Risen Hope
6 total works
3 BC – 476 AD
The first Christians stood firm.
From the Apostle Peter at Pentecost in Jerusalem to St. Patrick on the shores of Ireland in the year 432; the ancient Church has much to teach the Church of today. The story of the ancient Church of one of a people finding their way. But they weren’t stepping out into the dark: God had shined the light of Christ, and so they followed his way.
The Church produced many great writers, thinkers, bishops, and pastors to offer deep and practical guidance. Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Origen, Athanasius, Ambrose, John Chrysostom, Jerome, and Augustine
But persecution was fierce: many Christians were martyred. Bishops such as Ignatius, Polycarp, and Cyprian were among them. Their commitment to the cause of Christ is to be commended.
Today, we have the benefit of much more understanding, but we stand on the shoulders of those who braved persecution, death, debate, and mystery on behalf of generations to come.
The Risen Hope series is a narrative–driven journey through the history of the Church. Introducing key people and events from the last two thousand years, readers will be captivated by the fascinating stories and engaging style. Continuing the legacy of its predecessor, the History Lives series, the Risen Hope series is a breath of fresh air on the church history scene. Book 1 of 5.
3 BC–AD 476
Medieval times weren’t to be misleading times.
During the Middle Ages the church laboured to build a community of faith. Benedict, Columba, and Francis organized communities in which the Gospel could be preached. Theodulf, Anselm, and Bernard of Clairvaux answered the call to reform that community and theology.
This was a Church that sought to reign, love and conquest, a Church that wanted to secure freedom, and proclaim the gospel. When that Church fell into corruption it undertook its own reform.
As the church moves forward, we can have hope in the God who loves His Church, in each Age as we seek to live in His name. And when the church’s leaders drifted from the authority of Scripture, a first wave of reformers in Peter Waldo, John Wycliffe, and John Hus arose to call God’s people back to the grace of God.
The Risen Hope series is a narrative–driven journey through the history of the Church. Introducing key people and events from the last two thousand years, readers will be captivated by the fascinating stories and engaging style. Continuing the legacy of its predecessor, the History Lives series, the Risen Hope series is a breath of fresh air on the church history scene. Book 2 of 5.
1485–1600
Protesting Protestants.
Spiritual darkness had swept across the continent.
Throughout the Christian lands of Europe, the clarity of God’s grace given through Jesus Christ had dimmed. A system of human effort designed to achieve God’s favor meant people were confused about Scripture, about salvation, and about the purpose of life.
But in those dark times, light dawned.
To rekindle the Church, a radical reformation was needed. Brave individuals challenged long–held teachings that had drifted from Scripture. Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Thomas Cranmer led movements of reformation in their nations. They called the church back to basics: the clear teaching of the Bible, to Christ, to faith, to grace, to life to the glory of God. Others, such as Patrick Hamilton, William Tyndale, and Lady Jane Grey, sought to continue this enterprise, sometimes at the cost of their lives.
These bold Christians—called Protestants for their protest against the established and wayward Church practices of the day—sought to be faithful to Christ in their world and, in the process, they offered in a new world that endures today.
The Risen Hope series is a narrative–driven journey through the history of the Church. Introducing key people and events from the last two thousand years, readers will be captivated by the fascinating stories and engaging style. Continuing the legacy of its predecessor, the History Lives series, the Risen Hope series is a breath of fresh air on the church history scene. Book 3 of 5.
1600–1890
Missionaries get moving.
The Protestant Reformation had redrawn the map of the Christian world. Now the Church sought to take the hope of the Christian Gospel where it had not been before.
The nearly three centuries covered in this volume give us a picture of the incredible energy and great expansion of the Church throughout the world, and the people who led the way through a variety of abilities that God gave them:
- Harry Hosier, William Wilberforce, Emilie Mallet, and Sojourner Truth took bold stands against wrongdoing and injustice
- Cyril Lucaris, John Owen, John Bunyan, and David Brainerd suffered well as they faithfully shared the goodness of Christ.
- Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and Charles Spurgeon were great preachers who communicated the Gospel with clarity and passion.
- Robert Moffat, Hudson Taylor, and Dwight Moody were stirred by God to be missionaries offering hope in Christ to those who were walking in spiritual darkness.
The result was a Church that, by the end of this era, had expanded to lands previously unreached, bringing glory to the Lord who continued to guide His Church.
The Risen Hope series is a narrative–driven journey through the history of the Church. Introducing key people and events from the last two thousand years, readers will be captivated by the fascinating stories and engaging style. Continuing the legacy of its predecessor, the History Lives series, the Risen Hope series is a breath of fresh air on the church history scene. Book 4 of 5.
1890–2023
Christ’s Church will continue.
Almost 2000 years ago, Jesus promised his followers “I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
In recent years, those words have become very a precious and a secure hope for Christians across the world. Jesus’ Church is a family that must endure onward.
Within these pages, we find Christians who will do just that across a range of spheres and in various struggles: including Dietrich Bonhoffer, C.S. Lewis, