Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Storypath - connecting children's literature with our faith

As the name suggests Storypath is about connecting children's books with our faith....

Storypath offers:

  • Books connected to the Revised Common Lectionary
  • Book Reviews
  • Ideas in using Children's books in ministry
  • Lesson plans
  • Scripture index
  • Theme index

To discover more visit http://storypath.upsem.edu/

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Book: The Genius of Luther's theology

The Genius of Luther's Theology offers a unique approach to the study of the great German reformer, Martin Luther.
Robert Kolb and Charles Arand offer an introduction to two significant themes that form the heart of Luther's theology.

The first theme concerns what it means to be truly human. For Luther, "passive righteousness" described the believer's response to God's grace. But there was also an "active righteousness" that defined the relationship of the believer to the world.

The second theme involves God's relation to his creation through his Word, first creating and then redeeming the world. Clergy and general readers will find here a helpful introduction to Luther's theology and its continuing importance for applying the good news of the gospel to the contemporary world.

Table of Contents
Part 1: "Our Theology": Luther's Definition of the Human Creature through "Two Kinds of Righteousness"
1. Anthropology as a Matrix for Luther's Way of Thinking
2. The Core of Human Identity
3. The Shape of Human Performance
4. The Subversion of Our Human Identity
5. The Dynamic of Faith

Part 2: When the Word Is Spoken, All Things Are Possible: Luther and the Word of God
6. The Functions of the Word
7. The Enfleshed and Written Forms of God's Word
8. The "Means of Grace" as Forms of God's Word
9. God's Word Takes Form as His People Convey It to One Another
Conclusion: Thinking with Luther in the Twenty-first Century


Monday, September 28, 2015

Book: Characters of Christmas - Advent Candle Lighting reflectrions

Characters of Christmas - Advent Candle Lighting reflections is an ideal resource for congregations or individuals as they prepare for Christmas through the Advent season.

This resource offers
Weekly reflection skits of the characters of:
Wisemen
Shepherds
Animals
Mary
and Jesus

A daily bible reading plan

Paperback available at https://www.createspace.com/5769830


Kindle edition available at 

Saturday, September 26, 2015

2015 Advent resources

Advent resources for 2015

Advent and Christmas resources from:
Augsburg Fortress
Concordia Publishing House
Sola Publishing
Messy Church
Church House Publishing 

Advent Conspiracy - Can Christmas still change the world?  The Christmas story is a story of love, hope, redemption and relationship. So, what happened? How did it turn into stuff, stress and debt? Somehow, we’ve traded the best story in the world for the story of what’s on sale.  The Advent Conspiracy is about helping congregations focus on Christmas being a time of Worshipping fully, Spending less, Giving more, Loving all!!

Advent - intergenerational event from Loyola Press
Advent traditions carnival

Advent Calendar history
Create your own advent video calendar

How to make an Advent wreath

Teacher's resources

Jesse Tree resources

Advent Worship Resources
Worship Planning and Sermon themes
Perth Anglican Diocese
United Methodist Church Worship Resources
Textweek
Richard J Fairchild
Amazing Love worship series
Re:  Worship

Advent Devotions
Listening to Luke
Lutheran Hour Ministries

Previous www.lutheranmission.blogspot.com Advent Resources

Advent Devotional Books




Thursday, September 24, 2015

Article: Whose Religion? Which Secularism? Australia Has a Serious Religious Literacy Problem

Michael Bird a Lecturer in Theology at Ridley College, Melbourne, and a Fellow of the Centre for Public Christianity explores what true secularism is and how it has its roots in Christianity...

Article:  Whose Religion? Which Secularism? Australia Has a Serious Religious Literacy Problem

The editorial in The Age last month could scarcely contain its enthusiasm that the Andrews government in Victoria had recently decided to end Special Religious Instruction (SRI) in school hours and replace it with lectures on domestic violence and respectful relationships.

The editor writes:

"At last, classrooms in the government school system in this state will be used for what they were intended: academic teaching and not religious instruction. Some 143 years after Victoria's Education Act made clear that education must be free, secular and compulsory, the Andrews government has committed to abolishing special religious instruction classes during school hours. That is as it should be. The Age has consistently argued over decades that, beyond reading, writing and arithmetic, there should be room for lessons about various belief systems and for discussion about ethics and social awareness. But the school hours funded by the taxpayer should not be used for indoctrination."
As I see it, this statement illustrates the fundamental problem we have with "secularism" and "religion" in Australia. Few people, not even educated journalists, have a clear idea of what these terms mean. It is a problem that stems from a lack of religious literacy.

What is secularism?

First, we need to understand the origins and meaning of secularism. Secularism is (ironically) a uniquely Christian and Western construction. Secularism emerged in post-Reformation Europe as a way of curtailing Protestant and Catholic rivalries, promoting religious freedom and reducing religious influence on the affairs of State. The German Reformer Martin Luther himself taught a political theology of "Two Kingdoms" whereby Christians lived simultaneously in two separate but parallel spheres of church and the wider culture.

