Pastoral Helps
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Matthew 1 KJV Teacher (Teacher’s Guide)
$17.99Add to cartEach volume of The Teacher’s Outline & Study Bible gives you meticulous detail of every passage and outlines the Bible verse by verse. Each subject contains commentary, illustrations, application suggestions, and questions for reflection, discussion, and personal journaling. There is also an extremely helpful alphabetical index which contains all the subjects included in the text. Includes the KJV text of Scripture.
This volume covers Matthew, chapters 1 through 7. Two plans are outlined for teaching these chapters as a 13 or 26 session curriculum. -
Sharing Faith With Children
$24.95Add to cartWhat kind language and images should we use to communicate faith to children? How can we translate theological abstractions into concrete realities that make sense to children? This book provides insight into the stages of children’s mental and spiritual development in order to enable us to share faith with them in appropriate ways. Juengst gives special attention to the meaning of worship and how children participate in it, the role and purpose of the children’s sermon, the psychological and theological development processes of young children, the use of language and symbolism with children, and the use of appropriate methodologies that help in efforts to share faith with children through sermon.
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Brief Pastoral Counseling
$26.00Add to cartMost pastoral counselors assume that truly effective counseling requires months or even years. Research suggests otherwise. Studies have provided two startling findings. First, most persons come in for four or fewer counseling sessions, whatever the counseling method employed. Second, the majority of any counseling’s effectiveness occurs in the opening few sessions. Howard W. Stone is professor of pastoral counseling, Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth.
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Becoming Married
$33.00Add to cartThis series examines major changes that occur in the life cycle of a family: leaving home, becoming married, raising children, recommitting to a relationship–or committing to a new one–and living alone. Books address the major tasks of the family; rituals that enable effective transitions as those tasks change; beliefs and values from the Christian tradition that shape and are shaped by those family tasks; and pastoral opportunities in response to family life-cycle generations.
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Spurgeons Sermons On The Cross Of Christ
$17.99Add to cart1. The Crown Of Thorns
2. Christ Made A Curse For Us
3. Christ Made A Sin
4. Christ Lifted Up
5. Christ Crucified
6. Christ Crucified
7. Christ Set Forth As A Propitiation
8. The Bitterness Of The Cross
9. Up From The Country And Pressed Into Service
10. Unparalleled Suffering
11. Christ’s Connection With Sinners
12. Christopathy
13. Cries From The Cross P. 155Additional Info
In this volume Kregel Publications has brought together a new collection of Spurgeon’s sermons on the Cross and its meaning, signifigance, and power in the life of the believer. These sermons represent Spurgeon at his best-expounding the Word of God with passion and evangelistic appeal. Pastors will find ample “seed thoughts” to help in their own sermon preparation, and Christian readers will appreciate the biblical insight and practical application of Spurgeon’s sermons. -
Shared Wisdom : A Guide To Case Study Reflection In Ministry
$22.99Add to cartUsing case study analysis, the authors evaluate events in ministry. They outline the case process – preparing, presenting, and discussing a case – and discuss the implications of the process. Each chapter offers a biblical image which connects the case process with the dynamic Christian tradition. Readers will learn techniques in writing case studies and how to use imagination and analogy to stimulate theological reflection.
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Dancing With Dinosaurs
$17.99Add to cart1. Bursting Wineskins And Munching Sheep
2. Caught In A Crack Of History
3. The Fringe People
4. Leading The Sheep Back To Pasture
5. The Demise Of The Program-Based Church
6. A Reformation In Worship
7. What Ever Happened To The Sunday Church?
8. Three Essential Ingredients Of Paradigm CommunitiesAdditional Info
Before long, many of our Christian congregations will be perceived as cuddly, sentimental creatures who are studied primarily as skeletons in the halls of a museum. The church is in danger of becoming a dinosaur, according to church consultant and provocative author, William Easum. We live in a secular or unchurched world, but the church continues to develop ministries as if the church were in charge of a churched society.If we continuously fail to prepare our message for an anti-Christian world, we will disappear like the dinosaurs. Easum argues that while the substance of the gospel will not be changed as we make this shift, we must change the way that we package and proclaim the substance of the gospel.
DANCING WITH DINOSAURS is for persons who are beginning to realize that much of their activity no longer works, and that what they have been taught about ministry no longer makes sense.
This book will help pastors and church leaders to
*plant culturally relevant congregations
*explore first-century Christian communities as the primary model for viable congregations in a hostile world.
*challenge complacent or arrogant assumptions of established church leaders. -
Unleashing The Scripture
$23.99Add to cartThis provocative critique of the uses and abuses of Scripture in the American church shows how liberal (historical-critical) and fundamentalist (literal) approaches to biblical scholarship have corrupted our use of the Bible. Hauerwas argues that the Bible can only be understood in the midst of a disciplined community of people, where the story is actually lived out by dedicated practitioners.
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Legal Issues And Religious Counseling
$29.95Add to cartThis much-needed book offers a current description of how religious counselors and clergy as well as their local and national religious organizations become legally vulnerable. It examines the three most litigated areas in clergy counseling: breaches of confidentiality, sexual misconduct, and the content and quality of counseling service. The authors provide clear and concise explanations of clauses in the U.S. Constitution pertaining to religion as well as up-to-date accounts of cases against clergy and their employers. The authors describe how counseling clergy can perform their own “legal audit,” and the book includes detailed listings of state-by-state statutes for referral.
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Preaching Through The Christian Year B
$59.95Add to cartPastors, here’s a new resource for you to use in writing and delivering your lectionary-based sermons. Craddock and company—the famous exegetical/expositional/theological/devotional team—discuss the topics that are pertinent to the average listener, summarizing vast amounts of research in a non-technical fashion. For each Sunday, there’s a Gospel reading along with readings from an epistle, Psalm, and the Old Testament. Final revisions to the Common Lectionary have also been incorporated.
