Recommendations based on "Lectures on Genesis Chapters 1-5"

One of the most popular and beloved introductions to the concept of faith ever written, 'Mere Christianity' has sold millions of copies worldwide. The book brings together C.S. Lewis's legendary radio broadcasts during the war years, in which he set out simply to 'explain and defend the belief that has been common to nearly all Christians at all times'.

Jesus was human, like you and me. If the gospel is true, he still is.Christians worldwide believe that Jesus is God. But this belief wasn’t the starting point for Jesus’ earliest followers. While Jesus’ humanity was a given for the disciples, his divinity was a truth they grew into believing—it was a journey of faith. As Christians today, we are also called into a faith journey—this time, to rediscover Jesus’ humanity.Yes, we believe that Jesus is God, but do we truly believe that Jesus is human? And if so, how does that transform our own experience of being human?Through eye-opening yet down-to-earth reflections, Jesus Journey invites you to encounter Jesus again—as if for the first time—by experiencing his breathing, heart-beating, body-and-blood, crying-and-laughing humanity.Join Bible teacher and storyteller Trent Sheppard as he shines new light on the vibrant humanity of the historical Jesus through an up-close look at Jesus’ relationships with Mary and Joseph, with the God he called Abba, with his closest friends and followers, and how, ultimately, his crucifixion and resurrection finally and forever redefine what we mean by the word God. Come encounter the human who radically transforms our view of God.Come encounter the God who forever changes what it means to be human.

OVER 500, 000 SOLD IN THE PRAYING THE SCRIPTURES SERIESGod Has a Beautiful Plan for Your Marriage.Equip yourself and your spouse with powerful and life-changing prayers that will strengthen your marriage and help you discover the peace, provision, and joy that comes from trusting God with your most important relationship.Regardless of where you are in your marriage journey—be it newly engaged, celebrating a golden anniversary, or weathering a storm—this book is your companion, guiding you to pray effectively for every aspect of your marriage.Jodie Berndt vulnerably shares stories from her own marriage of almost forty years, as well as wisdom gleaned from teaching marriage courses and mentoring couples, to guide you to: Pray with power through common marital challenges. Handle crises with God's promises and perspectives. Find natural ways to support and pray with your spouse. Develop a more loving, joyful, and deeply connected marriage through scriptural prayers personalized for your own relationship. Praying the Scriptures for Your Marriage is the latest addition to the bestselling Praying the Scriptures series. With short, easy-to-read chapters, this book invites you to read, reflect, and respond as you pray the Scriptures over every part of your marriage—whether you choose to do it individually or together with your spouse. Discover the provision and peace of God as you pray his Word over your marriage." Praying the Scriptures for Your Marriage is unlike any marriage book you've read. While offering plenty of rich insight and wise advice, Jodie Berndt also offers brilliant prayer guides to help you invite the power of God's transformational work and presence into your marriage." —Gary Thomas, author of Sacred Marriage

Practical and Gospel-centered thoughts on how to have a fruitful ministry by one of America's leading and most beloved pastor.Many church leaders are struggling to adapt to a culture that values individuality above loyalty to a group or institution. There have been so many "church growth" and "effective ministry" books in the past few decades that it's hard to know where to start or which ones will provide useful and honest insight.Based on over twenty years of ministry in New York City, Timothy Keller takes a unique approach that measures a ministry's success neither by numbers nor purely by the faithfulness of its leaders, but on the biblical grounds of fruitfulness.Center Church outlines a balanced theological vision for ministry organized around three core commitments: Gospel-centered: The gospel of grace in Jesus Christ changes everything, from our hearts to our community to the world. It completely reshapes the content, tone, and strategy of all that we do. City-centered: With a positive approach toward our culture, we learn to affirm that cities are wonderful, strategic, and under-served places for gospel ministry. Movement-centered: Instead of building our own tribe, we seek the prosperity and peace of our community as we are led by the Holy Spirit."Between a pastor's doctrinal beliefs and ministry practices should be a well-conceived vision for how to bring the gospel to bear on the particular cultural setting and historical moment. This is something more practical than just doctrine but much more theological than "how-to steps" for carrying out a ministry. Once this vision is in place, it leads church leaders to make good decisions on how to worship, disciple, evangelize, serve, and engage culture in their field of ministry—whether in a city, suburb, or small town." — Tim Keller, Core Church

Jesus is always at work and active...Follow Dr. Jeremiah through the gospel of Mark in a chapter-by-chapter study that will help you understand what it meant to the people at the time it was written, and what it means to Christians today.Mark's gospel was likely the first written record of the life of Jesus Christ, and it's full of energy and action. The word immediately appears so often in the text that it's hard not to get caught up in the pace of the narrative as Jesus moves to establish his kingdom in a way that was completely unanticipated.However, Mark also begins his account with words from Isaiah the prophet, making it (immediately) clear that—had the religious leaders of the time been paying attention—they might have been a little more prepared for the arrival of the Messiah and for everything that happened next...Each of this study's twelve lessons is clearly organized to include: Getting Started: An opening question to introduce you to the lesson. Setting the Stage: A short reflection to explain the context of the study. Exploring the Text: The Scripture reading for the lesson with related study questions. Reviewing the Story: Questions to help you identify key points in the reading. Applying the Message: Questions to help you apply the key ideas to their lives. Reflecting on the Meaning: A closing reflection on the key teachings in the lesson.—ABOUT THE SERIES—The Jeremiah Bible Study Series captures Dr. David Jeremiah's forty-plus years of commitment in teaching the Word of God. In each study, you'll gain insights into the text, identify key stories and themes, and be challenged to apply the truths you uncover to your life. By the end of each study, you'll come away with a clear and memorable understanding of that Bible book.Each study also contains a Leader's Guide.

