Download or read book Living in Love and Faith written by The Church of England and published by Church House Publishing. This book was released on 2020-11-09 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Issues of gender and sexuality are intrinsic to people’s experience: their sense of identity, their lives and the loving relationships that shape and sustain them. The life and mission of the Church of England – and of the worldwide Anglican Communion – are affected by the deep, and sometimes painful, disagreements about these matters, divisions brought into sharper focus because of society’s changing perspectives and practices, especially in relation to LGTBI+ people. Living in Love and Faith sets out to inspire people to think more deeply both about what it means to be human, and to live in love and faith with one another. It tackles the tough questions and the divisions among Christians about what it means to be holy in a society in which understandings and practices of gender, sexuality and marriage continue to change. Commissioned and led by the Bishops of the Church of England, the Living in Love and Faith project has involved many people across the Church and beyond, bringing together a great diversity and depth of expertise, conviction and experience to explore these matters by studying what the Bible, theology, history and the social and biological sciences have to say. After a Foreword from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the book opens with an invitation from the Bishops of the Church of England to embark on a learning journey in five parts: Part One sets current questions about human identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage in the context of God’s gift of life. Part Two takes a careful and dispassionate look at what is happening in the world with regard to identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage. Part Three explores current Christian thinking and discussions about human identity, sexuality, and marriage. In the light of the good news of Jesus Christ, how do Christians understand and respond to the trends observed in Part Two? Part Four considers what it means for us as individuals and as a church to be Christ-like when it comes to matters of identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage. Part Five invites the reader into a conversation between some of the people who have been involved in writing this book who, having engaged with and written Parts One to Four, nevertheless come to different conclusions. Amid the biblical, theological, historical and scientific exploration, each part includes Encounters with real, contemporary disciples of Christ whose stories raise questions which ask us to discern where God is active in human lives. The book ends with an appeal from the Bishops to join them in a period of discernment and decision-making following the publication of Living in Love and Faith. The Living in Love and Faith book is accompanied by a range of free digital resources including films, podcasts and an online library, together with Living in Love and Faith: The Course, a 5-session course which is designed to help local groups engage with the resources, also published by Church House Publishing.
Download or read book Purposeful Sexuality written by Ed Shaw and published by Inter-Varsity Press. This book was released on 2021-01-21 with total page 53 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If God means for us to save sex for marriage, why doesn't he just zap us with sexuality on our wedding night? Why do most of us experience sexual feelings throughout our adult lives, not just in the safe confines of marriage? Is limiting marriage to the union of a man and a woman anything but outdated prejudice? What is our sexuality actually for? Today's culture overwhelmingly tells us that sex is essential for human flourishing. Far too often the church perpetuates the same message - as long as you are married. But far from being liberating, this idolising of sex leaves us even more sexually broken than before. With refreshing honesty and clarity, Ed Shaw calls on the church to rediscover its confidence in the Bible's teaching about our ability to experience or express sexual feelings. He points us to how God's word reveals that sexuality's ultimate purpose is to help us better know God and the full power of his passionate love. He shows us how this is surprisingly good news for all our joys and struggles with sexuality.
Download or read book Living in the Balance of Grace and Faith written by Andrew Wommack and published by Destiny Image Publishers. This book was released on 2011-06-24 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Popular Bible teacher and host of the Gospel Truth broadcast, Andrew Wommack takes on one of the biggest controversies of the church, the freedom of God's grace verses the faith of the believer. Wommack reveals that God's power is not released from only grace or only faith. God's blessings come through a balance of both grace and faith. Addressing many of the misconceptions believers are taught in the Church today, this book opens up the Scriptures revealing the vital connection between grace and faith. Many believers think they walk in both grace and faith when actually they are misusing one or both of these principles. Wommack addresses: * Some believers willingly sin believing Gods grace will cover them, while the blessing of grace is not to sin, but to release guilt and condemnation when they make a mistake. * Other believers think they must "work" their faith by ritualistic prayer, confession, or Bible study. Although all these things are good, Jesus Christ set believers free from works of the law. God wants a relationship where He can communicate directly to each believer. * Grace and faith work together. When believers receive the unmerited favor or grace of God, they can release their faith without doubt or reservation and receive God's blessings. Andrew Wommack in his logical, practical style brings believers back on track in their Christian walk through living in the balance of grace and faith.