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Read It In Greek A Print On Demand Title
$27.99Add to cartThe New Testament was originally written in Greek, and what better way to grasp the real meaning of Scripture than to read the original text. With this user-friendly, one-semester textbook, you’ll soon be reading the entire book of 1 John! An effective one-semester introduction to Greek and a very capable precursor to advanced studies in Greek.
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Integrative Family Therapy
$17.00Add to cartPastoral counselors, therapists – in – training, and clergy are usually introduced to one method of family assessment and treatment, which works better in some situations than in others. Integrative Family Therapy introduces the major schools of family therapy, proposes a tested model that integrates the various approaches, and illustrates how this model functions both for assessing and treating family problems.
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Inside The Mind Of Unchurched Harry And Mary
$22.99Add to cartInside the Mind of Unchurched Harry and Mary isn’t a book of theory. It’s an action plan to help Christians relate the message of Christ to the people they work around, live with, and call their friends.
Using personal experiences, humor, compelling stories, biblical illustrations, and the latest research, Lee Strobel helps Christians understand unbelievers and what motivates them.
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Ministers Service Book For Pulpit And Parish
$29.99Add to cartPastor McNeil shares the forms, orders, prayers, and aids he’s relied on for more than 20 years, so you can depend on them now! Categories include public worship, the administration of sacraments, ministering to the sick, and more. Features practical suggestions for each category, and a lectionary for the Old and New Testaments. 249 pages, pocket-sized softcover from Eerdmans.
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56 Lectionary Stories For Preaching Cycle B
$14.95Add to cart“Emilio Lopez received a surprise phone call from his bishop one day. “Would you be interested in a call to a white congregation in a neighborhood that is becoming Hispanic? I think you’re just the kind of pastor they need in these days of transition.””
— from the Advent 1 story
Here are 56 short stories for use in preaching. Each is a contemporary adaptation of a biblical theme.
“56 Lectionary Stories for Preaching” offers one story for each Sunday in the church year plus stories for Christmas Eve/Day and Ash Wednesday.
The collection is based upon the Revised Common Lectionary, Cycle B. Authors represent clergy storytellers from five denominations from across the United States and Canada.
Most of the stories are based on gospel texts. Some stem from first or second lesson scriptures. The collection offers a well-rounded selection of themes. Stories often offer surprise endings that catch listeners’ attention. Stories in this collection strengthen believers’ faith. -
Lectionary Worship Aids Series 3 Cycle B
$16.95Add to cart“Hear the good news! The victory that defeats the world is our faith, for who is victor over evil, but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. Friends, believe the good news!”
— Declaration of God’s Forgiveness for Easter 2
“Lectionary Worship Aids,” Series III, Cycle B, follows in the CSS tradition of providing creative worship resources for congregations.
Series III is based on the Revised Common Lectionary and New Revised Standard Version.
Each Sunday offers:
– Listing of the four lectionary texts for the day
– Call to Worship
– Prayer of Confession
– Declaration of God’s Forgiveness
– Exhortation
– Prayer of the Day
– Prayer of Thanksgiving
– Prayer of Dedication
– Psalm (congregational reading) -
Welcome Speeches And More
$10.99Add to cartGeneral Welcome Speeches
Welcome For Church Anniversary
General Response Speeches
A Tribute
Pastor’s Anniversary Addresses
Usher Day Address
Installation Of Officers
Men’s Day Addresses
Women’s Day Address
Family Day Address
Sacrificial Love
Choir Day Address
The Five F’s Of Friendship
The Walk Of Faith
A Godly Woman
Nine Keys To God’s Resources
Stewardship
How To Know God
Two Blessings
A Plan Of Salvation
A Friend Loveth At All Times
God Will Provide
Redeeming Love
Borrowed
God’s Will For UsAdditional Info
WELCOME SPEECHES AND MORENow you have one resource that can help you plan for a variety of situations in your church. Author and bookseller Carole Cupples wrote this book in response to a need voiced by her own customers. A few of the occasions this book particularly addresses are welcoming guests to a program, honoring a pastor on an anniversary, and paying a memorial tribute. The speeches you find in this compilation reflect the ways we honor God in both celebration and meditation.
Not only do you find welcome speeches and responses, but also devotionals, tributes, installation services, skits, and poetry for special days in your church.
The author has been operating a Christian bookstore for sixteen years. During those years, many times customers have come in needing help with programs in their churches. As a result of her attempt and desire to meet those needs, she offers to you this book. Her prayer is that it will assist you in your ministry.
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Hidden Keys To A Loving Lasting Marriage
$19.99Add to cart28 Chapters
Additional Info
Fulfilling Marriages Don’t just happen.In fact, truly joyful marriages are a lot of work! In Hidden Keys of a Loving Lasting Marriage, best-selling author Gary Smalley shares the principles of strong marriages. He points out the common problems between husbands and wives. And he shows how to turn those troubles into teamwork.
Hidden Keys of a Loving, Lasting Marriage explores:
Two reasons why marriages fail
How to meet the needs of your spouse
How a husband’s lack of affection weakens a marriage
Crucial differences between men and women
How to motivate your spouse to listen to youThis book is a combination of Smalley’s earlier published works, If Only He Knew and For Better or For Best. The first half of the book discusses the husband’s part in building a successful relationship. The second half of the book shows how wives can nurture their marriages.
Good marriages don’t just happen. They take both husband and wife working together to understand, appreciate, and honor one another. This books shows couples how to do just that.
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PastorPower
$22.99Add to cartPower is a persistent topic of conversation in circles both sacred and secular. Yet, how are those who follow a crucified Christ, one “whose strength was made perfect in weakness,” to think about power?
Martha Ellen Stortz presents an important volume for all those who lead or would lead in the ministry of the church. She lays an ecumenical groundwork for understanding ministry and authority, then systematically examines the different dimensions of power inherent in both: power over — or coercive power; power within — or charismatic power; and power with — or coactive power. Through case studies and in-depth discussions, Stortz offers guidance for balancing these three dimensions of power in one’s own ministry, enabling readers to recognize their own gifts or liabilities and shape their leadership styles to reflect the image of Christ.
