Our friends at the Christian Enquiry Agency (CEA) have added a new film to their series for Hope08. This film explores hope through an interview with Brian McLaren, talking about September 11th, the environment, and poverty.

Click here to view the film, or here for more information.

CEA provides much of the follow-up to SGM Lifewords‘ Inspire booklets, either through their enquiry service or the rejesus website. Most recently, we worked with them on the historic churches postcards. Each one has a tear-off reply so that church visitors can request further prayer. These cards, and the prayers requested, are all handled by CEA’s network of staff and volunteers.

Update: CEA’s hopeinfo site has won an award for the Best Social Action Website in this year’s Christian blog and web awards.

Orders have started arriving in SGM Lifewords‘ UK office this week for UCCF’s latest gospel project, FREE. Christian Unions around the country will be giving away hundreds of thousands of copies of Mark’s gospel, and SGM Lifewords is handling the distribution.

For more information, visit the UCCF site. Copies are available in boxes of 100, for student use. Loads of extra resources can be downloaded from the site, including Bible studies, posters and graphics files.

Please note: all orders are handled through UCCF.

Colin Greene (SGM Lifewords‘ Head of Mission and Theological Development) and Martin Robinson have just written a new book looking at the future for the Bible, Church, and Mission in “post-postmodernity” … Definitely worth a read. The chapters on Cultural Engagement and Biblical Theology are particularly thought-provoking. You can get the book from Amazon or Paternoster … or check out the Metavista website to find out more about the book, and the wider conversation around the issues.

Supporters in Klagenfurt, Austria are sharing the Bible’s life words with football fans this week, as the country is invaded by thousands of visitors for the Euro 2008 tournament.

Operating from a roadside bus parked between the centre of town and the stadium, the team are inviting passing fans in for tea and coffee and a chat, as a simple way of serving the visitors and sharing the faith. Take-up is, needless to say, very good on match days, and SGM Lifewords has been able to help with a supply of literature in a variety of European languages.

The latest short film is live on Hopeinfo.co.uk, the public face of Hope 08. Run by the Christian Enquiry Agency, Hopeinfo is hosting a series of films throughout the year, all around the theme of hope. The latest, ‘Big Hope’, tackles the question of the afterlife.

All the films are available to download, should you wish to show them in your church or use them as conversation starters.

A further series of films is available from the Reaching the Unchurched Network, through their iMatter series.

Easter television schedules look like they will be dominated by the BBC’s series on the Passion this year. With episodes through Holy Week, the four part series tells the story of Jesus’ last week from multiple perspectives, in primetime on BBC 1.
The BBC have launched a support site for the series. As well as trailers and a guide to the programmes, resources include articles on the historical context, the Passion in art and literature, and schools materials. Click here for the Passion website.

If you would like to help promote the series, the Christian Enquiry Agency have posters to download, this one for outside the church, and this one for inside the church. Rejesus and the Bible Society have additional resources.