Seventy Images of Grace in the Epistles . . .
That Make All the Difference in Daily Life
Foreword by Martin E. Marty
Imprint: Cascade Books
How can faith speak directly to people's real lives? How can conversation around Scripture make "all the difference" in the arenas of one's daily world? People who have heard the Bible many times--or for the first time--want to know in the terms and images of their life situation. "When my world seems to be shaking all around me, why doesn't it help to hear 'You are forgiven'?" And further, "What can I say to someone who feels totally alienated from God?"
Seventy Images of Grace in the Epistles will help people make connections and empower them for their ministries in daily life. The book presents an interplay of stories of people's actual lives and Epistle images of grace. Readers will begin to recognize the depth of the human predicament and the power of the gospel, thereby becoming equipped for Christian discipleship and vocation, not from duty or guilt, but from freedom. "Guides for Engagement" will help readers turn the book into a learning event.
Norma Cook Everist is Professor of Church and Ministry at Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa, and a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. A widely known theologian, lecturer, and workshop leader, she has published over a dozen books, including The Church as Learning Community; Church Conflict: From Contention to Collaboration; and (with Craig L. Nessan) Transforming Leadership.
"Grace abounds--often in surprising places, at surprising times, in surprisingly unexpected ways! That is the prevailing message of this new work by Norma Everist. Exploring encounters of grace across the range of contemporary human experience and through the lens of a rigorous engagement with accounts and descriptions of grace in the biblical record, Everist provocatively affirms the abundance of grace available to those open to its abiding presence and its persisting power."
--Charles R. Foster, Professor of Religion and Education emeritus, Candler School of Theology, Emory University
"Norma Cook Everist has created an engaging, inspiring, and above all a most usable book here. Though Paul writes repeatedly of 'God's abundant grace,' this book has helped me realize how abundant it is, and most effectively in the predicaments of life. Its engaging stories are all about 'us' and how, bidden or unbidden, God's grace is ever at work in our daily lives. This makes it an invaluable resource in the educational and pastoral ministries of the Church."
--Thomas Groome, Professor of Theology and Religious Education, Boston College
"Seventy Images of Grace in the Epistles tells of a volunteer who responded to praise by saying, 'We are all just working with the tools God gave us.' Everist illumines daily life with familiar and fresh tools: images of grace from the New Testament letters, anecdotes from ordinary lives, wise connections, reflective questions. This will be an engaging guide for individual and group consideration."
--Stanley Olson, President, Wartburg Seminary
"A fine book which concretely connects Christian faith and our daily lives. Everist has collected stories from people in their faith opportunities and struggles. The result is an excellent resource for individuals and especially for small groups to engage in thoughtful reflection on the many ways the Epistles illumine our faith journeys each day. The 'Guides for Engagement' constitute a very helpful resource for anyone involved in education."
--Nelvin L. Vos, Emeritus Professor of English, Muhlenberg College
"In Seventy Images of Grace in the Epistles, Everist combines scripture and story to illustrate what her students have heard from her in class: 'The curriculum is God and God's people; all else is resource.'"
--Shelley R. Wickstrom, Bishop of the Alaska Synod, ELCA
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