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Teaching The Bible To Adults And Youth (Revised)
$20.99Add to cartTeaching the Bible to Adults and Youth shows how to make the “transparent” – with God evident throughout. Dick Murray offers suggestions for teaching, provides different approaches and perspectives from which to teach and conduct activities for learning, and examines such Bible study series as Kerygma, Trinity, Bethel, and Disciple.
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How To Build An Exciting Singles Ministry
$19.99Add to cartSeventy million single adults make up the largest minority in the United States–almost 40% of the adult population. With these figures in mind, the need for single adult groups should go without saying. But the need for single adult ministry in our churches is often overlooked. Now, however, Don Davidson provides a thorough, practical guide to single adult ministry and how to establish an effective one in your church. Davidson outlines the necessary steps for creating a unique singles group for new college grads, career people, widowed or divorced persons.
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Taking The Word To Heart A Print On Demand Title
$35.99Add to cartChristians today are besieged by ideas about personhood – what it means to be a whole person, a happy person, a fulfilled person, a healthy person. In fact, Robert C. Roberts says, psychology has invaded the Christian church – and while modern psychologies offer insights and practices that can be helpfully adapted for Christian use, they sometimes contradict and can even displace true Christianity.
Roberts examines several psychologies that tend to function as alternative spiritualities – Rogerian therapy, rational emotive therapy, assertiveness training, contextual family therapy, the psychology of Carl Jung, and the psychology of Hienz Kohut – and offers a critical evaluation of each in light of the Christian view of the self.
But just what is the Christian interpretation of selfhood? It has a great deal to do with community, with our relationships to others and to God, explains Roberts. “Christians are people of God’s Word,” Roberts says, “called daily to take it to heart, and thus be formed, as persons, by the sound of his voice. This book is all about becoming persons who dwell, in a variety of ways, among other persons.”
With this idea of personhood in mind, Roberts explores a variety of relationships important to the Christian personality, then sets forth the parameters of a distinctively Christian psychology.
Based on impressive scholarship yet highly readable, Taking the Word to Heart is a thoughtful study that will be of interest to laypeople as well as pastors, Christian counselors, theologians, and students.
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Using New Testament Greek In Ministry
$21.00Add to cartOne of the most practical guides you’ll find for preaching sermons faithful to the biblical text. Black prepares you to transform exegesis into exposition by explaining how to use the Greek text and linguistic resources to study the New Testament. Moreover, he recommends a basic library of reference books to help you with the process.
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Turning Points
$23.00Add to cartMost people agree that great movements have leaders and that leaders have moments when commitments are made, when new attitudes are formed, when new directions are chosen, and when distant visions are transformed into realities. This inspirational book examines some of these important times–occasions when notable people, during moments of crisis and insight, found the grace and strength to change our world for the better, forever.
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Help Im A Volunteer Youth Worker
$10.99Add to cartWhether you’re an old hand at youth work or you’ve just signed on, Help! I’m a Volunteer Youth Worker! gives you the basics for successfully reaching teenagers. These fifty, bite-sized suggestions are easy to remember and put into practice. They include tips on: – How to build relationships with students – How to recruit and train other volunteers – How to get along with the pastor and youth director – How to model Christian love to your students — If you’re a professional youth worker looking for new ways to encourage and empower your volunteer youth workers, just hand them a copy of Help! I’m a Volunteer Youth Worker! And don’t forget to consult this book yourself — because you’re guaranteed to find great ideas for youth work that maybe even you hadn’t thought of.
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All Gods Children (Revised)
$19.99Add to cart1. God Does Not Create Accidents
2. Tremendous Possibilities
3. The Role Of The Pastor
4. The Role Of The Volunteer
5. Mental Retardation
6. Deafness
7. Physical Disabilities
8. Visual Impairments
9. Learning Disabilities
10. Getting Started128 Pages
Additional Info
Statistics show that only 5 percent of churches have an outreach to disabled persons and that 95 percent of the people who have disabilities are not active in any church. Why not? In many cases, churches are newly coming to awareness of the need for disability ministry but have no idea how to start or what’s involved. All God’s Children is a handbook for pastors, elders, ministry leaders, and laypeople who want to minister to people with disabilities. It is a book to equip churches for ministry to those who are mentally retarded, learning disabled, hearing impaired, visually impaired, or otherwise physically disabled. This edition is extensively revised, especially the chapters on hearing-impaired persons and on getting a disability ministry started. The resource lists have been expanded and brought up to date. -
Pastoral Care And The Means Of Grace
$20.00Add to cartIn Underwood’s resulting spirituality, the soul of pastoral care is prayer. The substance is Scripture, studied in both liturgical and personal settings. The evangelical principle is reconciliation. Baptism lays the foundation for pastoral care by providing the paradigm for all transformations. Eucharist constitutes the eschatological horizon for pastoral care as ministry in the human encounter of God’s presence. This book stands at the forefront of a broad movement among scholars and clergy in nonliturgical traditions that aim at retrieving explicitly religious resources, the means of grace. The result is a rare, truly ecumenical contribution to pastoral care, which deepens practice by providing a vision and a spirituality.
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Church Confident
$21.99Add to cartKeck shows how the church is suffering from malaise brought on by oversecularization in aspects of church life including worship, theology, ethos, and communication.
This penetrating clarion call to renewal cuts through the conventional ideological labels of “liberal” and “conservative.” Keck argues with passion that mainline churches today must neither pretend to be culturally triumphant nor whimper in fear. Rather, the church has grounds to be confident about its proper nature and mission.
Keck envisions a renewed church that has recovered a sense of what is basic to its nature and purpose–restoring the praise of God to the center of worship.
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Daring To Hope Cycle B
$12.95Add to cart“Faith, hope and love are the abiding attributes of the Christian life. Most of us proclaim faith and love consistently,” writes John P. Rossing. “But … we may be guilty of neglecting the third great gift God has given us. During the closing Sundays of the church year we have an opportunity to declare our hope boldly.”
