Sooner or later every person faces questions about death and whether there is anything beyond it. This little book consists of personal and sometime private letters between three brothers who realize their own lives may soon come to an end. The wisdom they offer is not only for their own families and friends left behind, but for others who have faced the loss of loved ones. Writing from different religious perspectives, the letters are nonetheless spiritual in the way they seek to wrest from a life lived in the face of death some wisdom for one another as well as others who have shared their struggles with life's deepest questions. When he was asked about the essence of his philosophy, Plato reportedly said, "Practice dying." These letters take his wisdom to heart in a series of heartfelt exchanges over the course of a year, concluding with each author's request for what his memorial service would be like.

With over 300,000 copies in print, When Helping Hurts is a paradigm-forming contemporary classic on the subject of poverty alleviation. This stand-alone resource applies the principles of that book specifically to short term missions. Helping Without Hurting: Short Term MissionsLeader’s Guide is aimed at the preparation and debriefing of short-term missionaries. Accompanying Helping Without Hurting: Short Term Missions Participants’ Guide, it is an ideal resource for church leaders, missions pastors, and youth pastors who make short-term missions planning decisions and desire to prevent inadvertent harm as they enter materially poor communities. With direction for designing STMs well in light of the principles of When Helping Hurt, practical examples from short-term trips to illustrate those principles, and suggested resources for further learning and implimentatin, this guide is an all-in-one manual for leaders. Plus, it shows the content of the participant’s guide with annotation and teaching notes to guide leaders as they facilitate sessions with participants.

Help Overcoming Painful Experiences (H.O.P.E.) is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to help people experience a life transformation through their emotional pain so they can live the purpose-filled, victorious life God intended and designed them to live. We set people free from emotional bondage and empower them to live a transformed life. To accomplish our purpose, the H.O.P.E. program was designed to help people 1) resurrect hope, 2) overcome emotional pain from a variety of issues, 3) build a safe and healthy support network, 4) comprehend the truths about God in the midst of pain while exposing and replacing lies, and 5) experience a life transformation through the healing and restorative power of Jesus Christ. Our transformation model consists of three levels. Names of H.O.P.E. is Level 2 and centers on Names of God that meet the needs encountered while going through painful experiences. Each lesson relates a Name of God to His principles and purpose for pain, His character in the midst of pain, and how He can transform us through our pain and empower us to fulfill our purpose in life.

'Walking Together: A Congregational Reflection on Biblical Church Discipline' is a study of the biblical concept of church discipline. It seeks to show that church discipline, rightly understood, is a ministry of mercy and grace that will bless churches that return to it. 'Walking Together' reveals that church discipline was a ministry that was very important to earlier believers, and that the modern church has abandoned it to her own detriment. It is a clarion call for individuals and churches to come back to this vital but long-neglected aspect of congregational and personal life. By doing so, churches can be healed and interpersonal relationships can be restored.

You work hard planning mission trips. Now make mission trips work for you and your group.Headed to inner-city America? Appalachia? A border shantytown? Overseas? Wherever your destination, the MISSION TRIP PREP KIT contains all you need to prepare your students for an unforgettable cross-cultural experience—and tools to debrief them after they’ve returned to their worlds.Use this kit—To get on-site impact as well as long-term spiritual change in your kids.Whether you’re a mission-trip novice or a savvy traveler outside your comfort zones.Whether your group’s trip is geared toward reaching others with the gospel or to disciple your young missionaries.In several sessions spread over a month or two—or in an intensive, two-day training session or retreat.IN THIS LEADER’S GUIDE: You’ll receive not only the rationale, the how, and the logistics of planning and pulling off a missions trip, but—and this is the genius of the leader’s guide—4 PRE-TRIP TEACHING SESSIONS that will help your students—·Assess their EXPECTATIONS, their fears, their motivations.·Adjust their PERCEPTIONS of the culture they’ll be working in.·Improve their emotional and spiritual STAMINA for living for a week or a month in a very different world from their own.·Practice the skills and ATTITUDES (teamwork, servanthood, Christ-centeredness) they’ll need for a missions trip.And to make sure your trip’s goals are accomplished and the benefits stick around for the long haul, you’ll also receive 2 POST-TRIP SESSIONS that will help you DEBRIEF your students, ease them back into their own worlds, CELEBRATE with them, and make missions and ministry part of their EVERYDAY LIVES WITH JESUS.What’s more, in these pre- and post-trip teaching sessions are a variety of ACTIVITIES...processing points...creative PRAYER IDEAS...take-home applications...BIBLE STUDIES relevant to mission tripping...TALK OUTLINES that both instruct and inspire...and lots of sessions options you can tailor to your own HIGH SCHOOLERS OR MIDDLE SCHOOLERS.

Leader's guide for the seven-week whole-church course exploring how to engage with the world with compassion and justice. Gospel Shaped Church is a curriculum from The Gospel Coalition that will help whole congregations pause and think carefully and prayerfully about the kind of church they are called to be. This seven-week track explores what it means to be a community engaging with the world with compassion and justice. The Leader's Guide contains everything you need to lead this innovative and flexible curriculum. This flexible resource will train your whole church through teaching, preaching, daily reading and small-group Bible study and discussion-or any combination of those elements. The overall aim is that your church will embark on a journey to discover the kind of people they should be as they are shaped by the gospel of Jesus Christ. Works alongside the Gospel Shaped Mercy DVD and the Gospel Shaped Mercy Handbook for use by church members.

"Sadly, Christian teens are not immune to the effects of divorce. Even among Christian families, the divorce rate is more than 50 percent. The emotions and issues that are brought up after divorce can leave teens feeling lost and confused about their family and their faith. In this six-week study, you can help students deal with the thoughts and feelings they’re experiencing after a divorce—whether it happened recently or when they were younger. With engaging stories and thought-provoking questions, students will explore issues of anger, guilt, forgiveness, family, and more through a biblical lens, offering them hope and healing. This leader’s guide will give you the tools to help you lead students through this study—whether you have experienced divorce in your lifetime or not. You’ll find that when you give students the opportunity to open up and examine the feelings involved with divorce, much-needed healing can begin in their lives."

When pain is real, why is God silent? This brand new collection is the best of acclaimed author Frederick Buechner's essays on pain, loss, and the healing power of memories that explores God's tender grace and how to be stewards of the pain in our lives. Here now are the best of Buechner's writings on pain and loss, covering such topics as the power of hidden secrets, loss of a dearly beloved, letting go, resurrection from the ruins, peace, and listening for the quiet voice of God. And he reveals that pain and sorrow can be a treasure—an amazing grace. The Leader Guide contains everything needed to guide a group through the four-week study including session plans, activities, and discussion questions, as well as multiple format options.

Network is a six-session dynamic program to help Christians understand who God has uniquely made them to be and mobilize them to a place of meaningful service in the local church. Each participant in Network will work through a series of assessments to discover their unique blend of spiritual gifts, personal style, and ministry passion.