Rehearsing Scripture

Popular preacher Anna Carter Florence explores how to read, encounter and interpret Scripture as it was originally intended - by doing so collectively with others. Drawing on practices from drama and the theatre, she shows how to bring familiar texts to life, uncovering meaning and better apprehending biblical truth for daily life. Her methods are illuminating, easy to grasp, and easily adaptable to a variety of contexts - ideal for study group leaders and pastors seeking to bring the Bible and the real lives of congregations into conversation. Full of helps for preachers especially, Rehearsing Scripture invites groups and churches to gather around a shared text and encounter God anew together.

You’ll be doing all the work. You’ll be picking apart plots, analyzing characters, exploring the setting of biblical narratives, and engaging with narrative levels and reader response theory. And you’ll be doing all the work. This is a book about you, the reader. Drawing on narrative theory, this book places readers in the way of the story, reading biblical narrative through fresh eyes. Using entertaining explanations of literary theory, it liberates readers to read their own chosen Bible stories with a fresh understanding of how narratives work. Practical activities will inspire the reader to develop their own understanding of stories and, in doing so, this book tackles hallowed and authoritarian interpretations that can sometimes get in the way of the story. This is a book of clear explanation and practical application.

In the course of a teaching and writing career cut too short, Mark Searle (1941-1992) provided a worthy contribution to the study of liturgy. The breadth of his liturgical interests and his desire to integrate a wide range of academic areas with the study of liturgy mark this scholar as a gifted thinker and author, arguably a pioneer. In Rehearsing God's Just Kingdom, Stephen S. Wilbricht explores Searle's basic conviction that liturgy represents, rehearses, and forms in its participants the essential commitments of the Christian community. Searle called for the church's liturgy to be embraced as a rehearsal that is performed over and over, again and again, until it is practiced perfectly in the kingdom of heaven. In an age when so much depends on instant gratification and in which institutional commitment is often held in contempt, Searle's thinking provides an avenue for liturgical renewal that hinges upon a respect for and trust in ritual forms and behavior.

Brave New Discipleship presents a new and comprehensive discipleship model for Christians living in a culture that has grown increasingly hostile to spirituality. This book is a toolkit of biblically sound ways to grow and strengthen your church. We live in a social climate that tries to force spirituality to take a backseat to cultural demands. We see this in the way technology has made it easy to access any kind of moral degradation. We see this in the deteriorating ethical landscape of popular culture, from unrestrained violence to open explorations of deviant lifestyles. Many young Christians see this as normal. In response to this, Christians—and especially the church at large—need a holistic discipleship strategy that addresses all areas of life to meet the new challenges of a radically shifting and secular modern world. Max Anders will help you and your church integrate the best of modern educational research to guide the most effective discipleship strategy possible. Using strong biblical principles, Brave New Discipleship, Explores the seven spiritual responsibilities, or 'marks,' of a Christian. Describes the three educational goals in a Christian's life that lead to spiritual growth. Explains and employs a set of knowledge, lifestyle, and ministry skill methods that impact the Christian's life and walk with Christ. Throughout, Anders explores Scripture and sheds light on what is negotiable and what is non-negotiable for modern ministry. Features include: Memory exercises to help the reader absorb a summary of what he or she has read. Understanding exercises to help the reader put into his own words what he or she has read, to be sure he grasps the truth. Application exercises to allow the reader to apply the truth to his or her personal life.

The editors' stated goal in compiling this volume from the teaching of the great Chinese pastor-teacher, Watchman Nee, is to supply some prerequisites and principal methods of studying the Scriptures.

In Postcolonial Preaching, HyeRan Kim-Cragg argues that preaching is the act of dropping the stone of the Gospel into a lake, making waves to move hearts and transform the world wounded by colonial violence. The ripple effect serves as a metaphor and acronym to guide to preaching that takes postcolonial concerns seriously: Rehearsal, Imagination, Place, Pattern, Language and Exegesis (RIPPLE). Kim-Cragg explains each “ripple” in this approach and exercise of creating and delivering sermons. The author delivers fresh insights while drawing on some traditional homiletical perspectives in the service of a homiletic that takes the reality of racism, migration, and environmental degradation seriously. Moreover, Kim-Cragg demonstrates the postcolonial sermon in action by including annotated homilies. This book contributes to the very first wave of the application of postcolonial scholarship in preaching. Given the continuing extent and influence of colonial worldviews and legacies, this approach should become a staple in preaching over the next generation.

You're one step away from the adventure of your life. John Ortberg invites you to consider the incredible potential that awaits you outside your comfort zone. Deep within you lies the same faith and longing that sent Peter walking across the wind-swept Sea of Galilee toward Jesus. In what ways is the Lord telling you, as he did Peter, "Come"? Out on the risky waters of faith, Jesus is waiting to meet you in ways that will change you forever, deepening your character and your trust in God. The experience is terrifying. It's thrilling beyond belief. It's everything you'd expect of someone worthy to be called Lord. The choice is yours to know him as only a water-walker can, aligning yourself with God's purpose for your life in the process. There's just one requirement: If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat. In this Christianity Today Award-winning read, bestselling author John Ortberg pushes you to take the last step that separates you from the adventure of your life. And, as a result, you will learn to: Recognize God's presence Discern between faith and foolishness Not only expect problems, but field them when they come Reorient your thoughts about failure and see it as an opportunity to grow Wait on the Lord And, ultimately, connect more deeply with God Features discussion questions at the end of each chapter to enhance your reflection and spiritual growth. Also perfect for small group discussion.

Women have been thoughtful readers and interpreters of scripture throughout the ages, yet the usual history of biblical interpretation includes few women’s voices. To introduce readers to this untapped source for the history of biblical interpretation, this volume presents forgotten works from the nineteenth century written by women—including Grace Aguilar, Florence Nightingale, and Harriet Beecher Stowe, among others—from various faith backgrounds, countries, and social classes engaging contemporary biblical scholarship. Due to their exclusion from the academy, women’s interpretive writings addressed primarily a nonscholarly audience and were written in a variety of genres: novels and poetry, catechisms, manuals for Bible study, and commentaries on the books of the Bible. To recover these nineteenth-century women interpreters of the Bible, each essay in this volume locates a female author in her historical, ecclesiastical, and interpretive context, focusing on particular biblical passages to clarify an author’s contributions as well as to explore how her reading of the text was shaped by her experience as a woman.