The 10 sermons in this book are based on First Lesson texts primarily from Job and Ruth. The sermons follow the Revised Common Lectionary.
We experience the same doubts, the same nagging absences of God that Job did. But we have some advantages. We know that God came into the world to redeem suffering through the suffering of his Son His presence among us in word and sacrament probes that he is neither distant nor uncaring. (from the Proper 23 sermon)
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Spirits Tether Cycle B
$12.95Add to cart“One of the mysteries of life is how God’s spirit can take hold of us, and change us.” Writes Leonard H. Budd. “Think of this force in your life as the Spirit’s tether. In my mind, a tether is the image of the Counselor that Jesus promised. It is the experience of God’s spirit that has been part of my living: The Holy Spirit’s tether.”
The 14 sermons in this book are based on Gospel texts, primarily from Mark. Sermons follow the Revised Common, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic lectionaries.
Our confrontation with Jesus Christ opens to each of us the blessed opportunity of forgiveness, and in that unburdening, the opportunity for a new start in our relationship to God and to one another. (from the Proper 5 sermon)
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This Is The King
$7.95Add to cartPilate: Are you the king of the Jews?
Jesus: Do you say this on your own or did others tell you this about me?
Narrator: Pilate was startled to hear the authority and depth of the man’s voice.
— from “This Is the King! “dramatic reading
“This Is the King!” is a complete resource for congregations wanting a special Palm/Passion Sunday celebration.
Worshipers will find:
– An order of service with a blessing of the palms
– Scriptures for the day
– A children’s sermon
– Hymn selections
– A dramatic reading
– A service of communion
The children’s sermon title is “Churning Up the Waves.” The dramatic reading, “This Is the King!” is offered in place of a sermon. It uses a narrator, Pilate, and Jesus. -
Jesus The Servant King
$7.95Add to cartGood morning boys and girls. How would you like to use your imaginations and visit some of the places that Jesus visited during the last week of his life? If you look closely, you will see, with my help, the streets, the palaces, the gardens, the dining room, the church and even the place where Jesus died and was buried. (from the lesson “The Temple”)
Jesus, The Servant King offers six object lessons for Lent. Each lesson focuses on a place where Jesus visited during the critical final week of his life. Each lesson includes a drawing, which you may use to show children while telling your story.
The lesson themes are:
The temple
The upper room
The garden
Calvary
The streets of Jerusalem
The empty tomb -
Symbols Of Sacrifice Year 3
$7.95Add to cartThe sacrificial life of Christ is a major focus of Lent. Symbols Of Sacrifice provides the congregations with opportunities to create visual worship aids representing Christ’s life during worship.
Each weekly presentation builds a growing reminder of Christ’s sacrifice for the congregation.
This series offers a list of symbols and explanation of the symbols. These are provided for the Sundays of Lent and Easter Sunday.
Symbols are:
Sandals
A globe of the world
Money
A lantern
A grain of wheat
A cloak
A white robeThis is one book in a three-part series of Symbols Of Sacrifices. Other books in this series are Year 1 and Year 2.
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Time With Our Children
$13.00Add to cartWith simple props-glitter, blocks, candles, and cookies-Dianne Deming brings Scripture and theology into the world and understanding of children. She speaks their language-to them as equals, not at them or down to them-and God’s love for children and her love for them shine through with every word. She recognizes the dignity of children, their worth as unique individuals and to the church, and creates stories that respect how children view the world and their place in it. A TIME WITH OUR CHILDREN is a collection of stories designed for the pastor or teacher to help children share in the faith of the congregation-not as a separate part of the worship service but integrated into the seamless whole of the people of God worshiping together. Deming believes that the most important benefit children receive from their special time in worship is the underlying message that they are valued and loved by God and their church. Her gentle, charming stories do that with grace and aplomb. The stories are keyed to the New Revised Common Lectionary (NRCL) and indexed by topic for non-lectionary use.
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Revised Common Lectionary
$22.99Add to cartIt took six years of revision work to produce THE REVISED COMMON LECTIONARY, which includes the consultation on common texts. This historic and authoritative volume contains the complete three-year listing of the Revised Common Lectionary (A, B, C) to guide preaching and Scripture reading on the Lord’s Day. Two major indices provide access to the Scrip ture passages: 1) according to the Sundays of the liturgical year and 2) according to the books of the Bible. Also includ- ed are an introduction explaining the nature and uses of lectionaries and a briew history of the Consultation on Com mon Texts. Participants in the Consultation include repre sentatives of nineteen churches or church agencies in the United States and Canada from both Catholic and Protestant denominations.
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Biblical Counseling With African Americans
$26.99Add to cart18 Chapters
Additional Info
This book is a practical and biblical guide for all who engage in counseling African-Americans. Its purpose is to set forth the issues, principles, and interventions of counseling, especially in terms of marriage counseling and family therapy. Clarence Walker provides a framework for the book in the biblical story of the apostle Philip and the Ethiopian charioteer as recounted in the book of Acts. In Walker’s view this story involves the same issues that confront African-Americans today. Specifically, in Part 1 Walker sees seven challenges that Philip faces as a “Christian counselor”: – Ethnicity . . . – Socio-economics – Gender . . .- Environment – Sexuality . . . – Religion – Power — Part 2 builds on this foundation to develop ten biblical principles for an effective therapeutic process — all recognizable in the interaction between Philip and the Ethiopian. These include — – Directive engaging . . . – Explorative questioning – Affective joining . . . – Positive terminating – Active listening . . . – Cooperative involving — Part 3 explains biblical techniques for treatment. Five approaches are offered to use with couples, and three are presented for counseling individuals. -
Trouble At The Table
$23.99Add to cartHow can we resolve the crsis and revitalize the worship in our church? Too often we evaluate worship as a matter of taste without examinging the presuppositions that inform worship in a given congregation. Exploring and developing techniques for handling resistance to change, the authors help church leaders see that worship is a public event, which must be continually renewed and revitalized.
