God is a generous God. He gives us life, salvation, hope and a whole host of gifts so we can serve him and each other in the local church.
We don't deserve the gifts God gives us but we can make sure we use them well - humbly, lovingly, enthusiastically and for his glory. And we can make sure we hone them, so we learn more about what the Bible says on teaching, caring, administrating, encouraging, welcoming, evangelising as the years go on and become more aligned to God's desires.
That's where some structured studying can help.
In the busyness of preparing talks and craft activities, it can be easy to lose sight of what it means to teach the whole counsel of God to the children in our care. Beneath the piles of paperwork, we can forget just how missional administration truly is. Amid the texts and calls from hurting friends, we can let our eyes shift away from the pastorally liberating words of truth found within the pages of Scripture. Setting aside some time to study can help put all those things back on the map.
So this term, whether you're interested in Administration, Mission and Ministry, Pastoral Care, Women's Ministry or Youth and Children's Work, why not set aside some time to do one of The Good Book College's short courses?
Biblical, accessible and practical, these distance-learning courses will inspire you to read God's word and encourage you to serve God's people. All in the comfort of your own home without the pressure of fixed deadlines.
For more details and to enrol online, click HERE.
The following is an extract from the Going Deeper section from LIVE: Session Three.
Jesus was never hesitant to state the benefits of what he offers. We never hear him say: “Well, if it seems like a convenient time, you might want to consider” … “I think you really might enjoy this” … “I don’t want to sound presumptuous, but what I offer is rather special!” Instead, Jesus is bold and remarkably direct. He says the benefit of placing our faith in him is that he forgives our sins and brings us into an intimate relationship with God now and for all eternity. He gives us abundant life—not gifts like a Ferrari or an all-expense-paid holiday, but a life of meaning, purpose, profound joy and fulfillment! Through Jesus we discover who we are and whose we are. We have a sense of belonging because we finally know our true home.
At the same time, Jesus warned people to stop and count the cost of being his disciple. William Barclay, author and Bible commentator, rightly observed about Jesus and his disciples: “No one could ever say that they were induced to follow Jesus by false pretenses. Jesus never tried to bribe men by the offer of an easy way.”... continue reading
Rebecca Manley Pippert has done more to shape the church’s evangelism, and done more evangelism herself, than virtually anyone else in the last fifty years. Her bestselling Out of the Saltshaker was listed as one of the fifty most influential Christian books of the 20th century in Christianity Today. More recently, she has been based in Europe, encouraging Christians of all ages but particularly students to read the Bible with their non-Christian friends. The fruit right across the continent has been astonishing.
Now, Becky has turned her mind to a gap she’s noticed as she’s told people about Christ throughout the world. When people become Christians… what next? Or, when people have read the Bible with a friend, or done a course such as Christianity Explored or Alpha, and are interested but not yet converted… what next?
It’s worth asking yourself what you do. What your church does. What comes next for the nearly believer, or the new believer, or even the newly committed believer?... continue reading
Work is well underway on our second graphic novel: Light in the Darkness
We're currently on the inking stage of this exciting project, which is the prequel to our first, popular graphic novel, 'The Third Day' - and we thought you'd like a glimpse of how it's going.
Light in the Darkness uses the biblical text of Luke chapters 1-2 and visualises the drama and emotion of Luke's narrative as we explore the characters of the very first Christmas...
We're expecting it to be available in early October - just in time for your Christmas shopping!
Watch this space...
Anyone who has been a Christian for any length of time will have experienced the pain of seeing people who had professed faith stop believing in Jesus. When I was at university, my Christian Union was very encouraged because a first-year student went forward at an evangelistic event and said she had become a Christian. A few weeks later she said she wasn’t a Christian after all. Last year I was preaching at a church and met the ex-wife of a man who had seemed to be wonderfully converted. Having been a committed Christian and church member for several years, he tragically announced that he was no longer a believer and was leaving his wife.
The first thing we should do when our friends fall away is to pray for them and seek to share the gospel with them again, urging them to come back to Christ. They may be suffering a temporary crisis of faith, but even if they turn away for a long time, we should not give up hope for the possibility of their salvation. They may be as bewildered as everyone else is at their decision to renounce their faith, and value some help in unpicking the reasons why they have changed their thinking. But they still need to trust in Jesus as Lord just as much as anyone else who is not professing faith. We should continue to love them and demonstrate to them the truth of the gospel in our own life (see Jude v 22).... continue reading
In this extract from his book published today, John Stevens talks about his own experience of doubt in himself and others. John is the National Director of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches in the UK.
I became a Christian in 1988 while I was a law student. I had grown up in a non-Christian family, and started university as a convinced atheist. I became a Christian through the witness of a number of friends from my course, who shared the good news about Jesus with me and invited me to numerous evangelistic meetings.
I resisted God’s call on my life for more than a year, but finally trusted in Christ at the beginning of my final year. Given that I had already had to overcome my scepticism and unbelief to become a Christian, I started out with a confident faith in Jesus. I was conscious of growing in faith and enjoying a new relationship with God. However, over the years I found that I had to face new doubts. I continued to struggle with sin and was frustrated by my failures. Sometimes God felt distant and I wondered whether my relationship with him was real. I discovered new theological and philosophical challenges to my faith and the truthfulness of the Bible. I felt the frustrations of seeing little fruit from my ministry and the disappointments of being let down by church and other Christians.
... continue reading
When did you last have a conversation like this over coffee after church?
"Hi, how are you?"
"Not so good actually - I've spent the whole week wondering if God is even real.
How about you?"
"Hmmm... thinking that I'm not sure I'm a christian at all after this week…"
Though we often struggle to admit it, doubt comes the way of every Christian in the course of their life of faith. Doubts of various kinds can overwhelm believers of any age and stage - even those who are mature in their faith and heavily involved in Christian ministry. But we find it difficult to even admit it to others, let alone find the help we need to deal with it sensibly and productively.
... continue reading
