Christ Church
Walshaw, Bury
Living and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ
Going Deeper
Previous 'Books of the Month'
Week commencing 24th May 2020
'How to Pray: a simple guide for normal people'
Pete Greig
“Prayer was never supposed to be perplexing. In 'How to Pray', Pete Greig offers a simple guide to prayer: what it is, who it's for, and what it can achieve.”
Week commencing 21st June 2020
'What's so mazing about grace'
Philip Yancey
“Grace does not excuse wrong but treasures the wrongdoer. True grace is shocking, scandalous. It shakes our conventions with it's insistence on getting close to evil and touching it with mercy and hope." Philip Yancey
Week commencing 19th July 2020
'God and the Pandemic'
Tom Wright
BishopTom Wright examines our initial reactions to the Pandemic looking 'to blame' and 'seeing what might not be there' and instead, he invites us to consider a different way of seeing and responding – a way that draws on the teachings and examples of scripture, and above all on the way of living, thinking and praying revealed to us by Jesus
Week commencing 16th August 2020
'Paradoxology: Why Christianity was never meant to be simple'
Krish Kandiah
A bit of a modern classic (2014) this very 'easy to read book' explores some of the paradoxes which seem to undermine our Christian faith when old answers seem to have worn thin. Chapters address paradoxes including 'The God who needs nothing but asks for everything', The God who is actively inactive' and 'The God who wins as He loses'
Week commencing 20th September 2020
Striking Out:
Archbishop Stephen Cottrell
This book came out of Stephen's 700 km pilgrimage walk to Santiago de Compostela, in Spain, and contains prayers, poems, reflections and images.
Whether you have been on pilgrimage in the past, whether you are thinking about walking the ‘Camino’, or you are happy to ‘go’ on pilgrimage while staying at home, you might find this is the book for you.
Week commencing 18th October 2020
‘Secret Believers: What happens when Muslims turn to Christ?’ - Brother Andrew & Al Janssen
Thousands of ‘Muslim Background Believers’ suffer daily rejection; are prohibited from sharing their faith; and are threatened and in extreme cases beaten or even killed by extremist Muslims.
Here ‘God Smuggler’ Bother Andrew has written a thrilling novel, tracing the intertwined lives of a small group of believers in an unnamed Islamic country. The story becomes all the more fascinating as we realise that the stories are all based on the actual experiences of real people.
Week commencing 10th January 2021
Sitting at the feet of Rabbi Jesus: Ann Spangler & Lois Tverberg
“In Scripture, we perceive the words of Jesus at a distance of many centuries, from an entirely different culture, and in a different language. But what if we could find a way to fine-tune our hearing so that we could develop first-century Jewish ears? Then the words of Jesus that electrified the crowds would have a much greater impact on us.”
This book helps Christians in understanding the Bible (both Old and New Testaments). It enables the reader to grasp a deeper meaning from the things that Jesus taught, as well as to correct the assumptions many have made about the culture in which Jesus lived.
Teaching to help us grow as disciples of Jesus
Week commencing 24th May 2020
Ravi Zacharias
'Why I believe Jesus'
www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3kM6Rax1AU
Week commencing 7th June 2020
Michael Reeves
'Explaining the Trinity'
Week commencing 2nd August 2020
'With God on our side'
produced by Porter Speakman
Week commencing 16th August 2020
John Ortberg
'When the game is over it all goes back in the box'
Week commencing 30th August 2020
Elaine Storkey CBE
'Women in a Patriarchal World'
Week commencing 13th September 2020
Katharine Hayhoe
'Christians & Climate Change'
Week commencing 27th September 2020
Jeff Lucas
'Living for Jesus in Turbulent Times'
Fortnight commencing 18th October 2020
Francis Chan
'The Simple Gospel'
Week commencing 22nd November 2020
Tony Reinke
'Who will have your attention? Clinging to Christ in a Digital Age.'
Fortnight commencing 17th January 2021
John Piper
‘How important is the Bible?’