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Calvins Preaching
$41.00Add to cartThis rare and important study of John Calvin’s sermons gives a complete review of Calvin’s preaching activity, purpose, method, and style. Included are the theological considerations that moved Calvin to preach the way he did; his view of the preacher’s office, his duty, and the congregation’s active participation; a historical account and the preservation of his preaching; Calvin’s expository method and the way he applied scripture to the needs of the congregation; and the form of the sermons and the “familiar” style that was employed.
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Preaching The Topical Sermon
$25.00Add to cartThis book offers a practical model for developing sermons for occasions when the Bible offers little specific guidance for interpreting an issue, need, or situation. Ronald Allen describes why and how topical sermons should be used, discusses special occasions when they are appropriate, and outlines strategies for developing topical sermons, giving particular attention to controversial issues. The last chapter includes sample sermons by other preachers.
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Welcome Speeches And Responses For All Occasions
$10.99Add to cartSome General Words Of Welcome
A General Response
Welcome Speeches And Responses For Specific Days And Occasions
Pastor Anniversary/Appreciation
Choir Anniversary/Appreciation
Homecoming/Church Anniversary
Homecoming/Memorial Service
Children’s Day
Family Day
Mother’s Day Tribute To Motherhood
Father’s Day
Men’s Day
Women’s Day
Missions
Usher Board Anniversary/Appreciation
Graduate Recognition Day
Memorial Day
Martin Luther King, Jr., Day
Poetry, Prayers, And ScriptureAdditional Info
: A great guide for persons asked to deliver welcome speeches or to respond to those speeches. Sample speeches and responses are provided for a variety of occasions, with appropriate Scripture verses. Another section gives poetry, prayers, and recitations. For general use, this resource is especially helpful in African-American churches. -
Aids To The Psalms Cycle A
$16.95Add to cartThe Psalms are wonderful sources of encouragement, enlightenment, and strength. This series explores the Psalms for Cycle A of the Common Lectionary using New Revised Standard Version of the Bible texts.
Each meditation is in three parts. First is the Psalm itself. Second is the alternate image, offering readers new insights to stimulate their vision of the Psalms. Third is the reflection section, offering a short analysis and comment on the passage.
“Aids to the Psalms” is appropriate for liturgical aids, sermon starters, personal and group meditation, and Christian education.
Among the Psalms of Cycle A are:
– Christmas Eve — O sing to the Lord a new song.
– Good Friday — My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
– Thanksgiving — Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion.
– Ascension — Clap your hands, all you peoples.
This is part of a three-book set on exploring the message of the Psalms. -
Freedom For Ministry A Print On Demand Title (Revised)
$29.99Add to cartA compelling, insightful account of ministry arising out of the author’s wealth of personal experience. Neuhaus addresses the awkwardness (both necessary and liberating) of Christian ministry, discusses the minister as worship leader and as preacher, and deals with some of the more common moral dilemmas of ministry (with particular reference to ambition, sexuality, and money).
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Envisioning The New City
$65.00Add to cartThis book compiles essays by over thirty urban pastors, community organizers, seminary professors, and church leaders. Their essays seek to present creative opportunities for urban ministries to bring hope and renewal to their congregations and communities.
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Ministry Burnout
$24.00Add to cartTeacher, faithful pastor, financial wizard, caretaker of the sick, activist, personal counselor, and preacher: these are some of the roles a minister must fill. The demands of these roles can lead to numerous dilemmas and stresses and, if not adequately addressed, to burnout. John Sanford deals concretely with the circumstances that give rise to this spiritual exhaustion and identifies its underlying dynamics. He studies each problem in detail, provides approaches and practical suggestions for dealing with it, and reviews the psychology of the ministering person to show how an individual can mitigate such problems by being more realistic with himself or herself.
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Letters For Every Occasion
$22.99Add to cartThe perfect time-saving idea for pastors and their assistants who want to write sensitive, effective letters for every occasion. This collection includes letters of: THANKS, CONDOLENCE/SUPPORT/ENCOURAGEMENT, CONGRATULATIONS, MILESTONE BIRTHDAYS, ACCEPTING/REFUSING INVITATIONS, WELCOME, ATTENDANCE CONCERNS, MEDIA CONTACT, & SEASONAL GREETINGS
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Somethings Coming Something Great Cycle A
$13.95Add to cartThe 17 sermons in this book are based on First Lesson texts, primarily from Isaiah. They follow the Revised Common Lectionary.
“I am grateful … for this opportunity to rediscover the excitement and anticipation of the Old Testament writers as they stood on tiptoe, waiting for God to act on the state of human history,” writes Robert A. Beringer. “Although each of these chapters is based on an Old Testament text, I have tried to make these messages Christ-centered in every way.”
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Satire And Hebrew Prophets
$48.00Add to cartIn this book, Thomas Jemielity demonstrates the striking relationship between satire and Hebrew prophecy by reviewing the role of ridicule in both and analyzing questions of nature, structure, form, and audience. This pioneering study makes compelling reading for all interested in the Bible and Western literature.
The Literary Currents in Biblical Interpretation series explores current trends within the discipline of biblical interpretation by dealing with the literary qualities of the Bible: the play of its language, the coherence of its final form, and the relationships between text and readers. Biblical interpreters are being challenged to take responsibility for the theological, social, and ethical implications of their readings. This series encourages original readings that breach the confines of traditional biblical criticism.
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Preaching As Weeping Confession And Resistance
$31.00Add to cartFrom the Publisher: How can a person preach a word of hope and faith in a world filled with violence and suffering? To do this, Christine Smith says, one must encounter and name the radical evil that oppresses persons in the world – evils such as handicappism, ageism, heterosexism, sexism, white racism, and classism. She believes preaching is an interpretation of our present world and an invitation to a profoundly different world. It is a form of passionate weeping in a universe filled with human suffering, inequity, and oppression; it is a form of confession where preachers can shape sermons that call our communities into painful and honest confession; and it is a form of resistance moving people to actively resist the attitudes and structures of oppression.
