Paula Gooder

A Story

Phoebe

Heaven

Biblical Spirituality for the Whole Person

Body

Nijay K. Gupta

How to Live Well in the Real World

15 New Testament Words of Life

Around 56 AD, the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome. He entrusted this letter to Phoebe, whom he describes as the deacon of the church at Cenchreae and a patron of many. But who was this remarkable woman? Biblical scholar and popular author and speaker Paula Gooder imagines Phoebe's story—who she was, the life she lived, and her first-century faith—and in doing so opens up Paul's world.

Journey to the Empty Tomb focuses on the events leading up to the first Easter, from the triumphal entry into Jerusalem to the empty tomb. Devotional reflections on the biblical narratives make this ideal for personal study, with questions for group discussion that will be welcome aids for study groups. Paula Gooder uses her extensive knowledge of the world of the New Testament, its language and culture, to reveal fresh and startling insights and to open up hidden depths in these familiar stories.

Journey to the Empty Tomb

The New Testament tells us very little about Lydia, a seller of purple cloth who was living in Philippi when she met the apostle Paul on his second missionary journey. And yet she is considered the first recorded convert to Christianity in Europe. In her second work of fiction, Biblical scholar and popular author and speaker Paula Gooder tells Lydia's story - who she was, the life she lived and her first-century faith - and in doing so opens up Paul's letter to the Philippians, giving a sense of the cultural and historical pressures that shaped Paul's thinking, and the faith of the early church. Written in the gripping style of Gerd Theissen's The Shadow of the Galilean, and similarly rigorously researched, this is a book for everyone and anyone who wants to engage more deeply and imaginatively with Paul's theology - from one of the UK's foremost New Testament scholars.

Lydia

In This Risen Existence Paula Gooder takes us on a journey through Easter to Ascension Day and Pentecost, exploring the themes of Eestertide in each of the four Gospels, Acts and the Epistles and encouraging us to think more deeply and seriously about what the resurrection means for us and for the way in which we live our lives today.

The Spirit of Easter

This Risen Existence

The bestselling writer Paula Gooder continues her exploration of the Christian year, with its different seasons and moods, and the varying messages they convey. Here, she explores the longest period of the liturgical year, ordinary time - 33 weeks where no great dramas occur. We live in a culture that revels in the special, the extraordinary, the new, the unusual. This can relegate ordinary life to a bland 'in between-ness' as we look for the next excitement or novelty. This is a tendency that affects the church as much as wider culture as it seeks new ways of doing the familiar old things and reinventing itself. Yet, 'the ordinary' is the very essence of life. The point of special occasions is not to lift us out of humdrum existence but to embed us more powerfully in ordinary, day to day life. We need to learn how to live ordinary life in an extraordinary way. This book explores how to do this through reflections on 33 biblical texts reflecting on how God breaks into everyday life, transforming it into the most extraordinary existence possible.

The Spirit of Ordinary Time

Everyday God

As we journey through life, we face challenges - both big and small. What spiritual essentials will help us survive life's storms? Lentwise is a five-session course which helps us to deal with the rigors of real life. Using fresh insights from John's gospel, it explores: direction nourishment wisdom refreshment security Each session contains enough material for 90 minutes and includes: guidelines and full background notes for leaders, a passage from John's gospel freshly translated by the author, prompts to aid both discussion and understanding, inspiring quotations and personal stories, prayer exercises, ideas for using multimedia in the group, and resources to support worship together. Each group member will need a copy of the book.

Spiritual Essentials for Real Life

Lentwise

Following the pattern of her Advent book, The Meaning Is in the Waiting, Paula Gooder leads us on a biblical exploration of the resurrection accounts in each of the Gospels and in Paul's writings, as well as the account of the Ascension and coming of the Spirit at Pentecost in Acts. Arranged for daily reading through the seven weeks of Eastertide, This Risen Existence opens with an extended reflection on ancient and contemporary understandings of resurrection.

In the style of her bestselling Phoebe, Paula Gooder uses her extensive biblical expertise to retell the events of the Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension through the eyes of nine female characters she imagines accompanying Jesus during these momentous days. Accompanied by nine colour illustrations, each story brings to life the tension, drama and shock of the events of Holy Week, banishing any over-familiarity and helping readers enter into the Passion narrative in a deeper, more meaningful way. Originally given as a series of addresses at Southward Cathedral during Holy Week 2021, these nine stories are for all who long to encounter Jesus afresh through the Easter Story.

An Easter Journey in Nine Stories

Women of Holy Week

In Everyday God, Paula Gooder explores the hidden depths of richness and the potential of ordinary times. Through the lens of thirty-three biblical passages, which all touch on the theme of ordinariness, you will discover the extraordinary in the most everyday things: in the lives of ordinary people; in a God who defies being put in a gilded palace; in a Kingdom that is best likened to seeds, yeast, and fishing nets; and in everyday decisions which, lived out with God, have extraordinary consequences.

