Churches Together in Britain and Ireland

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• Theology and Unity
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• Lent 2013
• Sunday Worship
• Study intro
• Study week 1
• Study week 2
• Study week 3
• Study week 4
• Study week 5
• Study week 6
• Lent 2012
• Lent 2011:
  The Unreconciled
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• Lent 2009:
  Sense Making Faith
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lent 2013

study

Photo: © Shutterstock.com/clearviewstock

    
Lent course 2013

• BBC Radio 4 Sunday Worship 
• BBC Local Radio 
• Study Material
• Background to the course
• Themes
  

   
We all have stories to tell: stories about who we are, where we come from and where we hope to go in life. We tell stories about our ‘journeys of faith'.

Lent is a time when we think about the story of the Israelites escaping from slavery in Egypt, miraculously crossing the Red Sea, struggling through the wilderness for forty years, and, at last, entering the promised land.

Christians have always told stories: we tell and retell the stories of Jesus and of the early church. These are stories which help us shape our lives, to see ourselves as ‘disciples'. Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, we talk about all the things that have happened to us. We share stories about our ‘journeys of faith' and we need the help of Scripture to make sense of them.

Lent is a time, when we say ‘This is our story': the story of the Israelites, the story of Jesus, the story we can tell about our own ‘journey of faith'. We each have a story to tell and every story is different.

As in previous years, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland is encouraging local ecumenical study groups to meet. Material for study will link, for those who would like to listen, with Sunday Worship on BBC Radio 4 (0810-0850) and special items based on the themes of the course will be broadcast on Sunday mornings on BBC local radio. Find out about these radio programmes on the BBC Religion and Ethics website  and you can find your local BBC radio station on the BBC website . But it is not necessary to listen to the broadcast material to join in with a local group.

BBC Radio 4 Sunday Worship

Sunday Worship links to the week's theme at 0810 on BBC Radio 4. More >>

BBC Local Radio

Look out for the related Sunday morning programmes across the BBC's network of 39 BBC local radio stations (find your local BBC radio station ). For more details see the BBC Religion and Ethics website

Study material

The resource is available in full colour with graphics (PDF) and as a text-only (large print/accessibility) version (PDF or Word file).

You can also access the study guide online >>

Downloads

Lent 2013 study guide (PDF, 4.7MB)

(Please note this is a large file - see download guide)

Lent 2013 - This is our Story (large print) (PDF)

Lent 2013 - This is our Story (Large Print) (Doc)

Lent 2013 - This is our Story (Welsh/English) (PDF)

Background to the course

The course has been written by Revd Nicholas Sagovsky, an Anglican priest, who is Whitelands Professorial Fellow at Roehampton University. Until last year, he was Canon Theologian at Westminster Abbey.

Nick writes, ‘I wrote this course because I have learnt so much from the members of a little Bible Study Group I started for people who have sought asylum. They have made - and are making - fantastic journeys of faith.

I believe our churches are full of people with great stories to tell, and that studying Scripture together can help each one of us see our life as a journey of faith. We can learn so much as we hear about other people's journeys of faith - the good bits and the hard bits - and we can see more clearly how we follow in the footsteps of those who have gone before us - right back to Jesus and to the Israelites who endured such hardships in the wilderness to come to their promised land.'

Themes

The themes for the six weeks are:

• Lent 1 (Feb 17)
  ‘Rescued through water': Exod 15: 21-30 (Crossing the Red Sea); Mark 1:9-13 (Jesus is baptized and driven by the Spirit into the wilderness).
  Discussion: ‘What does it mean to be a baptized Christian'?
  
• Lent 2 (Feb 24)
  ‘Guided by God's law': Exod 20: 1-20 (‘Ten commandments'); Rom 13: 8-10 (‘The law of love').
  Discussion: ‘What laws do Christians have to keep?'
  
• Lent 3 (March 3)
  ‘Fed by the Bread of Heaven': Exod 16:2-5; 13-19 (Manna); John 6: 30-35 (‘I am the Bread of Life').
  Discussion: ‘What does it mean to us to share in the eucharist?'
  
• Lent 4 (March 10, Mothering Sunday)
  ‘Singing in the Wilderness': Exod 15: 20-22 (‘Miriam'); Luke 1: 46 -53 (‘Magnificat').
  Discussion: ‘What do Christians have to sing about?'
  
• Lent 5 (March 17, St Patrick's Day)
  ‘Saved from death': Num 21: 5-9 (‘The brazen serpent'); Jn 3: 4-17 (‘I, if I be lifted up').
  Discussion: ‘What sense can we make of the cross today?'
  
• Lent 6 (March 24, Palm Sunday)
  ‘Living in Hope of the Promised Land': Deut 34:1-12 (‘I have let you see with your eyes but you shall not cross over there'); Lk 19: 28-40 (‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord').
  Discussion: ‘Can dying be seen as arrival at the promised land?'