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Room Called Remember
$14.99Add to cartA Room Called Remember brings together some of Buechner’s finest writings on faith, love, and the power of words in the form of essays, addresses, and sermons. Here Buechner explores autobiography as theology, offers exhilarating reflections on biblical passages, and leads us into the “room called Remember,” that “still room within us all where the past lives on as part of the present,…where with patience, with clarity, with quietness of heart, we remember consciously to remember the lives we have lived.”
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My Worship Planner And Organizer
$15.95Add to cartMy Worship Planner And Organizer is the best friend of the pastor, organist, church secretary, choir director, and worship committee when it comes to keeping worship records and reference.
Its focus is Sunday worship. Each Sunday has two pages available for taking notes and reference.
You will find Sunday by Sunday:
Cycle A, B, and C, gospel, first and second lesson lectionary text listings for Revised Common, Episcopal, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic.
Countless hymn possibilities based on the lectionary.
Invaluable liturgical information, at your fingertips.
You may record Sunday by Sunday (for three years):
Hymns used
Special music
Sermon titles
Attendance
Special notations for any Sunday -
Called To Jerusalem Sent To The World Cycle A
$21.95Add to cartIn the broken places of our lives, when hope is lost and courage falters … in that moment God comes to those who will listen. Always he meets us in our desolation, offering us an alternative to our defeat. (from the sermon “A Chance To Live Again”
The 17 sermons in this book are based on First Lesson texts, from six Old Testament books and the book of Acts. They follow the Revised Common Lectionary.
“In a culture increasingly driven to receive more than it gives, self-sacrifice is less and less popular,” writes Theodore F. Schneider. “We want much, but we are willing to risk little…. We are called to join with God for good, taking the risks, carrying the cross.”
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Preparation And Manifestation Cycle A
$16.95Add to cartThere really is good new! God is still eager to save. Prepare yourself for his coming into your life. He is already present. It is all here; the secret to the good and happy life is already manifest and present. (from the sermon “We Must Be Blind!”)
The 21 sermons in this book are based on Gospel texts, primarily from Matthew and John. Sermons follow the Revised Common, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic lectionaries.
In his messages, Mark Ellingsen connects preparation through penitence and the new life given in baptism. “The gospel lessons assigned for the season provide excellent occasions to practice such liturgical proclamation,” writes Ellingsen. “Penitence and preparation happen in the presence of Christ and the new life he gives. Thus they are Gods work.”
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Times Up Cycle A
$12.95Add to cartLoving people and caring for them isn’t enough to change the way the world works overnight…. Our caring isn’t enough to change all “bad” into “good.” But it is all we are asked to do. And it is enough. (from the sermon “Enough”)
The 17 sermons in this book are based on Gospel texts from Matthew. Sermons follow the Revised Common, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic lectionaries.
“The church is the place of greatest hope in our society,” writes John Jamison. “What happens when God’s people gather together and hear God’s word can happen no place else! Lives are changed. They are made whole, unbroken and hopeful. That is, and must be our task.”
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Your King Comes
$7.95Add to cartYour King Comes! Is a complete Palm Sunday service. It includes a dramatic celebration of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem led by the children and youth of the church school.
This resource captured the spirit of Palm Sunday with songs, words, and gestures. It will involve as many as 47 persons of all ages from your congregation. Minimum rehearsal is needed.
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Vine And The Branches
$12.95Add to cartI am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. — John 15:5
Schmalenberger takes Easter season texts from Mark, Luke and John and weaves them into eight sermons with applications for today’s Christian. Sermons cover Easter through Ascension Of Our Lord.
In the chapter for Easter 5, the author speaks of Christ as the vine. He states that the vine and the branches’ relationship teaches us something of what our relationship to Christ is like. Whenever we forget that Christ is the heart of everything, everything goes crooked. This is true of preaching, teaching; family life, vocation — everything.
Sermon titles include:
* When Thomas Doubted
* One Flock, One Shepherd
* Chosen For Good News
* A Prayer For Disciples -
Up And Down Mountain
$12.95Add to cart“Don’s sermons provide enlightenment for this neglected ministry of healing in congregations. This guide illumines areas of evil and suffering, prayer, isolation of illness, therapy of forgiveness, faith and the power of immortality and the risen Christ. It is a call to be healed and to heal.”
George W. Bashore, Resident Bishop
United Methodist Church
The Pittsburgh Area“I recommend this book to those who are ready to begin more intentional healing ministries, as well as to those who are looking for ways to be more effective in the church: God’s healing community.”
James K. Wagner
Director, Prayer And Healing Ministries
The Upper Room, Nashville, TennesseeUp And Down The Mountain is about healing. It includes seven sermons on healing, a chapter on how to begin a healing ministry, a suggested order of worship service with hymns and a valuable bibliography.
Foreword by J. Robert Nelson, director, Institute of Religion, Texas Medical Center, Houston, Texas. -
Come And See Cycle C
$12.95Add to cartAs a Cycle C Lenten-based resource, Come And See provides many opportunities for congregations.
It offers a pre-Lenten Mission Fair, which may be held during the second Sunday of Epiphany. The Fair is an invitation to deeper discipleship during Lent.
It offers mid-week Lenten programs. These are playlets and inductive Bible studies. Each playlet has parts for three adults. Each Bible study follows Scriptures from Mark with helpful study questions. Playlets and Bible studies focus on evangelism worship, education, social concerns and stewardship.
It offers six sermons to be used for Ash Wednesday and the five Sundays of Lent.