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/how-important-is-the-bible
Going Deeper teaching series through Lent
What it means to be human: Tim Keller
1. Human Nature: To Err is Human?
2. Human Race: The Pursuit of More?
3. Human Being: Recovering Who We Are?
4. Human Condition: Living When Life Hurts?
5. Human Story: Happily Ever After?
18th April 2021
‘The Beautiful Story ‘
from the Church of England Evangelical Council
16th May 2021
Joan Bakewell interviews Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vbydx95tVQ
Week commencing 31st May 2020 (Pentecost)
Jim Cymbala
'Holy Spirit Directed Ministry'
https://youtu.be/PIgllS6mchY
Week commencing 14th June 2020
Tim Keller
'You must be born again'
Week commencing 28th June 2020
J John
'If God asked you to do something, would you do it?'
Week commencing 12th July 2020
Andy Stanley
'Don't settle for Christian'
Week commencing 9th August 2020
Andy Stanley
'What it means to have faith'
https://youtu.be/-OplztyjHEc
Week commencing 6th September 2020
Justin Welby
'Evangelism in a Multi Faith Context'
Week commencing 20th September 2020
Christine Caine
‘The courage to let go of your past.’
Fortnight commencing 4th October 2020
Tim Keller
'Racism and Corporate Evil: A White Guy’s Perspective '
Week commencing 1st November 2020
Bishop David Walker
'A reflection for All Souls'
Fortnight commencing 31st January 2021
Bishop Michael Nazir Ali
'God’s Church'
30th May 2021
The Meaning of Marriage: Tim & Kathy Keller
11th July 2021
‘How God Made Me Happy in Him’: John Piper
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cRkUt4glaE&ab_channel=DesiringGod
For Lent 2021
Living His Story: Revealing the extraordinary love of God in ordinary ways -
Hannah Steele
(The Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent Book 2021)
The book explores accounts of Jesus and his first followers in the Bible and helps us discover simple and practical ways of telling the gospel story afresh as we look forward to celebrating Easter Sunday, when Jesus says to us “go and tell”.
The Revd Dr Hannah Steel is an author and teaches at St Mellitus College.
For April / May 2021
‘Gentle and Lowly: The heart of Christ for sinners and suffers’
By Dane Ortlund
Christians know what Jesus has done – but who is he? What is his deepest heart for his people, weary and faltering on their journey toward heaven? Jesus said he is “gentle and lowly in heart”. This book reflects on these words, opening up a neglected yet central truth about who he is for sinners and suffers today.
For May / June 2021
'Christianity Rediscovered'
by Vincent J Donovan
This book is a modern Christian classic …
It’s a the story of how one man, a Roman Catholic priest, brought a number of groups Masai people in East Africa to Christian faith. But also makes us re-think how we do church and how we do mission in our community.
For June / July 2021
'Glorify God in your Body'
by Martin Davie
Commended by the Church of England Evangelical Council this book helps us think about some of the issues involved in the 'Living in Love & Faith' conversation.
It is packed with information and biblical perspectives on human identity and flourishing in marriage, singleness and friendship as it considers the current challenges of 'the world' and looks at how Christians should respond.
For July / August 2021
‘Rejoice & Tremble’ by Michael Reeves
If you enjoyed ‘Gentle & Lowly by Dane Ortland’ (a recent ‘Book’) then you might want to have a read of this book by Michael Reeves from the same series.
In this book Michael clears the clouds of confusion and shows that fear of the Lord is not a negative thing at all, but an intensely delighted wondering at God our Creator and Redeemer.
You can the book from various outlets for around £10
For August / September 2021
‘Dare to Believe: Seven ways to knowing God better’ by David Payne
The way to God is open! Because of what Jesus has done, we can now encounter the unquenchable love of the Father. All we have to do is dare to believe and our lives will never be the same again.
In this inspiring, humorous and practical guide David covers seven simple keys to knowing God better and includes daily scripture reflections too.
Chapters include 'Dare to believe you are ... loved, forgiven, renewed, welcomed, heard, filled and sent'.
The book is not new so can be picked up second hand online for less than £4.
11th July 2021
Forgiving What You Can't Forget: Lysa Terkeurst
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrAWD-eoISs&ab_channel=100huntley
