June 2008
Dear [firstname,fallback=friend],
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Welcome to another Matthias Media enews. There are some exciting new resources this month, so let's jump straight into it.
New Resources
The following new resources have recently arrived in stock at Matthias Media. Click on the links to find more information, pricing for larger quantities, or to place an order in either our Australian or US online store.
Please note: at the time of writing, delivery of stock to our US office has been delayed by US Customs. We expect it will be cleared for delivery very soon, but this is out of our control. US orders for these new resources (and some reprints of older resources) may be delayed slightly as a result. We apologise in advance for any such delays.
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The Future of JesusDr Peter Jensen, former Principal of Moore Theological College and currently the leader of the Anglican Church in Sydney, asks some intriguing questions about the future of Jesus and our society: who was Jesus? Can we believe in his miracles? If Jesus announced the coming of the Kingdom of God, why are we still waiting? Was he a failed prophet or a religious genius? And does it matter? The intelligent and thought-provoking answers Peter Jensen provides in this book will challenge non-Christian readers to look again at the person of Jesus, and will greatly strengthen the confidence and faith of those who already love and serve Christ. (A preview of the cover, contents and chapter 1 of this book is available as a PDF online.) |
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FaithThe latest in our Guidebook for Life series is a marvellous guide to the critically important topic of faith. Just what is faith? What makes it so important? What are we meant to have faith in, and what difference should our faith make to everyday life? This is a very helpful book for any Christian, no matter what stage they're at in their Christian life. (A preview of the cover, contents and chapter 1 of this book is available as a PDF online.) |
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The Free Gift of SonshipThis brand new Interactive Bible Study continues on from The Free Gift of Life—Gordon Cheng's insightful studies on Romans 1-5. In The Free Gift of Sonship, you will explore the challenging and greatly encouraging teaching of Paul's letter to the Romans in Romans 6-11. (A preview of the cover, contents and study 1 is available as a PDF online.) This new Interactive Bible Study is the first in an updated and improved format for our Interactive Bible Study (IBS) series. |
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Two Ways to live: the choice we all face (French and Simplified Chinese)We've also added a couple more foreign language versions of our Two Ways to Live (pocket edition) tract—one in French and the other in Chinese using simplified characters. (We also have available a Chinese edition in traditional characters.) |
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Thinking about Ministry
By trashing the idea that money or professional qualifications should form any part of what defines ministry, we are free to rediscover what the Bible has always taught, which is that the source of all ministry is God the Father who, through the work of the Son, gives gifts of his Spirit to all who believe the gospel. He does this regardless of whether or not the Christian has remembered to fill in his superannuation details so he can be formally registered as a gospel minister with the denominational head office.
In this month's online ‘Thinking About Ministry’ article, Gordon Cheng argues that we should abolish lay ministry. What does he mean? Is he serious? Read his very stimulating article and find out.
The Briefing—June 2008
A hitchhiker's guide to the underworld—an interview with Peter Bolt by Tony Payne. (Read this online.)
The stinger of death (1 Cor 15:56) by Con Campbell
Talking about Total Church (Part 2) by Simon Flinders, Steve Timmis and Tony Payne. (Read Parts 1, 2 and 3 online.)
Plus our other regular sections: Up front, Pastor's brief, Bookshelf, Resource talk and Bible brief (daily readings on Galatians).
12 month subscription: from AUS $35.00 | USA $29.99 or buy this issue as a PDF AUS $5.00.
Download the latest episode of our podcast The Briefing Lounge. (30:23; 13.9 MB. Subscribe to the feed.)
Gospel growth focus
Matthias Media develops ministry resources designed to promote and fuel what we call the ‘gospel growth process’. You can learn more about this at our website: AUS | USA. In this section of enews, we highlight one category and refer you to some of our resources available to help in this area. This month, it's ‘follow-up’.
‘Follow-up’ is the process of meeting with somebody who is new to being a Christian, helping to establish them in the faith and teaching them the basics of the Christian faith.
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Just for StartersFor over a quarter of a century, Just for Starters has been widely regarded as one of the best resources to use for follow-up. It consists of seven introductory, straightforward Bible studies on:
These studies are specifically designed for one-to-one use. In one sense, we could also include these studies in our ‘Outreach’ category since it is often through doing the first two or three studies that a person really becomes a Christian. The studis help them to develop a clearer understanding of how they are saved by faith. Thousands of people can testify to the positive impact these studies have had on them at the beginning of their Christian walk. |
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Preparing Just for StartersIf you are excited about the idea of meeting one-to-one with new or younger Christians and helping them to get established, but you are, perhaps, just a little daunted, you might like to run yourself through Preparing Just for Starters. This self-study course will take you step-by-step through the process of using Just for Starters with a new Christian, and will give you the confidence you need for this important ministry. To help you prepare each of the studies, the course features audio teaching input (two CDs are included with every booklet). |
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Christian Living for StartersA newer addition to the follow-up range is Christian Living for Starters. These seven studies extend the ‘for Starters’ series to cover seven more important topics including:
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This month's special offer
Many of you are fans of The Bible Overview course. It's a terrific multimedia presentation that helps people get the big picture of the Bible so that they can better understand the individual parts.
Last year we put all the course materials into electronic format, with PowerPoint presentations and PDFs etc, and put them all onto a DVD-ROM.
One of the components of the old paper-based version of the course that we still have left over is the set of laminated picture cards. Each set contains 45 different laminated cards, which enables you to present the whole Bible Overview on a wall or whiteboard. We'd like to clear them out of our warehouse and find good homes for them.
We used to sell these sets of cards for AUS $19.95 plus postage. But we're offering them to you for just $9.95 including postage within Australia. (Overseas customers email us for postage to other countries.) Since the cards are in our Australian warehouse, you can only order these through our Australian store.
Conferences
Just a reminder that if you are interested in the ministry of Christian writing, registrations are still open for The Faithful Writer conference to be held in Sydney on Saturday 2 August.
Thanks again for your continuing interest in Matthias Media.
Ian Carmichael and Tony Payne
for the Matthias Media team
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