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Services For Occasions Of Pastoral Care
$25.00Add to cartServices for Occasions of Pastoral Care – Prepared by the Office of Theology and Worship of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A), this liturgical resource is designed to supplement the Presbyterian Book of Common Worship. It provides full liturgies for many services not included in the BCW, including the rites of ordination of ministers, elders, and deacons; the dedication of a church building; the laying of cornerstone; the comissioning of missionaries; and various other services for local congregations and presbyteries. All ministers and other worship leaders in the Presbyterian Church will need this volume as a resource for worship planning and to complement the BCW.
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John Wesleys Sermons
$20.99Add to cartContents
1. A Career In Retrospect
2. The Preacher And His Preaching
3. The Sermon Corpus
4. Theological Method And The Problems Of Development
5. Wesley And His Sources
6. On Reading Wesley’s SermonsAdditional Info
For the first time, students of Wesley have access to Albert C. Outler’s widely acclaimed “introduction” to Volume 1 of The Works of John Wesley in a single inexpensive paperback.No student of John Wesley will need to be reminded of Albert Outler’s stature, or the significance of his contribution to twentieth-century Wesleyan studies.
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Abuse Of Power
$27.99Add to cartChapter Titles Are:
1. Hearing The Silenced Voices
2. Power And Abuse Of Power
3. “Karen”: Survivor Of Sexual Violence
4. Stories Of Recovering Perpetrators
5. The Schreber Case: Methods Of Analysis
6. The Search For Self
7. The Search For Community
8. The Search For God
9. Ministry Practice And Practical TheologyAdditional Info
Pastoral care instruction and observation from a therapist of survivors of sexual abuse.“The Abuse of Power is ‘must’ reading for clergy and denominational officials…. Weaving case stories with theory, Poling demonstrates that sexual abuse of children is not a private matter, but very much a matter for society and church–a question of structure and ideology, not just of individual character. He is not afraid to tackle the tough question: Does the image of God sacrificing Jesus on the cross contribute to abusive parent-child relationships?…If pastors and church officials read this book the church will change.” –Karen Lebacqz, Pacific School of Religion
“For the exploitation of women and children to stop, men must be willing to break ranks with all forms of privilege that sanction male dominance. James Poling does so by deconstructing his own sense of male entitlement, by refusing to distance himself from perpetrators, by allowing survivors of sexual and domestic violence to speak with their own voices, by giving us profound words of hope, and by articulating a powerfully healing theology wrought through the depths of his own struggle with one of the worst evils in our society. His courageous and compassionate work reveals the love and hope that is born of solidarity across the boundaries of gender, sexual orientation, race, and economics….The psychological, political, spiritual, and theological power of this book is such that all educators, ministers, therapists, and Christians must read it.” –Rita Nakashima Brock, Hamline University
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Helpmates
$24.00Add to cartIn this excellent book written by a caregiving spouse for other caregivers, author Harry Cole recognizes that caregivers who provide hlep for dependent loved ones are often unprepared to cope with the physical and emotional effects that accompany long term illness. they are frequently overwhelmed by their responsibilities and often need help themselves.
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John Wesleys Sermons
$31.99Add to cartBased on the critical edition of Wesley’s works, this anthology brings together in chronological order some of the finest specimens of his hortatory style. His plain, unornamented approach with a movement from law to gospel, ending with a strong emotional appeal and practical application was especially effective in outdoor settings.
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Leadership For Women In The Church
$16.99Add to cartThis book is about how Christian women can identify and focus their leadership skills on tasks that need to be undertaken in the church. It is about how Christian men can recognize and use the leadership talents of the women in the church. Finally, it is about how local churches, those with denominational affiliation and those without, can integrate the full range of women’s abilities with the tremendous needs in the kingdom of God.
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Handbook Of Themes For Preaching
$45.00Add to cartSo you want to preach on stewardship. Or on the Ten Commandments. Or on jealousy, education, war, abortion, the incarnation, decision-making, or any of 90 other topics. Turn first to this Handbook! You’ll find concise definitions, analyses, and discussions of every topic, all ably presented by experts. Contributors include Glenn Asquith, Reginald Fuller, E. Glenn Hinson, Basil Pennington, Timothy George, Wayne Oates, and many others.
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Skilled Pastor : Counseling As The Practice Of Theology
$26.00Add to cartPreface
Introduction: Becoming A Skilled Pastor
PART ONE: PRESENCE
1.Attending
2.Responding
3.AssessingPART TWO: INTERVENTIONS
4.Theological Assessment
5.Proclamation
6.Resources For Change
7.GuidanceConclusion: The Metanoia Model
Bibliography
Additional Info
A splendid volume detailing the specific skills necessary for sound pastoral guidance in various situations. The author integrates theological reflection with practice, while incorporating religious resources with counseling technique. -
Planning The Church Year
$17.95Add to cartThis guide for clergy, parish musicians, lay readers, and congregational representatives covers all the stages of organizing worship services for the entire year. Using The Book of Common Prayer and Hymnal 1982 as primary resources, it explores the rich variety of options-both time-honored traditions and accepted innovations. Times and seasons covered in depth include Advent, the Twelve Days of Christmas, Lent and Holy Week, Easter and the Great Fifty Days, and the Sundays after Epiphany and Pentecost. Planning the Church Year explains the preparations that make for meaningful holy days and special occasions, such as Lesser Feasts, Thanksgiving Day, Vigils, Michaelmas, All Saints’ Day, the bishop’s visitation, the Patronal and Dedication Festivals. Even summer Sundays can become “liturgical opportunities.” Details such as liturgical colors, music, and church decorations for each season and occasion make this the most complete handbook for those called to be at the heart of parish life and worship. Leonel L. Mitchell is an Episcopal priest and retired professor of Liturgics at Seabury-Western Seminary. He is the author of several books including Praying Shapes Believing, and The Meaning of Ritual, both available from Morehouse Publishing.