“This crisp retelling of Christian history from the days of the apostles to the eve of the Reformation is filled with insight.” —Mark A. Noll, Wheaton CollegeFrom Justo L. Gonzalez, author of the acclaimed three-volume History of Christian Thought, comes the fully revised and updated second volume of The Story of Christianity. Gonzalez’s astute scholarship, lucid prose, and impassioned focus tell the narrative history of Christianity, beginning with the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century and leading all the way up to present day.

Scholar and pastor Matthew Barrett retraces the historical and biblical roots of the doctrine that Scripture alone is the final and decisive authority for God's people. God's Word Alone is a decisive defense of the Bible as the inspired and inerrant Word of God.Revitalizing one of the five great declarations of the Reformation—sola Scriptura—Barrett: Analyzes what the idea of sola Scriptura is and what it entails, clarifying why the doctrine is truth and why it's so essential to Christianity. Surveys the development of this theme in the Reformation and traces the crisis that followed resulting in a shift away from the authority of Scripture. Shows that we need to recover a robust doctrine of Scripture's authority in the face of today's challenges and why a solid doctrinal foundation built on God's Word is the best hope for the future of the church.This book is an exploration of the past in order to better understand our present and the importance of reviving this indispensable doctrine for the Christian faith and church today.—THE FIVE SOLAS—Historians and theologians have long recognized that at the heart of the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation were five declarations, often referred to as the "solas." These five statements summarize much of what the Reformation was about, and they distinguish Protestantism from other expressions of the Christian faith: that they place ultimate and final authority in the Scriptures, acknowledge the work of Christ alone as sufficient for redemption, recognize that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone, and seek to do all things for God’s glory.The Five Solas Series is more than a simple rehashing of these statements, but instead expounds upon the biblical reasoning behind them, leading to a more profound theological vision of our lives and callings as Christians and churches.

Read the Bible with Fresh Eyes as You See Scripture's Promise-Shaped PatternsWhen you read the Bible, have you ever noticed parallels between certain people, events, and institutions? Should we understand Noah as a kind of new Adam, and if so, does that somehow point us to the second Adam? How are we to interpret these similarities?In Typology--Understanding the Bible's Promise-Shaped Patterns, author James M. Hamilton Jr. shows that the similarities we find in the Bible are based on genuine historical correspondence and demonstrates how we recognize them in the repetition of words and phrases, the parallels between patterns of events, and key thematic equivalences. When read in light of God's promises, these historical correspondences spotlight further repetitions that snowball on one another to build escalating significance.This book stimulates fresh thinking on the relationship between the Old and New Testaments and will help pastors, preachers, and students better understand the dynamics of inner-biblical interpretation. It explores several of the "promise-shaped patterns" we see in the Old Testament including: Adam and New Adam Prophets, Priests, and Kings The Righteous Sufferer Creation Exodus and New Exodus MarriageHamilton shows that the prophets and sages of Israel learned to interpret Scripture from Moses and his writings. And by tracing the organic development of subsequent biblical patterns, he explains how these patterns created expectations that are fulfilled in Christ. Jesus himself taught his followers to understand the Old Testament in this way (Luke 24:45), and the authors of the New Testament taught the earliest followers of Jesus how to read the Bible through a typological lens.Typology--Understanding the Bible's Promise-Shaped Patterns equips pastors, bible teachers, students, and serious Bible readers to understand and embrace the typological interpretive perspective of the biblical authors. You will learn to read the Bible as it was intended by its original authors while cultivating a deeper love and appreciation for the Scriptures.

You've heard people say "Who you are matters more than what you do". Does the Bible really teach that? In Garden City, popular pastor and speaker John Mark Comer gives a fresh take on our calling and our purpose, with a surprisingly counter-culture take. Through his creative and conversational style, Comer takes a good look at Genesis and the story of a man, a woman, and a garden. He unpacks God's creation and his original intent for how we are meant to spend our time. Here, you'll find answers to questions like "Does God care where I work?" "What about what I do with my free time or how much rest I get?" "Does he have a clear direction for me?" Practical and theologically rich, Garden City speaks to twenty and thirty-somethings who are figuring out next steps and direction in their lives. Garden City is the Purpose Driven Life for the next generation--the book that helps us answer why we are here and what should we do about it.

A new commentary for today's world, The Story of God Bible Commentary explains and illuminates each passage of Scripture in light of the Bible's grand story. The first commentary series to do so, SGBC offers a clear and compelling exposition of biblical texts, guiding everyday readers in how to creatively and faithfully live out the Bible in their own contexts. Its story-centric approach is ideal for pastors, students, Sunday school teachers, and laypeople alike. Each volume employs three main, easy-to-use sections designed to help readers live out God's story: LISTEN to the Story: Includes complete NIV text with references to other texts at work in each passage, encouraging the reader to hear it within the Bible's grand story. EXPLAIN the Story: Explores and illuminates each text as embedded in its canonical and historical setting. LIVE the Story: Reflects on how each text can be lived today and includes contemporary stories and illustrations to aid preachers, teachers, and students.   —Ephesians— Like all of Paul's letters, Ephesians is centered in the gospel and its implications. It tells the story of what God has done in Christ and spells out the ethical implications of this story. But the letter to the Ephesians is unique among Paul's letters in many ways, including in how it tells of the story of God, beginning "before the creation of the world" and ending in eternity. Edited by Scot McKnight and Tremper Longman III, and written by a number of top-notch theologians, The Story of God Bible Commentary series will bring relevant, balanced, and clear-minded theological insight to any biblical education or ministry.