Download or read book If God Is Love Don t Be a Jerk written by John Pavlovitz and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 2021-09-28 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thou Shalt Not Be Horrible. Imagine for a moment what the world might look like if we as people of faith, morality, and conscience actually aspired to this mantra. What if we were fully burdened to create a world that was more loving and equitable than when we arrived? What if we invited one another to share in wide-open, fearless, spiritual communities truly marked by compassion and interdependence? What if we daily challenged ourselves to live a faith that simply made us better humans? John Pavlovitz explores how we can embody this kinder kind of spirituality where we humbly examine our belief system to understand how it might compel us to act in less-than-loving ways toward others. This simple phrase, "Thou Shalt Not Be Horrible," could help us practice what we preach by creating a world where: spiritual community provides a sense of belonging where all people are received as we are; the most important question we ask of a religious belief is not Is it true? but rather, is it helpful? it is morally impossible to pledge complete allegiance to both Jesus and America simultaneously; the way we treat others is the most tangible and meaningful expression of our belief system. In If God Is Love, Don't Be a Jerk, John Pavlovitz examines the bedrock ideas of our religion: the existence of hell, the utility of prayer, the way we treat LGBTQ people, the value of anger, and other doctrines to help all of us take a good, honest look at how the beliefs we hold can shape our relationships with God and our fellow humans—and to make sure that love has the last, loudest word.
Download or read book Issues in Human Sexuality written by Church of England. House of Bishops and published by Church House Publishing. This book was released on 1991 with total page 69 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The original 1991 Statement by the House of Bishops on many aspects of sexual behaviour, including homosexuality. Commended by the General Synod for wide discussion within the Church.
Download or read book Living in Love and Faith written by Martin Davie and published by . This book was released on 2021-02-28 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Living in Love and Faith (LLF) is a set of resources produced by the bishops of the Church of England to help Christians discern God's will on the issues of 'identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage.' This booklet helps Evangelical clergy and laity approaching the LLF resources for the first time by addressing the two key questions about them. What do the LLF resources contain? What are we to make of them theologically? Everyone in the Church of England is being encouraged to engage with the LLF resources during the coming year. This booklet is an ideal place to begin that engagement.
Download or read book True Love Dates written by Debra K. Fileta and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2013-10-08 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is possible to find true love through dating. In True Love Dates, Debra Fileta encourages singles not to "kiss dating goodbye" but instead to experience a season of dating as a way to find real love. Through powerful, real-life stories and Fileta's personal journey, this book offers profound insights from the expertise of a professional counselor. Christians are looking for answers to finding true love. They are disillusioned with the church that has provided little practical application in the area of love and relationships. They're bombarded by Christian books that shun dating, idolize courting, fixate on spirituality, and in the end, offer little real relationship help. True Love Dates provides honest help for dating by providing a guide into vital relationship essentials. Debra is a professional Christian counselor who reaches millions with her popular blog, Truelovedates.com, and her book offers sound advice grounded in Christian spirituality. She delivers insight, direction, and counsel when it comes to entering the world of dating and learning to do it right the first time around. Drawing on the stories and struggles of hundreds of young men and women who have pursued the search for true love, Fileta helps readers bypass unnecessary pain while focusing on the things that really matter in the world of dating.