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Transitions Through Adult Life
$26.99Add to cart26 Chapters
Additional Info
Transitions Through Adult Life is a summary of what is known about adults and how they develop. More than a book describing life’ crises, it portrays the potential of life’s transitions. It seeks to offer answers to the problems it analyzes. This book provides an overview of the various stages of adult life, what is typical in those stages, and how the church needs to be responsive to adults as they traverse the stages. The twenty-six chapters deal with young adulthood, middle adulthood, and older adulthood and most of the major events and challenges that one may encounter in those stages. Some of the specific topics include courtship, singleness, faith development, career, child-rearing, loss of loved ones, divorce, physical decline, etc. The chapters are succinct summaries of the significant dimensions of the topic calling upon existing research and the author’s own keen powers of synthesis. -
Manual For Acolytes
$16.95Add to cartThis manual is designed to describe those duties expected of one as the server. Server means one who assists-the terms acolyte, crucifer, and thurifer (as used in this manual) apply to specific responsibilities. No manual can be complete, inasmuch as the custom or use of each parish church varies.
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Prophets Pioneers And Possibilities
$12.95Add to cart“We have been called to travel lightly. We are on a journey of faith. None of us has arrived. We may remember a thrilling moment of decision when we first responded to the awakening of God’s love for us… We never know in advance where submission to the kingship of Christ will lead us.”
— from the sermon for Christ the King Sunday
Richard A. Hasler draws upon countless incidents from contemporary settings to bring the words of the Minor Prophets and 2 Samuel to contemporary Christian believers.
Using scriptures from nine texts on the Old Testament, this book provides as many sermons for use in the Common Lectionary.
Sermon titles include:
– The Dreamer Within You — Joel 2:23-30
– When God’s “No” Means “Yes” — Habakkuk 1:1-3; 2:1-10
– Leaping for Joy — Malachi 4:1-6
– No One Enters into the Kingdom… Save with Empty Hands — 2 Samuel 5:1-5 -
Blow The Silver Trumpets
$13.95Add to cart“Larry Powell breathes life into scripture with a preacher’s imagination, a poet’s turn of the phrase, and a writer’s craftsmanship. He gathers vibrant illustrations from everywhere… but most of all, as you ponder these pages, you will look at Jesus Christ. You will listen to him, meditate on his messages, watch him in action.”
— Bishop Richard B. Wilke
The United Methodist Church
The Arkansas Area
Here are eleven sermons from John and Luke offering close inspection of texts and providing many modern illustrations. This book offers sermons for use in the Common, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic lectionaries.
Sermon titles include:
Show Us the Holy Father (John 14:8-17, 25-27)
Receive the Holy Spirit (John 20:19-23)
Just Speak the Word (Luke 7:1-10)
Fleshing Out the Word (Luke 10:1-12) -
Called To Care
$18.00Add to cartTreating the whole of Scripture, Robert Kysar forges the connections between the practice of social ministry and the biblical images undergirding and motivating that ministry. Social ministry is more than charity: It wrestles with the very structures and systems that deprive and oppress. This book examines not only the usual “justice” texts but also those that seem to counter this position and shows how the Bible addresses practical, contemporary concerns and fears.
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Behind The Masks
$28.00Add to cartA leading pastoral counselor describes in everyday language eight common personality disorders that result in destructive religious behavior. Dr. Oates discusses how the Christian faith can ”unmask” disorders so the real person can emerge. Recommended for pastoral counselors.
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How To Train Volunteer Teachers
$20.99Add to cartExplores the purposes of teaching in the church, and offers specific advice on how to recruit, train, and support volunteer teachers. 20 workshops to enhance and empower educational programs in any church.
These twenty stimulating, thirty-minute workshops show how to train volunteer teachers in a way that will dramatically increase the effectiveness of your Christian education program. After exploring the purposes of teaching children, youth, and adults in the church, Delia Halverson offers specific advice on how to recruit, train, and support volunteer teachers. Sunday school superintendents and education chairpersons will find this information invaluable as they recruit teachers, affirm them in their ministries, and plan training events.
Workshops offered in the book include: planning a session; keys to motivating students of all age groups; developing Bible skills in all age groups; storytelling in the classroom; creativity for you and your student; worship in the classroom; teaching prayer in the classroom; caring for students; teaching with questions and discussion; music in the classroom; and developing a learning center. Each workshop outline shows you which materials you will need for the workshop. One or more handouts for use in the training event are included. The book also features a bibliography of additional materials to enhance the workshops.
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From Bondage To Bonding
$18.99Add to cart1. Codependency: A Self-Focused Way Of Life
2. Self-Forfeiture: Resigned To Helplessness
3. Self-Contempt: Inclined To Feet Worthless
4. Self-Aggrandizement: Desperate To Control
5. Self-Sufficiency: Determined To Stay Safe
6. Self-Deception: Committed To Denial
7. Fervent Longings
8. Painful Losses
9. Self-Protective Pretense
10. Autonomous Independence
11. The Healing Of Grief
12. The Wonder Of Grace
13. The Freedom Of Surrender
14. Reciprocal Grace: Free To Love And Forgive
15. Courageous Vulnerability: Free To Abandon Denial
206 Pages
16. Mutual Freedom: Free To Relinquish Control
17. Spiritual Vitality: Free To Trust And Obey
18. Sacrificial Love: Free To Risk And SufferAdditional Info
Codependency is a hot topic these days; dozens of new books about it appear each month. Trouble is, many of them deal only with escaping damaging codependent relationships—not with healing and rebuilding them. Groom (author of Married Without Masks) takes a more biblical approach. In uncomplicated language, she helps you see how codependency is actually bondage to sin and how the Gospel can restore you to healthy biblical bonding with God and others. -
What Is Narrative Criticism
$17.00Add to cartThis book is the first nontechnical description of the principles and procedures of narrative criticism. Mark Allan Powell distinguishes literary criti cism from various modes of historical criticism–source, form, and redaction–and also delineates several types of literary criticism–structuralist, rhetorical, reader- response, and narrative. He then describes, analyzes, and illustrates the categories that narrative criticism employs, such as implied author and reader, narrator, character, events, settings. Mark Allan Powell is Assistant Professor of New Testament and Director of Continuing and Post-Graduate Studies at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio.
