A new journey with Saint Luke

The Spill the Beans Resource Team embark on a fresh two year cycle, which we have been working on for the last year or so. This is our Lukan Lectionary, covering the two volumes written by Saint Luke within the New Testament. In year one we cover Luke's Gospel and in year two we will journey through the Acts of the Apostles. We start this journey in Advent and this issue is the first in this new cycle.

This has been a great journey over the last couple of years, but the team has been busy at work to create a new lectionary cycle for Advent 2025 through to the end of 2027. We are going to embark on a new two year cycle with Luke (both the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles). A full plan of the readings is available here, extracted from Issue 57.

We continue to focus on how we worship intergenerationally within our church contexts. Each issue of Spill the Beans is organised by how we might use different resources to "tell the story", "explore the story", and "live the story". You will find a range of materials and ideas, and we challenge you to think creatively about how you use it and to think more intergenerationally.

You will find more about this approach in the Introduction section of the issue. Any feedback you want to offer will be most welcome. This is easily done on the Facebook page/group.

Sampler

If you have not used Spill the Beans before then please have a look at this sample.

Full Issue

If you'd like to download a full copy of Issue 57 for use in your church or personally, then click the 'Buy Now' button below. The cost is only £12 (GBP). You can make a secure payment via PayPal and then an email with secure link to the download should wing its way to you. Please note that you can only download the file using this link three times, so please make sure you save the file to your computer as soon as you have downloaded it. We recommend first downloading to a laptop or desktop computer before moving to phone/tablet.

Please follow the instructions carefully. The pdf file is approximately 5 MB so it may take a wee moment to download. Please be patient as your computer does so!

Spill the Beans Issue 57 Cover

Buy Now

You can also get involved in feedback and discussion on the Spill the Beans website, where we try to put up weekly PowerPoint backgrounds too. There is also a facebook page in which we share ideas and we have introduced a new Facebook group which you can link to from the facebook page and which we hope will provide a place of mutual support, ideas and encouragement as we trek together through this new adventure.

Print Copies

The office is open once more and can provide printed copies (within the United Kingdom) for an additional cost (usually around £20 + P&P depending on the size of the issue). Note that we recommend using the electronic version to reduce environmental waste. Please contact Devana Parish Church Office at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..


 

A Theology of Hope

At Devana, hope is central to who we consider ourselves to be. It is part of our 'slogan' borrowing from Saint Paul: "Journeying Together by Faith, in Hope, with Love." We try to take it seriously. But it can be hard amidst all that is going on in the world today.

Christian Aid has, in its 80th year, spent some time reflecting on a theology of hope in a very useful report prepared by Dr Nick Spencer and Bob Kikuyu. You can download a copy of the report here.

They write about the report:

This reflection presents a Christian theological expression on hope, marking 80 years of Christian Aid's mission. It acknowledges the harsh realities of the world today—conflicts, displacement, climate chaos, and shrinking democratic spaces—that can make hope seem distant. However, it stresses that hope must confront these realities honestly and be based on solid theological foundations that involve intention and determination grounded in the revelation of God through Jesus Christ and scripture. 

The document critiques inadequate secular and theological reasons for hope, warning against confusing optimism with hope. It then proceeds to propose foundations for a Theology of Hope. 

It's posited that Christianity offers a realistic, resilient hope that is neither naïve nor cheap. It trusts in the lawful nature of creation, affirms human agency and creativity, and recognises the power and challenges of human cooperation. This hope does not guarantee that the future will be better but insists that a better future is possible and worth working for. Christian Aid’s origins amid the devastation of the Second World War, and the subsequent impact it has had since then, encourages us to face the future with hope grounded in faith and action. 


 

Christian Nationalism

Wtih Carolyn in our experimental podcast "What Kind of World" we've been taking a dive into what is called Christian Nationalism. This seemingly niche view has been becoming increasingly mainstream in recent decades, particularly but not exclusively in the USA. Knowing something about it, understanding what lies behind it, and how it turns Jesus' teaching on its head is more important than ever.

Part One - Some Personal Background

Part Two - The Use and Abuse of Power

Part Three - Taking on Patriarchy

Further Reading

"Taking America Back For God: Christian Nationalism in the United States" (Andrew L Whitehead and Samuel L Perry, 2022) (Amazon Link)

"The Kingdom, The Power, And The Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism" (Tim Alberta, 2023) (Amazon Link)

"Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation" (Kristin Kobes Du Mez, 2021) (Amazon Link)

"The Psychology of Christian Nationalism: Why People Are Drawn In And How To Talk Across The Divide" (Pamela Cooper-White, 2022)  (Amazon Link)

"American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays The Gospel And Threatens The Church" (Andrew L Whitehead, 2023) (Amazon Link)


 

Our Moral Foundations

In our second episode, Carolyn and Peter explore Jonathan Haidt's Moral Foundations Theory and his image of the Elephant and the Rider as we think about how to understand our divisive times.

You can access the website to check how you score on the Moral Foundations here

We also take a wee detour on whether the UK is under attack and the state of satire and protest with reference to South Park and Private Eye.


 

What Kind of World

Carolyn and I have decided to trial for a few months a weekly podcast (audio and video) which will be focussing on history, current affairs, and faith as we explore our world and the importance of kindness to making this world work better. Simple stuff, but big stuff.

Why we are doing it here in the first episode.

Note that all views and opinions are our own, not those of Devana Parish Church nor of the Church of Scotland. 


 

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by FAITH - in HOPE - with LOVE

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