The Spirit of the Ordinary

When faced with times of trial, how can we find strength not in self-help but in God’s help? This five-session course exploring God's promise to comfort his people as they struggle through life's wildernesses.

Experiencing God's Help in Times of Crisis

A Way Through the Wilderness

From the language of Shakespeare to the US presidential campaign trail, the Bible’s influence is all around us. It is the most-printed book of all time, yet, upon reading it, we are met not by one work but by many: a complex mix of history and parable, law and prophecy. In this authoritative and impartial introduction, Paula Gooder ably guides the reader in how to approach this multifaceted text, and explores its enduring influence on Western culture, from Renaissance art to Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. Featuring textboxes focussing on key details, Gooder provides an illuminating framework for understanding the Bible and shares her infectious enthusiasm for the topic. Covering its origins, content and interpretation, this wide-ranging primer will be of invaluable benefit to those of any and no faith alike.

A Beginner's Guide

The Bible

Stephen Cottrell

Steven Croft

Robert Atwell

Pilgrim is a major new teaching and discipleship resource from the Church of England. It will help enquirers and new Christians explore what it means to travel through life with Jesus Christ. A Christian course for the twenty-first century, Pilgrim offers an approach of participation, not persuasion. Enquirers are encouraged to practice the ancient disciplines of biblical reflection and prayer, exploring key texts that have helped people since the earliest days of the Christian faith. Believing that the Christian faith is primarily about relationship, Pilgrim aims to lay a foundation for a lifetime of learning more about God’s love revealed in Jesus Christ and what it means to be his disciple. Assuming little or no knowledge of the Christian faith, Pilgrim can be used at any point on the journey of discipleship and by every tradition in the Church of England. Pilgrim is made up of two parts: Follow and Grow. Each consists of four short courses and a leaders’ guide. Follow introduces the Christian faith for complete beginners, while Grow aims to develop a deeper level of discipleship in those who have turned to Christ. Each short course contains six-sessions, supported by online audio-visual resources. All sessions combine a simple framework prayer, reflection on the Bible in the lectio divina style, an article by a modern writer, and time for questions and reflection. This first book in the Follow Stage, Turning to Christ, explores the questions candidates are asked when they decide to become followers of Jesus.

Follow Stage Book 1

Pilgrim: Turning to Christ

Pilgrim is a major new teaching and discipleship resource from the Church of England. It will help enquirers and new Christians explore what it means to travel through life with Jesus Christ. A Christian course for the twenty-first century, Pilgrim offers an approach of participation, not persuasion. Enquirers are encouraged to practice the ancient disciplines of biblical reflection and prayer, exploring key texts that have helped people since the earliest days of the Christian faith. Believing that the Christian faith is primarily about relationship, Pilgrim aims to lay a foundation for a lifetime of learning more about God’s love revealed in Jesus Christ and what it means to be his disciple. Assuming little or no knowledge of the Christian faith, Pilgrim can be used at any point on the journey of discipleship and by every tradition in the Church of England. Pilgrim is made up of two parts: Follow and Grow. Each consists of four short courses and a leaders’ guide. Follow introduces the Christian faith for complete beginners, while Grow aims to develop a deeper level of discipleship in those who have turned to Christ. Each short course contains six-sessions, supported by online audio-visual resources. All sessions combine a simple framework prayer, reflection on the Bible in the lectio divina style, an article by a modern writer, and time for questions and reflection. This fourth book in the Follow Stage, The Beatitudes explores the Christian vision for the world, including openness to God, thirsting for what is right, peace making and living as citizens of God’s Kingdom. Contributors include John Inge, Helen Ann Hartley, Emma Ineson, and Martin Warner.

Follow Stage Book 4

Pilgrim: The Beatitudes

Pilgrim is a major teaching and discipleship resource from the Church of England that helps enquirers and new Christians explore what it means to travel through life with Jesus Christ. A Christian course for the twenty-first century, Pilgrim offers an approach of participation, not persuasion. Enquirers are encouraged to practice the ancient disciplines of biblical reflection and prayer, exploring key texts that have helped people since the earliest days of the Christian faith. Assuming little or no knowledge of the Christian faith, Pilgrim can be used at any point on the journey of discipleship and by every tradition in the Church of England. Pilgrim is made up of two parts: Follow and Grow. Follow introduces the Christian faith for complete beginners, while Grow aims to develop a deeper level of discipleship in those who have turned to Christ. This second book in the Grow Stage, The Eucharist, explores in greater depth how Christians know and worship God. Its six sessions reveal the reasons why The Eucharist is celebrated as a memorial of Christ’s saving passion and stands at the very heart of Christian worship. They combine simple prayer, reflection on the Bible in the lectio divina style, an article by a modern writer, and time for questions and reflection, and are supported by free online audio and video resources.

Book 6 (Grow Stage)

Pilgrim: The Eucharist

In this engaging survey Paula Gooder looks at the ways in which the biblical writers saw heaven and earth connect, exploring all the major strands of belief about life after death, including the role of paradise, and what happens between death and resurrection.

Paula Gooder

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