Living Faith: Invitations from the Cross
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This Lent, discover how the words Jesus spoke as He was crucified were invitations to each of us – invitations to a dynamic, living faith in Him.
Each of these six Bible study sessions explores one of the sayings of Jesus from the cross, and looks at how we can respond in ways that will not only transform our relationship with Him, but potentially the world around us.
In his direct and honest style, Krish Kandiah reflects on how the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ crucifixion present His invitations to us, and how He calls us to forgiveness, service, hope, adoption, empathy and trust.
Glossy A5 booklet. Six sessions:
Both groups and individuals: Adults, older youth; Enquiring, Beginning, Growing.
Krish Kandiah employs his trademark empathetic and engaging style to bring us an innovative yet challenging look at the words of Jesus from the cross. A memorable and thought-provoking Lent journey.
Kandiah’s introduction includes the hope that we would ‘discover another level of living faith’ through the studies.
The booklet is beautifully laid out, as the Cover to Cover series always are, with super-clear icons and headings guiding the way through each session. Warm Up contains good, relevant icebreakers relevant to the theme; Opening Prayer has a written prayer to be used; Eye Opener is a short story or contemporary illustration of the theme; Setting the Scene is a longer passage doing just that; Bible Readings – two each time, one from the Gospels, with the particular saying of Jesus from the cross, and one from elsewhere in the Bible, which expands the thinking on the theme; Session Focus is a couple of pages of input on the theme from Kandiah, presumably to be read aloud or personally; Discussion Starters which comprise eight questions; Final Thoughts, a paragraph from Kandiah; Closing Prayer, again, scripted; Further Reflection end the session with suggestions for more exploration of the theme, through books and biblical material.
At the end of the book are some suggested ‘answers’ to the Discussion Questions. There are no other guiding notes regarding leading.
Any leader or member of the group. The main challenge will be to keep the pace up, as there is a good amount of written input. It is all excellent, however, so reading in advance, sharing out the paragraphs or other ways to keep interest going would be worth it.
Same booklet. If the leader chooses to ask the group members to read the input in advance, then everyone will need their own copy.
N/A
There is a clear pathway through the notes, but it may well be that the leader chooses to condenses some of the written input, or picks out some of it rather than using it all.
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Good engagement from the start with the easy icebreakers, prayers and then later, the discussion.
Reading, discussion, prayer and icebreakers. Quite a lot of listening, potentially.
Would suit groups who are happy with written word-based material.
Discussion questions would encourage this; extending the closing prayer time to praying specifically for issues that arise would be great too.
All material thoroughly based on a saying of Jesus from the cross, plus a supporting passage.
Kandiah explores the theme of the saying both in its context, and how it might apply to us today.
Really well done – examples, questions and stories are powerful and memorable. This is not just about the theory but very much about how it impacts our lives.
Broadly applicable.
Kandiah gets to the heart of the issues and draws us in to consider how each saying of Jesus is relevant to all of us.
Solid, practical and inspiring.
As each saying is explored, we are invited to consider what it says about the nature of God, as well as how it resonates in our lives.
The connection is seamless, and ranges from deep questions about adoption and fostering – Kandiah’s particular passion and calling – to the imperative yet difficulties of forgiveness.
Great questions about how we view this, and the balance between showing God’s love through words and deed.
Home for good, the charity that encourages and enables adoption and fostering, that Kandiah founded, is certainly up there as far as community involvement is concerned. He invites us to consider the part we might play.
Direct consideration of suffering, which includes the persecution of Christians around the world, and how we might respond.
Implicit.
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