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Tritt ein in eine Welt voller Geschichten

Hören und Lesen

John Stott

Tim Chester

Scripture has brought us light in darkness, strength in weakness, comfort in sadness. It isn't difficult to endorse the Psalmist's experience that the words of God are 'more precious than gold... sweeter than honey'.

So it's distressing to watch the Bible being dislodged from its position of authority, not only in our nation but also in the church.

Here we focus on the urgent need to continue in, respond to, interpret and expound God's Word.

Neil Gardner

The Contemporary Christian Series

The Bible: A Book Like No Other

The church lies at the centre of God's purpose. Christ gave himself 'to purify for himself a people that are his own'.
But when we think about church, there's the tension between the ideal and the reality. The former is beautiful: God's special treasure, the covenant community, a haven of love and peace. The latter? A motley rabble needing constant rebuke and exhortation.

Here we focus on the ideal, on what God intends his church to be, while all the time keeping in view the reality, so that we can grasp the changes that need to be made.

The Church: A Unique Gathering of People

What is the authentic gospel? How do we answer the sceptics?

Christianity is not a religion, but God's good news for the world. This implies that it has both a divine origin and a human relevance: it comes from God and it speaks to our condition.

So, before we ask, 'What is the gospel?', we need to ask, 'What is a human being?'

Chapter 1: The human paradox looks at what the Bible teaches and what our experience endorses: the glory and shame of our humanness, both our dignity as creatures made in God's image and our depravity as sinners under his judgement.
Chapter 2: Human freedom: what is traditionally called 'salvation', seen in terms of 'authentic freedom'.
Chapters 3 and 4: The central themes of the death and resurrection of Jesus, securing our freedom. This section also looks at a number of objections and denials.
Chapter 5: The far-reaching implications, both for faith and for life.

Radical indeed is the discipleship which takes all of this and Christ's lordship seriously. It's nothing short of a life-changing message.

The Gospel: A Life-changing Message

We have a God-given responsibility to infiltrate the world, listening to the world's challenges, but also to bring our own challenge to the world by sharing the good news by word and deed.

We look at four aspects of mission:

* The uniqueness of Jesus, the chief foundation of Christian mission
* The nature of God himself, and mission coming from his heart
* Mission in word, but also in works
* A clear and fresh vision of Christ

We look at the model, the costliness, the mandate, the motivation and the urgency of the mission to which we are called.

The World: A Mission to Be Accomplished

If Christ is our Lord, then we are his servants, and if he is our teacher, then we are his pupils.

Following Christ is a multi-faceted responsibility. We should remember:

* Every true disciple is a listener
* We are both rational and emotional
* We can discern God's call and will

Love is the first fruit of the Spirit, a core ingredient of discipleship.

The Disciple: A Calling to Be Christlike

The church lies at the centre of God's purpose. Christ gave himself 'to purify for himself a people that are his own'.

But when we think about church, there's the tension between the ideal and the reality. The former is beautiful: God's special treasure, the covenant community, a haven of love and peace. The latter? A motley rabble needing constant rebuke and exhortation.

Here we focus on the ideal, on what God intends his church to be, while all the time keeping in view the reality, so that we can grasp the changes that need to be made.

If Christ is our Lord, then we are his servants, and if he is our teacher, then we are his pupils.

Following Christ is a multi-faceted responsibility. We should remember:

* Every true disciple is a listener
* We are both rational and emotional 
* We can discern God's call and will

Love is the first fruit of the Spirit, a core ingredient of discipleship.