Christmas is coming and you may be struggling for ideas of things to do or gifts to buy. We’re going to be posting some Christmas ideas in the next few weeks. Starting with scrumptious Christmas cupcakes from Bake Through The Bible:
Or you might like to find some other Christmas gift ideas HERE.
How much time do you spend worrying what the future holds? The look of the future often affects how we feel currently. A bright future helps us feel content whereas an uncertain future can bring the opposite feelings.
If you are worried about your future… if you can't quite see how the future is going to make a difference to the here and now … or if you simply want to get more excited about where you will spend eternity ... then have a read of Stephen Witmer's, Eternity Changes Everything.
In this book, Witmer lifts up our eyes to see beyond the “now” that presses in on us to what is eternal. More than that, he lifts up our eyes to see the eternal God in the magnificence of his redeeming purposes. What encouragement this brings to the spiritually weary and what challenge it brings to those tempted to fall sleep amid the buzz and plenty of our modern world! This treatment of deep, biblical themes is fresh, pastoral and stimulating.
Read more and get the book HERE for just 99p/$1.50 until midday on Monday. Use code hece1114 at the checkout.
Coping with different personalities in a small group
When small groups of children contain big personalities, even the best-prepared Sunday school or Bible club sessions can be quickly de-railed! How do we manage the different characters in our group so that everyone goes away feeling valued and having learned something? This extract from a leader’s training session in the Epic Leader's Guide offers some advice. You’ll probably recognise some of these characters from the adults in your home group too!
Chatterbox Charlie
Very talkative and dominates discussions.
• Sit next to "Charlie" to reduce eye contact.
• Ask: “What does someone else think?”
• Ask "Charlie" to summarize the discussions, so that he has to listen to the others’ contributions.
• Talk to him privately about the problem.
• If you have lots of “Chatterbox Charlies”, then have an item that group members must hold, or cards they must hand in, before they can speak.
Debater Dani
Always presents opposition, and challenges every point.
• It can be intimidating for others but at the same time can help produce a “proper” discussion – so aim to direct "Dani" rather than shut her up!
• Ask for other suggestions.
• Break into pairs so that everyone has the chance to express a viewpoint.
• Set a group rule that it’s ok to disagree but you can’t talk over each other and can’t put down those with different ideas.
• Make sure you stick to main point – have a question time towards the end of Epic Explorers.
Voiceless Vic
Quieter and rarely contributes.
• Try to get to know "Vic". His silence could be because he is shy or because he doesn't want to be there or because he doesn't understand. Equally, he may be a heavily “auditory” learner, and will learn without having to contribute.
• Give "Vic" chances by asking: “Does anyone want to add anything?” Direct questions sometimes help.
• Sit opposite "Vic" to maximise eye contact.
• Take time to chat outside the discussion group and learn interests, so you can “pitch” questions and illustrations that interest him.
• Personal encouragement can make all the difference – both outside of group time and in thanking him for contributions.
Read more on Distracter Dom & Churchy Casey in the Epic Leader's Guide
This week on the blog we’re launching Epic Explorers, the brand-new children’s edition of Christianity Explored. Here’s a preview of pages from the Epic Explorers Logbook for 8-11 year olds. As with the adult Christianity Explored course, Epic Explorers aims to get children looking at the text of the Bible for themselves as they discover the wonderful truth about Jesus.
Here's a sample from Epic Explorers, the brand new children’s edition of Christianity Explored:
Click on the image to enlarge
Excited to announce that 'Light in the Darkness' - our brand new graphic novel faithfully illustrating the unchanged text of the Christmas story from the gospel of Luke.
Available to buy now from HERE.
We're so excited to be partnering with Kipepeo Designs this year, promoting the cards that they make in the huge Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya. The cards are lovingly handmade by ladies who live in the slum bringing them a vital source of income - and they are proving incredibly popular!
But the other side of Kipepeo's work is sharing the gospel with the ladies who work there and we are thrilled that they're finding our Good Book Guides useful for doing that. Here are some shots of Margaret, Philgona, Patricia and Millicent studying the Bible before work, looking at the last hours before Jesus' crucifixion in Luke 22-24:
We are so grateful to God for this opportunity not only to support these ladies financially, but also with resources that will help them grow in their knowledge and love of Jesus. Please join us in praying for these ladies and for the work of Kipepeo in the Kibera slum.
See our range of Kipepeo cards HERE.
Jesus takes on church-ianity
There’s one self-cure religion that looks really great, and is very popular in the western world. I know that, because I used to be part of it.
I call it “church-ianity”.
It’s very easy to go to church, sing hymns and enjoy the buildings… but still rely on your own guesses about God, rather than listening to Jesus. And it’s very easy to go to church, do good things and try to obey God… but be relying on these things to cure your sin-disease.
But only Jesus can save, not church. Going to church doesn’t cure you. Trying very hard to obey the Ten Commandments doesn’t cure you. Only Doctor Jesus can do that.... continue reading
Dead men do not rise!
Many times in my life, I’ve been angry and frustrated with God. I’ve wanted to stop being a Christian. I’ve experienced doubts. But I’ve only rarely doubted the facts.
One time I did was in my third year at university. I was studying Philosophy as part of my course, and I left a session with one of the lecturers with serious questions about whether or not Jesus rose from the dead.
The problem the lecturer posed me, and that I struggled with, was this: no amount of evidence should ever make you believe in something that’s impossible. If something’s impossible, then even if the evidence for it is strong, it can’t be true. Pigs don’t fly. So if you see a pig in the sky, then even if it looks just like a pig, you must be mistaken. It must be a balloon painted to look like a pig, or a very oddly shaped cloud in red sunlight. Pigs just can’t fly, so it certainly isn’t a pig.... continue reading