Download or read book Living By Faith written by Oswald Bayer and published by Fortress Press. This book was released on 2017-01-01 with total page 103 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Living by faith" is much more than a general Christian precept; it is the fundamental posture of believers in a world rife with suffering and injustice. In this penetrating reflection on the meaning of "justification," Oswald Bayer shows how this key religious term provides a comprehensive horizon for discussing every aspect of Christian theology, from creation to the end times. Inspired by and interacting with Martin Luther, the great Christian thinker who grappled most intensely with the concept of justification, Bayer explores anew the full range of traditional dogmatics (sin, redemption, eschatology, and others), placing otherwise complex theological terms squarely within their proper milieu -- everyday life. In the course of his discussion, Bayer touches on such deep questions as the hidden nature of God, the hope for universal justice, the problem of evil, and -- one of the book's most engaging motifs -- Job's daring lawsuit with God.
Download or read book Love Means Love written by DAVID RUNCORN and published by SPCK. This book was released on 2020-06-18 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Does the Bible really condemn same-sex relationships? Many Christians wrestle with this question. Here, in his compassionate, cogent book, David Runcorn outlines how someone can support same-sex relationships on the basis of the Bible, not in spite of it. The Church, in every time and place, finds itself working out the shock and surprise of God’s unfolding ways – often scandalized by where holiness, goodness and the life of God are to be found. Runcorn’s insightful and moving reflections show how speaking in gospel friendship will help to dispel the anxiety and division that have tended to mark the Church’s response to homosexuality. Covering sexual abstinence and celibacy, sexuality and the sacred, he leads us to one powerful conclusion: love means love. ‘Brim-full of gentle and clear wisdom. Highly recommended!’ PAUL BAYES, Bishop of Liverpool ‘Joyful, truthful, scandalously inclusive . . . This book will literally save lives. It opens the door of grace and beckons you in.’ NICK BUNDOCK, Rector of St James and Emmanuel, Didsbury ‘Liberates us to read our beloved Bible with faithfulness, both to the text and to the fruit of Christ we often see in LGBT+ lives. For a good number of us, it will be met with a cry of “at last!”’. JODY STOWELL, Vicar of St Michael’s Harrow and Chair of London Clergy
Download or read book Future Grace Revised Edition written by John Piper and published by Multnomah. This book was released on 2012-09-25 with total page 450 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explore this stunning quality of God’s grace: It never ends! In this revision of a foundational work, John Piper reveals how grace is not only God’s undeserved gift to us in the past, but also God’s power to make good happen for us today, tomorrow, and forever. True life for the follower of Jesus really is a moment-by-moment trust that God is dependable and fulfills his promises. This is living by faith in future grace, which provides God's mercy, provision, and wisdom—everything we need—to accomplish his good plans for us. In Future Grace, chapter by chapter—one for each day of the month—Piper reveals how cherishing the promises of God helps break the power of persistent sin issues like anxiety, despondency, greed, lust, bitterness, impatience, pride, misplaced shame, and more. Ultimate joy, peace, and hope in life and death are found in a confident, continual awareness of the reality of future grace.
Download or read book Held Together in the Love of Christ written by The Pastoral Advisory Group of the House of Bishops and published by Church House Pub. This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These Pastoral Principles cards are for you to use in your church community to examine afresh your life together. The focus relates to LGBTI+ people, but they apply to all sorts of diversity among God's people. Each of the six principles has a card that describes the principle, offers some reflections and suggests some questions to ponder.
Download or read book Living in Love and Faith The Course written by and published by Church House Publishing. This book was released on 2020-11-09 with total page 101 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Living in Love and Faith: The Course aims to help Christians think more deeply about what it means to be human. It provides a structured and accessible way for local groups to engage in and reflect on Living in Love and Faith, a major exploration of Christian teaching and learning about identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage. The five sessions of the course each address a key question: • What does it mean to learn together as followers of Jesus Christ? • How does our identity in Christ relate to sex and gender? • What kinds of relationships does God call us to? • Where do our bodies and sex fit in to all of this? • How do diversity and difference affect our life together as a church? Each session includes an opening reflection about learning together, followed by teaching, time for discussion and Bible study. The sessions end with an invitation to reflect on our learning, bringing it to God in prayer. As well as providing notes for those leading groups, the course also signposts the relevant sections of the Living in Love and Faith book as well as recommending films, podcasts and other digital resources available.