When European States ceased enforcing one particular brand of Christianity on their subjects, whether it was Protestantism or Catholicism, citizens were relatively free to choose which version of the Christian religion that they wished to adhere to without fear of reprisal. It became a natural consequence, especially concurrent with the advent of philosophical rationalism and developing political theories stressing individual freedoms, for the choice to be whether one even wanted to be religious at all. Thus, secularism emerged in Christian Europe as a way of dissolving religious sectarianism, neutering the political ambitions of the Church and promoting religious freedom.

The Australian constitution was drawn up in this context, and Australia was intended as a secular nation. However, this secularity was never intended to sanitize the public square of religion. It was "secular" in the sense of ensuring that sectarian divisions in the old world would not be imported into the new.

This is why there is still so much religious paraphernalia in our constitution and parliamentary traditions. The assumption of our founding documents and practices was that most people would be religious at least some of the time, and they were free to choose when, how and where. Consequently our secular education system was never envisaged as prohibitive of religious instruction, only prohibitive of one religion being allowed to be imposed and to dominate.

In the post-World War II period, secularism became a great platform for multiculturalism and pluralism. This happened initially by virtue of our place in the British Commonwealth, which was diverse both culturally and religiously, and where Commonwealth countries facilitated heightened levels of interaction and transmigration.

Secularism subsequently became a way of supporting multiculturalism whereby numerous cultures with their diverse customs and religions could co-exist in a society that had no mandated religious adherence. Where religion is a matter of conscience, then relative freedoms and opportunities abound. This is not the case in many parts of the world. It was not true of the old communist bloc in the 1950s-90s, and it doesn't apply to much of the Middle East today, for example.

It is in the early 2000s that we see a different approach to secularism emerging - a redefinition of secularism as the partitioning of religion from the public sphere. The gradual uncovering of sex abuse scandals in religious organizations and the growth of Islamic jihadism meant that, for many, the two dominating images for religion have become paedophilia and terrorism. This led to a wide-scale antipathy towards religion.

On the back of this, the movement of "New Atheists" offered scathing and acidic critiques of religion as an enemy of a tolerant and pluralistic society. The most successful move of this group has been to redefine secularism, no longer as the freedom of the individual in religion, but as the scrubbing of religion from all public spheres.

Thus, the meaning of secularism in Australia has evolved from non-sectarianism, to pluralism, to militant anti-religious perspectives.

But it gets even more complicated. Secularism is not a monolithic concept and it is better to speak of secularisms in the plural. The secularism of Turkey is different to the secularism of France, which is different again to the secularism of Britain, and different again to the secularism of the United States. When people say "Let's have secularism!" my instinctive reflex is to ask, "Sure, which one?"

And it gets worse again. Another thing we have to remember is that in most places in the world - especially the Middle East, parts of Asia, Africa, and even Russia - there is no secularism. In many cultures religion is simply infused with economics, politics, national identity and other cultural facets of life. Religion forms an integral part of social identity, civic customs and ethnic boundary markers. For many, to be Russian is to be Russian Orthodox, to be Malay is to be Muslim, to be Thai is to be Buddhist. Secularism is not globally shared.

Here's the gist: secularism has undergone significant changes in Australia, there are different species of secularism across the world, and most regions in the world are not secular in the sense that many Westerners prefer.

What is religion?

Next, we need to understand why people are religious. The impression I get from years of reading some sections of the media is that religion is a lot like pornography: a mostly repulsive thing, which should be done only in private, and safely away from public view. The problem is that this assumes a jaundiced and caricatured idea of religion as an ideology, and one essentially hostile to so-called secular values of tolerance and pluralism.

Religion itself is very hard to define; academics do not fully agree on what it is. But one thing is certain: "religion" cannot be reduced to dogma instilled by indoctrination. Religion, in most places, is a way of life, lived under the auspices of certain beliefs about the divine and an orientation towards supra-natural realities.

I think it worth mentioning that religion is actually an attractive option for several reasons:

Religion can create a sense of identity - not merely a convenient tag, but a way defining oneself among a swirl of local sub-cultures.
Religions often contain rituals that infuse meanings into elements of life including birth, marriage and death, and give them transcendent significance.
Religions tend to see life as teleological, in that life has a meaning and a purpose - a welcomed alternative to secular anthropologies that promote either nihilism (life is meaningless) and or hedonism (consumption and pleasure as goals of life).
Religions often prescribe ethics and values, in relation to honouring the divine, but also behaviour towards others.
Religions create communities, hubs of families, which are often racially diverse and united by a common form of worship.
Religions imbibe a sense of hope, believing that it is possible to construct a better future, and to believe that God is working immanently in the world to bring one about.
In sum, religion is a blend of identity, symbol, purpose, behaviour, community and hope. If this is what religion is, then at its best it can make significant contributions to the lives of individuals and to our communities.

The way forward

I actually believe in secularism; I think it's the best way to promote peaceable social relationships in a society which includes people of all faiths and none. But we have to stop allowing journalists and politicians to insist on this non-sense that secularism means - and could only ever mean - the removal of religion from the public square.

