Why should anyone consider Christian faith today? The author offers an overview of Christian belief in a collection of five short essays, each shedding fresh light on a different aspect of the faith. It has been said that what the church needs today is not better arguments but better metaphors: this booklet offers startling new images which open doors to Christ for sceptic and believer alike.
For the full text of this booklet in PDF format, click here |
Christian Basics
Building Blocks: An Introduction to Christian Faith
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Everybody needs a story
All human beings need a story to belong to,
- a big story
- a story which tells them who they are
- a story which tells them whether their lives have any meaning
- a story that is grounded in reality
- a story which reaches for the stars.
South African novelist Athol Fugard has written,
“The only safe place is inside a story.”
Philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre says why being part of a story is important for him:
“I can only answer the question, ‘What am I to do?’ if I can answer the
prior question, “Of what story or stories do I find myself a part?”
Christianity claims to be just such a story, a safe place (though also a place of risk and excitement) and a story that helps us know what to do and how to live.
Indeed, Christianity claims to be The Story, the true and ultimate story which God the Creator is writing about our world, and which we are invited to participate in.
It is as though God is making a movie about our world. Jesus is the casting director, willing to give any interested person a part in the story, a part that is just right for them, a part which will affirm them and stretch them beyond their wildest dreams.
You want to know how the story looks to date?
The “Building Blocks” videos tell this story in eight parts:
1. Everyone has a Story (Stories, Maps and World-Views)
2. “Once Upon a Time…” (The Creation)
3. “But Then One Day…” (How things went wrong)
4. The Artist Starts Over (Understanding the Old Testament)
5. Enter the Hero (Why was Jesus the way he was?)
6. The Crucial Battle (The Death and Resurrection of Jesus)
7. Act Five is Missing: What Shall We Do? (Living as a follower of Jesus today)
8. The End of the Beginning (The Bible lifts the curtain on the future)
Each session includes…
- quotes from the Bible (some well-known, some a little weird…but all incredibly relevant!)
- video clips from much-loved movies like ‘Dead Poets Society’
- helpful diagrams
- discussion times and
- spellbinding stories from the C.S.Lewis’ Narnia stories, which suddenly mean so much more than we knew as children.
This series evolved and was field-tested with twenty groups of high schoolers who were Leaders-in-Training at Ontario Pioneer Camps between 1981 and 1997.
Here are some of the things they said about ìBuilding Blocksî:
- I loved them. They really helped me understand Christianity better. (Susan)
- Lots of knowledge that builds foundations for my faith. (Jeff)
- Provided a lot of insight into stuff I hadn’t heard before. (Andrea)
- Incredible. Never learned so much in such a little time. (Jason)
- Very effective and well thought-out. (Sylvia)
- Learned a lot about God and the Bible. (Ian)
- Helped me learn and grow so much. Thank you. (Kim)
Although high schoolers were the initial audience, this series speaks to people of all ages and in all contexts who want a fresh, integrated approach to Christian belief and life.
Love: Is It Worth the Hassle?
Why is the experience of love at the same time so desirable and yet so painful and frustrating? We want it and yet it hurts. With the help of three writers (Robert Sternberg, Scott Peck and C.S.Lewis), love and its siblings, pain and reality, are traced back to their origin in the heart of God, and to the lessons we may learn from the God who was love incarnate.
For the full text of this booklet in PDF format, click here. This booklet is out of print and not available for sale. |
The School of Jesus
If you consider yourself a follower of Jesus, how does that affect your life day by day? This booklet works with the image of the Christian life as a school and Jesus as our teacher. Each day offers opportunities to learn and to grow. Different sections discuss the use of the school’s textbook, opportunities for peer learning, and the kind of assignments that Jesus sets.
For the full text of this booklet in PDF format, click here. This booklet is out of print and not available for sale.
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Becoming a Christian
God draws people to faith in different ways. In the style of a Choose-your-own-Adventure story, this booklet seeks to respond to people who are thinking about Christian faith for different reasons. For each person, there is a suggestion of how Jesus relates to them, and in what terms they might begin to follow him.
For the full text of this booklet in PDF format, click here. This booklet is out of print and not available for sale. |