Download or read book Living in Love Faith written by and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Issues of gender and sexuality are intrinsic to people's experience: their sense of identity, their lives and the loving relationships that shape and sustain them. The life and mission of the Church of England - and of the worldwide Anglican Communion - are affected by the deep, and sometimes painful, disagreements about these matters, divisions brought into sharper focus because of society's changing perspectives and practices, especially in relation to LGTBI+ people. Living in Love and Faith sets out to inspire people to think more deeply both about what it means to be human, and to live in love and faith with one another. It tackles the tough questions and the divisions among Christians about what it means to be holy in a society in which understandings and practices of gender, sexuality and marriage continue to change. Commissioned and led by the Bishops of the Church of England, the Living in Love and Faith project has involved many people across the Church and beyond, bringing together a great diversity and depth of expertise, conviction and experience to explore these matters by studying what the Bible, theology, history and the social and biological sciences have to say. Amid the biblical, theological, historical and scientific exploration, each part includes Encounters with real, contemporary disciples of Christ whose stories raise questions which ask us to discern where God is active in human lives. The book ends with an appeal from the Bishops to join them in a period of discernment and decision-making following the publication of Living in Love and Faith.--Publisher's description
Download or read book Way of Love written by Norman Wirzba and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2016-03-01 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The pioneering scholar and author of Food and Faith and Living the Sabbath asserts that Christianity has slid off its rightful foundation, arguing that the faith only makes sense and can only be expressed in a healthy way if it seen as based on love, with a mission of training others in the way of love. It’s often said that God is love, yet his message of compassion and caring for others is often overshadowed by the battles dividing us politically, culturally, and religiously. Why does Christianity matter if it isn’t about love? asks Duke University professor of Theology and Ecology Norman Wirzba. The Way of Love invites readers to experience Christianity that is centered on love. Extensive theological training cannot replace the way of love that transforms and connects each of us to God and the faith, Wirzba contends. Interweaving illuminating testimonials, historical references, and Scripture, he reveals how love allows us to move into the fullness of life; when we do not love we lose our faith. “To fail to love,” he reminds us, “is to lose God.”
Download or read book Intimately Acquainted written by Jeff Fiedler and published by Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.. This book was released on 2020-12-30 with total page 121 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Whether you are a young adolescent or an older-aged adult, you have experienced trials, tragedy, triumphs, and achievements of some type. As you experience the highs and lows of life, which may sometimes feel like a roller coaster, I want you to know, through those experiences, you have a God who wants you to be intimately acquainted with Him. By being obedient and trusting Him to guide your life, He will strategically lead you in the direction and path of which your life needs to go. As you become closer to Him, while intimately acquainted, the Lord will purposefully place people around you to be there while you experience those peaks and valleys. You have as much God right now in you as you'll ever experience, but know He wants more of you and to build a relationship with you. As you read through this book, there are many examples of how a misfortune resulting in victory can build and grow your faith, to where "living by faith" is the only way you'll know how to live each day.In this book, I hope to encourage you and help you to persevere with your relationship with the Lord, family relationships, friendships, work environments, financial life, school, church, youth groups, careers, dreams, and goals. By the end of this read, I hope you realize you have a God that knows your heart better than you know yourself, and even through much adversity through this thing called "life," God has a divine appointment and a plan for you far more than you could ever imagine while you are becoming intimately acquainted with Him.
Download or read book Living in Love and Faith written by and published by . This book was released on 2023 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Living in the Balance of Grace and Faith Study Guide written by Andrew Wommack and published by Destiny Image Publishers. This book was released on 2022-02-01 with total page 473 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Whether you are teaching a Sunday school class, leading a small group, discipling an individual, or studying on your own, this study guide is designed for you! Each lesson consists of the Lesson text, Outline, Teacher's Guide, Discipleship Questions, Answer Key, and Scriptures. As a bonus, you can download PDFs of the Outlines, Discipleship Questions, and Scriptures for each lesson in this study guide.
