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Return From Exile
Return From Exile
$14.95

$14.95

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By: Nathan Hedt
Code: P702570

How congregations can survive and thrive in a post-pandemic world.

Return from Exile is a profound gift to Gods people. It speaks clearly, directly, and above all gently to the diversity of human experiences of exilethrough the pandemic and beyond. It is richly and carefully theological in dealing with the challenges of online church and communion. It invites us to engage our imagination and hearts with Gods revelation in the Bible, tracing themes of exile and return across different eras and cultures. Best of all, it will help individuals and congregations to reflect deeply on the griefs, gifts, challenges, opportunities, and surprising work of God in our own situations. In doing all this, it draws us gently but insistently to find our true home in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Rev Dr Chris Swann, Director of Church Planting, City to City Australia

Return from Exile provides an insightful and well-crafted reflection on the disruption, and associated grief, caused by the pandemic and felt by individuals and churches. The text asks Christians what needs to change and what can remain when they return from exile to a world that has altered significantly. The reader is challenged to embrace the digital space and consider these spaces as the Areopagus of our day (Acts 17) the gathering place of ideas, discussion and commerce, and the place where Christ is present. Read the reflections, dwell in the Scripture readings, and you will be encouraged.
Dr Tania Nelson, Executive Officer Local Mission, Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand

Nathan Hedt combines his many years as a missional practitioner with a dexterity in the biblical text to coax the reader back from exile into the fields of harvest. Rather than writing for the Academy this work succeeds in appealing to the person in the pew wondering how to find a way back from isolation to community, from exile to Kingdom fruitfulness. Highly recommended for small groups throughout the Church, this will be a tonic for the soul of the Church so much in need of both nurture and courage to face the challenges ahead.
Dean Eaton, Director of Community Impact, Korus Connect.

This resource is both timeless and timely. Exile is a healthy experience for Christians who live in this world and yet are also citizens of heaven. This is a place of blessing that the people of God have been gifted since our first parents were expelled from Eden. Nathan Hedt helps us, who have perhaps grown too comfortable in this world, to step back and learn from those who have gone before us. He reminds us that we are the church, we dont go to church, and that all worship and Christian fellowship is provisionalreal, but not yet complete. Importantly, this book raises as many questions as it answers and enables discussion. It leads us to reflect on Gods word and the experience of his church through the ages. We need to hear and heed Nathans call not to simply try to go back to the way things were. I love the way he teases out the opportunities God gives us to join his mission to the people of the world he loves. I encourage Christians everywhere to use this resource to reflect on the times in which we live, and indeed all times during our earthly sojourn. It is both timeless and timely.
Rev Dr Steen Olsen, emeritus Lutheran pastor, bishop and mission director

Many congregations face a massive dislocation during and following Covid; more importantly they need a way to find themselves within a biblical vision that honestly empowers their engaging their present reality. This book effectively uses the biblical story of exile as a way of understanding this present time. More importantly it uses Dwelling in the Word as an effective way into the power of Gods Word for each individual, group, or congregation that uses it. What a gift!
Pat Keifert, Professor Emeritus in Systematic Theology, Luther Seminary and Director of Research and Consulting, Center for Church Innovations

"This booklet is a valuable guide for Christians living in these strange times. We are more connected than ever, but feel disconnected exiled, in a broken world recovering from a global pandemic and trying to find our way back to God."
Dr Doret Niemandt, Research Associate, University of Pretoria and Pastor at Valleisig, Dutch Reformed Church, Pretoria, South Africa.


Paperback 102p

ISBN: 9780645594911
Media Type: Book
Weight: 140 grams

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