“God is a poet, paying exquisite attention, crafting the words to pull our heartstrings, connecting our pulse to the great pulse of life. God is a priest, intoning the chants that tie earth to heaven, invoking our prayers, summoning our spirits to reach beyond. God is a prophet, commanding our attention, provoking our outrage, channeling our best intentions.”
So writes author and scholar Carla Grosch-Miller for the last day of 2021 in this year’s Fresh From The Word: The Bible for a Change. And indeed you will meet this God in the reflections of the writers in these pages. At turns poetic, priestly and theological, prophetic and inspiring, Fresh From The Word 2021 invites you to the discipline of daily Bible reading with readers around the world.
Discipleship is the focus of Lent this year in Fresh From The Word 2021: discipleship as a way of following Jesus Christ ‘into the unknown’, growing, and facing challenges. Other themes include reading the Bible through the seasons, surprising women in the Bible, family tensions in Genesis, and riddles in the Bible, and more. The book also features continuous readings from the Gospel of Mark, the shorter epistles of the New Testament, Job, Galatians, Revelation, and the Minor Prophets.
Fresh From The Word: The Bible for a Change 2021 will inspire your Bible reading in a time of change. Bringing together theologians, scholars, creative writers, church leaders, and activists from around the world, it offers notes, prayers, and further thought suggestions for every day of the year. Contributors this year include: Buenos Aires-based liturgist and activist Dafne Sabanes Plou on the mercy of God, prison chaplain and Pentecostal pastor Deseta Davis on God and prison life, blogger and playwright Aileen Quinn on growing with God, Shetland Methodist minister David Lees on numbers in the Bible, pioneer minister Tim Yau on Peter the church leader.
Table of Content
Foreword by Pam Rhodes v
How to use Fresh From The Word vi
Introduction from the Editor vii
Acknowledgements and abbreviations viii
The enlightening word Ian Fosten
1 A light to my path 1
2 Arise, shine! 3
The Bible through the seasons: winter John Proctor 10
The Gospel of Mark (1)
1 The beginning of the good news Sue Richardson 17
2 Good news for all Mark Woods 24
The Psalms of David
1 Chosen and chased Edna Hutchings 32
2 Broken open Delroy Hall 39
Into the unknown: the spirit of discipleship
1 First steps Catherine Williams 46
2 Rooted and growing Aileen Quinn 53
3 Walking as one Joshua Taylor 60
4 Peter the disciple Jan Sutch Pickard 67
5 Peter the church leader Tim Yau 74
6 God on the inside Deseta Davis 81
7 The cost of love Stephen Willey 88
The Bible through the seasons: spring Rt Revd Dr Peter Langerman 95
Cosmonaut: first in space Heather Prince and Andrew Kruger 102
The Gospel of Mark (2)
1 Jesus the healer Nathan Eddy 109
2 Jesus the teacher Bruce Jenneker 116
Michal’s story Ann Conway-Jones 123
Readings in the shorter Epistles
1 Do good Revd Eric Rew 130
2 The way of love Kate Hughes 137
The underside of history
1 Women of spirit Revd Mandy Briggs 144
2 Women of the word Barbara Easton 151
Readings from Job
1 Have you considered my servant Job? Wendy Lloyd 158
2 Cold comfort Revd Norman Francis 165
3 Out of the storm Pevise Leo 172
The Bible through the seasons: summer Paul Nicholson SJ 179
The words of the wise Michael Jagessar 186
Bible riddles John Proctor 193
Family tensions in Genesis
1 Husbands and wives Helen Van Koevering 200
2 Brothers and sisters Terry Lester 207
Pastimes and pleasures in the Bible
1 Time to relax Simei Monteiro 216
2 Feeding mind and body Pete Wheeler 223
Numbers in the Bible
1 How many? David Lees 230
2 How many more? Karen Francis 237
Letters to the churches John Birch 244
Galatians
1 All one in Christ Noel Irwin 251
2 Freedom in Christ Noel Irwin 258
The Bible through the seasons: autumn Shirlyn Toppin 265
Mercy
1 The mercy of God Jane Gonzalez 272
2 Called to be merciful Dafne Sabanes Plou 279
The Gospel of Mark (3)
1 Seeing more clearly? Edel Mc Clean 286
2 Who is this man? Michael Jagessar 293
3 Controversy in Jerusalem Eve Parker 300
On eagles’ wings Deseta Davis 307
Beginning at the end: readings from the Minor Prophets
1 At the watchpost Pevise Leo 314
2 Rejoice, O daughter Zion! Anthony Loke 321
3 Strong in the Lord Clare Nonhebel 328
Foundations
1 Chosen for a purpose Liz Clutterbuck 335
2 Building with care Stephen Willey 342
3 The work continues Bola Iduoze 349
Christmas with Luke Carla A. Grosch-Miller 356
Giving and receiving Carla A. Grosch-Miller 363
About the author
Nathan is editor of Fresh from the Word and has served as a minister in the United Reformed Church in Lowestoft, UK, and a university chaplain in Manchester. He has visited monasteries in Ghana, Israel, Egypt, India, China and Japan and is now busy raising two daughters and eight chickens with his wife Clare in London. He is an enthusiastic student of Hebrew and the Hebrew Bible, a very amateur actor, and he is fascinated by what the Bible can mean today.More ebooks from the same author(s) / Editor
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