawkins shares dynamic, real-life instruction and amazing stories from the front lines of ministry, showing that believers carry the authority of the Son of God and the power of the Holy Spirit wherever they are. When we walk in the presence and authority of God, we will do what Jesus did.
God answers prayers. Jennifer Sands believed that. When she prayed for professional advancement, she got it. When she prayed for a mortgage approval, it came. When she prayed that her terminally ill brother be allowed to live, he was. When she prayed that her husband, Jim, return home safely from work, he always did. On September 11, 2001, Jim Sands was killed in the collapse of the World Trade Center. On that day, Jennifer's world imploded, and she suffered the first blows of a pounding spiritual firestorm that threatened to poison her faith and suffocate her relationship with God. Why would God answer her prayers for Jim's safety this way? Why would God send Jim to her as a soul mate only to rip him away in the prime of his life? Had God stopped listening? Had He stopped caring? Had they done something to deserve this? Book jacket.
Jennifer’s life drastically changed on 9/11 when her husband was killed in the World Trade Center attacks. She was not a believer in Christ before then; God used that tragedy to bring forth her salvation and a writing and speaking ministry. God continued His work through her when her life changed again in 2007 as she was diagnosed with breast cancer. In A Treasured Faith, Jennifer candidly shares her heart and her struggles with treatments. But A Treasured Faith goes far beyond a battle with cancer: it is the treasure that results from our joys and our trials. It is the wealth discovered when we dig deep enough into the Bible and into our soul. It confirms the truth that the most valuable riches are obtained through a close relationship with Jesus Christ. Jennifer’s first book, A Tempered Faith, details her emotional and spiritual journey after the terrorist attacks. In her second book, A Teachable Faith, she passes on the lessons and Biblical truths that God has taught her. This third book, A Treasured Faith, completes the “ATF Trilogy”. Readers will be astounded at the rapid progression of Jennifer’s spiritual growth and Biblical understanding since 9/11. Jennifer Sands, a dynamic Christian author and speaker has received extensive media coverage including featured appearances on The 700 Club, Hour of Power, Moody Bible Radio, Homelife magazine cover story and many others media outlets.
2005 ECPA Retailer's Choice Award winner for best biography/autobiography! Steve Saint was five years old when his father, missionary pilot Nate Saint, was speared to death by a primitive Ecuadorian tribe. In adulthood, Steve, having left Ecuador for a successful business career in the United States, never imagined making the jungle his home again. But when that same tribe asks him to help them, Steve, his wife, and their teenage children move back to the jungle. There, Steve learns long-buried secrets about his father's murder, confronts difficult choices, and finds himself caught between two worlds. Soon to be a major motion picture (January 2006), End of the Spear brilliantly chronicles the continuing story that first captured the world's attention in the bestselling book, Through Gates of Splendor.
The prophet Brigham Young taught the restored gospel of Jesus Christ in a basic, practical way that gave inspiration and hope to the Saints struggling to build a home in the wilderness. Though more than a century has now passed, his words are still fresh and appropriate for us today as we continue the work of building the kingdom of God. President Young declared that as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we possess the “doctrine of life and salvation for all the honest-in-heart” (DBY, 7). He promised that those who receive the gospel in their hearts will have awakened “within them a desire to know and understand the things of God more than they ever did before in their lives” and will begin to “inquire, read and search and when they go to their Father in the name of Jesus he will not leave them without a witness” (DBY, 450). This book reflects the desire of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to deepen the doctrinal understanding of Church members and to awaken within them a greater desire to know the things of God. It will inspire and motivate individuals, priesthood quorums, and Relief Society classes to inquire, read, search, and then go to their Father in Heaven for a witness of the truth of these teachings. Each chapter contains two sections—“Teachings of Brigham Young” and “Suggestions for Study.” The first section consists of extracts from Brigham Young’s sermons to the early Saints. Each statement has been referenced, and the original spelling and punctuation have been preserved; however, the sources cited will not be readily available to most members. These original sources are not necessary to have in order to effectively study or teach from this book. Members need not purchase additional references and commentaries to study or teach these chapters. The text provided in this book, accompanied by the scriptures, is sufficient for instruction. Members should prayerfully read and study President Young’s teachings in order to gain new insights into gospel principles and discover how those principles apply to their everyday lives. By faithfully and prayerfully studying these selections, Latter-day Saints will have a greater understanding of gospel principles and will more fully appreciate the profound and inspired teachings of this great prophet. The second section of each chapter offers a series of questions that will encourage thoughtful contemplation, personal application, and discussion of President Young’s teachings. Members should refer to and carefully reread his words on the principle being discussed. Deep and prayerful study of these teachings will inspire members to greater personal commitment and will help them resolve to follow the teachings of the Savior, Jesus Christ. If individuals and families prayerfully follow the principles in this book, they will be blessed and inspired to greater dedication and spirituality, as were the early Saints who heard these words directly from the lips of the “Lion of the Lord” (HC, 7:434)—the prophet, seer, and revelator, President Brigham Young.
Tired of fill-in-the-blank faith and one-size-fits-all approaches to discipleship? Faith Coaching equips you to use coaching conversations to help others find and follow their spiritual growth path.
