Fresh From the Word: The Bible for a Change will inspire your reading of the Bible in a changing world. Bringing together top theologians and biblical scholars, creative writers from around the world, cutting-edge church leaders, activists for peace and justice and a range of others, Fresh From the Word offers 365 sets of notes, prayers and suggestions for action on biblical themes. This fresh approach to Bible reading is aimed at new readers of the Bible from across the church, as well as anyone seeking a faithful, creative and challenging conversation with the Bible every day of the year. Contributors this year include: Theologian and pastoral counsellor in Samoa / Alesana Fosi Pala’amo / on a new heaven and a new earth New Testament scholar / Catrin Harland-Davis / on love for one another Aid and development worker / Mark Mitchell / on rain, storm and sunshine Chaplain of Sheffield United FC / Delroy Hall / on facing the darkness Entrepreneur, author and speaker / Bola Iduoze / on readings from Luke

“God is a poet, paying exquisite attention, crafting the words to pull our heartstrings, connecting our pulse to the great pulse of life. God is a priest, intoning the chants that tie earth to heaven, invoking our prayers, summoning our spirits to reach beyond. God is a prophet, commanding our attention, provoking our outrage, channeling our best intentions.” So writes author and scholar Carla Grosch-Miller for the last day of 2021 in this year’s Fresh From The Word: The Bible for a Change. And indeed you will meet this God in the reflections of the writers in these pages. At turns poetic, priestly and theological, prophetic and inspiring, Fresh From The Word 2021 invites you to the discipline of daily Bible reading with readers around the world. Discipleship is the focus of Lent this year in Fresh From The Word 2021: discipleship as a way of following Jesus Christ ‘into the unknown’, growing, and facing challenges. Other themes include reading the Bible through the seasons, surprising women in the Bible, family tensions in Genesis, and riddles in the Bible, and more. The book also features continuous readings from the Gospel of Mark, the shorter epistles of the New Testament, Job, Galatians, Revelation, and the Minor Prophets. Fresh From The Word: The Bible for a Change 2021 will inspire your Bible reading in a time of change. Bringing together theologians, scholars, creative writers, church leaders, and activists from around the world, it offers notes, prayers, and further thought suggestions for every day of the year. Contributors this year include: Buenos Aires-based liturgist and activist Dafne Sabanes Plou on the mercy of God, prison chaplain and Pentecostal pastor Deseta Davis on God and prison life, blogger and playwright Aileen Quinn on growing with God, Shetland Methodist minister David Lees on numbers in the Bible, pioneer minister Tim Yau on Peter the church leader.

'The Christian faith is new every morning, and that's a wonderful reason to read the scriptures each day . . . Let us seek to be encouragers to one another as we journey on together. My prayer is that God will give you faith, hope and love for whatever the coming year brings.' Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York Many have written of the spiritual insight, comfort and joy derived from their regular reading of Fresh from The Word. We know the sheer variety of contributors and their willingness to engage with live issues can prove both (helpfully) disturbing and exhilarating! This year's volume, which has much to say about the Christ who walks beside us and the challenges of sharing his tender love with others, offers true nourishment, as always. Alongside a reading for each day, you will find fresh thoughts and prayers. Fresh from The Word aims to help us build the discipline of Bible reading into our lives so we are grounded in God's Word and our faith may deepen and develop. By offering accessible and engaging material, it aids our understanding of the Bible and helps us understand it from different Christian perspectives.

What will the world be like in a year's time? What changes will we have seen, and what global events will be fresh in our thoughts? What highs and lows will we have encountered, and what surprises will we have had that bring unexpected joy? And in the midst of all those things, how will we make sense of it all? That's where Fresh from The Word comes in! This edition tells the whole story of the Bible, so we have a framework in which to better understand each part. In addition, readings through 1 Chronicles culminate with Solomon building the Temple, and those in Mark and Luke show us how the Master Builder came and lived amongst us. We see how God began to build his church, looking at leaders in the New Testament, and how Paul encouraged one of those leaders as we read his letters to Timothy. And when the building gets broken, we study how to be reconciled, with Nehemiah offering a worked example of how God uses his people to rebuild. Finally, the Song of Solomon reveals the aim of it all - intimate, loving relationship with God himself. Fresh from The Word 2024 aims to help us build the discipline of Bible reading into our lives so we are grounded in God's word and our faith may deepen and develop. By offering accessible and engaging material, it aids our understanding of the Bible and helps us understand it from different Christian perspectives.