Living Faith: Through the Church’s Year
Ebook
Overview
Desperate for new ideas to inspire sermons, Bible studies, or private meditation? Here’s the book for you. Living Faith: Through the Church’s Year offers fifty-two lively reflections for group or individual use, including resources for further study. Part One leads you through the seasons of the church’s year from Advent to Trinity. Starting with the Big Bang, you’re taken to Bethlehem for Christmas and into the desert for Lent. Christmas cribs, Easter gardens, and a large crucifix illustrate some of the most important Christian festivals. Bible texts, literature, architecture, poetry, and music all help fill out the picture. Part Two takes you into some crucial aspects of being a Christian. Jesus’s question to his disciples at Caesarea Philippi ("Who do you say that I am?") helps you think about some important Gospel stories such as the stilling of the storm and the Samaritan woman. Key saints, such as Francis, Benedict, and Dominic, appear, as do C. S. Lewis, J. S. Bach, Mother Teresa, Simon and Garfunkel, and Paddington Bear! A sumptuous feast of exploration and insight, Living Faith is an exciting and stimulating adventure in Christian life--a must for anyone taking the journey of faith seriously.
“Living Faith is a real quarry. The reflections are
short, but each is a gem. They are rooted in Scripture but draw
richly on the arts and literature and end with a challenge for
Christian living. Fr. Need emphasizes how creation and all of us
are still in a state of ‘becoming’ as we go forward in Christian
discipleship. For clergy and lay people alike, this book helps us
to do precisely that.”
—Thomas McMahon, Bishop Emeritus, Brentwood, England; Roman
Catholic parish priest, Stock, England
“Stephen has woven together a dynamic series of strands about the
world, biblical text, and faith. This is timely and engaging in the
way he has skillfully drawn on the breadth of biblical texts to
provide an understanding of God as being not only the source of
creation but also active in renewing the earth. This book will be a
resource for people preparing sermons or for leading a small
group.”
—Elizabeth Snowden, Archdeacon of Chelmsford, England
“These articles reflect the learning of a biblical scholar, care of
a pastor, and insight of a prophet. Stephen Need engages with
Scripture, theology, and human context so brilliantly that whether
you read this book for your own spiritual nourishment or in support
of your preaching task, you will find yourself challenged and
inspired by a healthier mix of wisdom, reflection, and
conviction.”
—John Perumbalath, Bishop of Bradwell, England
“Living Faith engages me, on many levels. It invites us to
journey through the church year while also visiting old and new
friends in stories of saints and modern culture. One of Stephen’s
strengths is that he can communicate academic theology and yet
share the pure pleasure of Scripture. I found this book is equally
at home during sermon preparation or as fireside reading.”
—Simon Roberton, minister, Christ Church, Stock, England
Product Details
- Title : Living Faith: Through the Church’s Year
- Author: Need, Stephen W.
- Publisher: Resource Publications
- Publication Date: 2020
- ISBN: 9781725255197
Stephen W. Need was born in Nottingham and studied theology at King’s College, London. Whilst training to be a teacher, he visited the Holy Land and became captivated by the historical, archaeological and religious elements there. His interests in the Holy Places and the archaeological sites deepened over the years, and the relation of biblical texts to the places named in the Bible became a serious interest. After teaching New Testament and Early Christianity as well as systematic and philosophical theology in several colleges, he was appointed as a lecturer at St George’s College, Jerusalem. This gave him the opportunity to get to know the historical and archaeological background to the biblical texts at first hand. He also developed an on-the-ground interest in and experience of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Stephen was ordained in 2008 at St George’s Cathedral in Jerusalem and served in the staff there for three years. From 2005 to 2011, he was Dean of St George’s College in Jerusalem.
Stephen and his wife live in Essex where Stephen is Priest in Charge of two small villages: Stock and West Hanningfield.