The greatest achievement of Australian secularism is allowing peoples of all faiths and no faith to create a respectful space for each other, not the exclusion of faith communities from the public square.

Religion is more than dogma and rules. It is a mixture of worldview and praxis that permeates all of peoples' lives. We should remember that religion has had a prominent place in Australian history, and religious organizations form the backbone of our welfare network. Faith communities and the state can work together for the common good, and religion is an inalienable aspect of human existence, like music, art and literature.

What's more, religion is remarkably robust - it is not going to disappear. So it is far better that we treat religion as indelibly part of human life than as something to be begrudgingly tolerated and excised from public life.

the original article first appeared http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2015/09/23/4318349.htm

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Reformation resources

Reformation Resources portal 

Basic Reformation Resources
Learn more about the historic Reformation era with a rich biography of Martin Luther, a timeline exploring the progression of the movement, a slideshow of key figures, an interactive map of Reformation events, fun quizzes, and more!
Want to get new Reformation information every day?
Follow Road to the Reformation on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest to get little-known insights into Luther's everyday life and to track where Luther was day-by-day 500 years ago!
Resources include:

  • Martin Luther - biography
  • Timeline
  • Maps
  • Key Figures of the Reformation
  • Art
  • Quiz


Deeper Study of the Reformation
Whether for personal study or classroom use, explore our primary texts from Luther and other reformers, a bibliography of key texts in Reformation studies, additional lecture resources, and more!
Want to get new Reformation information every day? Follow Road to the Reformation on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest to get little-known insights into Luther's everyday life learn and to track where Luther was day-by-day 500 years ago!

Resources available for:

  • Books - The Histories of the Reformation
  • Books - The Writings of Martin Luther
  • Books - Biographies of Martin Luther
  • Books - The Theology of Martin Luther
  • Primary Sources
  • Classroom Resources
  • Articles and Websites
  • Course Handouts
  • Lectures
  • Scholarly Associations
  • Images
  • Books - Emerging Scholars


Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Course: The course of your life

The Course of Your Life is essentially a framework to help you apply the word of God to people’s lives prayerfully and intensively. The subtitle is ‘a personal revolution’, and that’s what the course seeks to do—to revolutionize hearts and minds by focusing on the central and profound issues of who God is, what he has done in Christ, what his extraordinary plans are for the world and for us, and how that generates a whole new agenda for the course of our lives: to be disciple-making disciples of Jesus.

Course Structure
Seminar 1: Getting started
Seminar 2: God’s creative purposes
Seminar 3: What went wrong?
Seminar 4: God’s answer
Seminar 5: God’s agenda
Seminar 6: Christ’s death, my life
Seminar 7: Transformation
Seminar 8: God’s method
Seminar 9: Where to now?


To run the course you will need:
➡ a workbook for each person
➡ a leader’s guide (the leader does not also need a workbook—the leader’s guide contains all the material in the workbook (black printing), plus notes and scripts for the leader (blue printing)
➡ a leader’s DVD (assuming you want to use the video input clips rather than teach the material yourself).
There are free samples to download of each of these components on their web site

For more information visit http://www.matthiasmedia.com/coyl/the-course-material/

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Lutheran Church of Australia - Board for local mission resources

The Lutheran Church of Australia Board for Local Mission has a focus on:
Grow as God's people and God as God's people.
Some of the resources available include:

Church Planting: Plant Water Grow booklet.
African and Asian ministry
Joint mission with other LCA agencies

for more information visit http://www.lca.org.au/local-mission.html

Evangelism Resources from Lutheran CORE

Lutheran Core provides the following evangelism resources

  • Reviewing your current worship practices 
  • Drifting towards universalism
  • Preaching with Relevance
  • Reflections and Observations
  • Pathology of Congregations in Decline
  • Small groups revisited
  • Suggestions for your annual stewardship campaign
  • Characteristics of effective,  growing churches
  • Does God have a plan for your congregation?
  • Mentoring in ministry
  • Moving from Reactive Conflict to Proactive Mission Part 1
  • Moving from reactive conflict to proactive mission Part 2
  • Motivating and empowering your priests
  • New demographic impacts outreach
  • Nominal Protestantism
  • Not forgetting the essentials–Part 1
  • One Congregation’s Journey Part 1
  • One Congregation’s Journey Part 2
  • Preaching in the Digital Age
  • Revisiting the Facts on Growth Study
  • Small Group Ministry 
  • Tension between style & content
  • What the local church is uniquely equipped to offer
  • Who Are “The Nones?”
  • Your ministry to Boomers

Article: Lessons for Effective ministry in Post-Christian context

Can the Christian community flourish in a post-Christian context?
This is the main question behind a landmark study of the state of faith and effective ministry in Scotland, a Post-Christian context—which has been undertaken by the Barna Group. Visit https://www.barna.org/barna-update/culture/730-scotland-lessons-for-effective-ministry-in-a-post-christian-context#.Vfcpnfmqqkq to view the study.



Saturday, September 12, 2015