This Wednesday, 26th April, Graceworks will be launching one of my books, Walking With The Risen Christ. Writing does not come easy to me. I am energised when I am preach, teach, or have conversations one-on-one or in small groups. But when I write, I don’t have that face-to-face encounter. Writing is a lonely activity; it’s just me, God, and the computer. I find that very difficult. So the very fact that one of my books is now birthed is a matter of great joy and great relief.
Because I find writing so difficult, I have to be selective about what I write on. Often, I write on topics that support the primary mission of Graceworks — seeing lives transformed through spiritual friendship. My previous book, 3-2-1: Following Jesus in Threes (Singapore: Graceworks, 2013), laid out the theology of spiritual friendship and proposed a simple model of how we can actually do it. The model was a form of intimate spiritual friendship and 3-2-1 suggests that three friends meet for two hours once a month over a meal. The book has helped many embark on their journey of following Jesus in the company of friends.
I realised, however, that for any number of reasons, not everyone was ready for the intensity of intimate spiritual friendship. However, most Christians were in some form of church/parachurch small groups. Therefore, I wanted to explore how we could help small groups become more intentional in how they helped their members connect with each other, so that they could help them grow in Christlikeness.
As I researched and meditated on how we could help Christian small groups be healthier, I began to see that the most important factor in helping small groups thrive and grow is not methods or materials, though these are important. The most important factor in helping small groups mature is the recognition of the presence of the risen Christ in their midst. Hence the title of the book, Walking With The Risen Christ.
It is a short book, but hopefully one that will have a big impact. Our hope is that all small group leaders, and indeed all who are part of any Christian small group, will get a copy. I was delighted when a friend bought the book for his cell group and said they were going to go through it, chapter by chapter, at their cell group retreat.
We are also delighted that we can launch the book in partnership with Community of Praise Baptist Church. They are a church that has relationships at the heart of their DNA, while giving of themselves in sacrificial service to the community. Truly a church after our own heart. We are grateful that we can have the launch at their facility and that their senior pastor, Rev George Butron, will also be speaking.
We hope you will come join us for the launch. Please RSVP here.
Date: April 26 (Wednesday)
Time: 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM
Venue: Community of Praise Baptist Church,
18 Boon Lay Way #04-127,
TradeHub 21,
609966 Singapore
At Graceworks, we say that we are not in the book business. We are in the life changing business, but we publish books because we know that books are key tools in the hands of God for changing lives. So please pray for us. Do buy our books, for yourselves and for others. May the Lord see fit to use this book to start a revival in our small groups, may we see lives transformed by Him and for Him.