Pilgrim the Commandments: A Course for the Christian Journey - Softcover

Pearson, Sharon Ely; Atwell, Robert; Gooder, Paula; Croft, Steven; Cottrell, Stephen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0898699428 ISBN 13: 9780898699425

Publisher: Church Publishing, 2016

Synopsis

Pilgrim is a teaching and discipleship resource that helps inquirers and new Christians explore what it means to travel through life with Christ. A Christian course for the twenty-first century, Pilgrim offers an approach of participation, not persuasion. Following the practice of the ancient disciplines of biblical reflection and prayer with quotes from the Christian tradition throughout the ages, Pilgrim assumes little or no knowledge of the Christian faith. Individuals or small groups on the journey of discipleship in the Episcopal tradition can use Pilgrim at any point. There are many different aspects to helping people learn about the Christian faith. We have taken as our starting point Jesus summary of the commandments. We are called to offer our lives to God through loving God with all our mind, soul, strength, and heart, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Learning about Christian faith and growing in Christian faith is about more than what we believe. It s also about the ways in which we pray and develop our relationship with God, about the way we live our lives and about living in God s vision for the Church and for the world. Course 3. The Commandments: Following Jesus is about the way we behave as well as what we believe. So how should Christians behave and how should we live? This part of Pilgrim explores that question through one of the core texts of the Christian faith: the Commandments. We look in Session 1 at the two commandments Jesus uses to summarize the whole of the Old Testament law: the call to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves. In Sessions 2 6, we explore the Ten Commandments themselves."

About this title

About the Authors

Sharon Ely Pearson a retired Christian educator, editor, and author with 35-plus years of experience in Christian formation on the local, judicatory, and church-wide level. Known for her knowledge of published curricula across the church, she has written or edited numerous books. She is a graduate of Virginia Theological Seminary and a lifelong Episcopalian. She lives in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Robert Atwell was Vicar of Primrose Hill, London, from 1998 though 2008, when he joined the episcopate. Formerly a lecturer in patristics at Trinity College Cambridge, where he was Chaplain, for ten years. He maintains his link with the Order of St. Benedict.

Paula Gooderis a freelance writer and lecturer in biblical studies, a Reader in the Church of England, and a lay member of the General Synod. She is also a Trustee of SPCK and the Saltley Trust and an honorary Canon Theologian at Birmingham and Guildford Cathedrals. She is the author of A Way Through the Wilderness and the bestselling Lent course Lentwise, and co-author of the Pilgrim course and Love Life, Live Advent.

Steven Croft is the Bishop of Sheffield. From 2004 to 2009 he was Archbishops Missioner and Team Leader of Fresh Expressions. Former warden of Cranmer Hall, he spent 13 years in parish ministry.

Stephen Cottrell is the Bishop of Reading in the Church of England. He has written or contributed to Reflections for Daily Prayer, the Emmaus discipleship course, Traveling Well, and Praying Through Life.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Commandments

A Course for the Christian Journey

By STEPHEN COTTRELL, Steven Croft, Paula Gooder, Robert Atwell, Sharon Ely Pearson

Church Publishing Incorporated

Copyright © 2016 Stephen Cottrell, Steven Croft, Robert Atwell and Paula Gooder
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-89869-942-5

Contents

Welcome to Pilgrim, 
Introduction to The Commandments, 
The Commandments, 
Session One: Priorities, 
Session Two: Reverence, 
Session Three: Rest, 
Session Four: Respect, 
Session Five: Righteousness, 
Session Six: Reliability, 
Notes, 

CHAPTER 1

SESSION ONE:

PRIORITIES

In this session we explore Jesus' summary of the law as the foundation for the way a disciple is called to live.

Opening Prayers

Your word is a lantern to my feet
And a light upon my path.
PSALM 119:105

You laid down your commandments,
that we should fully keep them.

O, that my ways were made so direct
that I might keep your statutes!

Then should I not be put to shame,
because I regard all your commandments.

I will thank you with an unfeigned heart,
when I have learned your righteous judgments.

I will keep your statutes;
do not utterly forsake me.
PSALM 119:4-8

Almighty God,
We thank you for the gift of your holy word.
May it be a lantern to our feet,
a light to our path
and a strength to our lives.
Take us and use us
to love and serve all people
in the power of the Holy Spirit
and in the name of your Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Conversation

Without looking, how many of the Ten Commandments can you name as a group? Which are the most important and why?

Reflecting on Scripture

Reading

One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?" 29 Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' 31 The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." 32 Then the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that 'he is one, and besides him there is no other'; 33 and 'to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,' and 'to love one's neighbor as oneself,' — this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." After that no one dared to ask him any question. MARK 12:28-34

Explanatory note

At the time of Jesus, a scribe was someone who, in a largely illiterate culture, was able to read and write. As a result, scribes are thought to have been the people who read and interpreted the law for others. It is possible that the priests from the temple were scribes when they were not on duty in the temple.

The word "teacher" is important here as the scribe is acknowledging Jesus' authority as a teacher. The original word used was probably "Rabbi."

Whole burnt-offerings (otherwise called Holocausts) and sacrifices were how God was worshipped in the temple. Here the scribe is acknowledging that what you do is even more important than how you worship God.

• Read the passage through once

Edition details

• Publisher: Church Publishing
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0898699428
• ISBN 13: 9780898699425
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 72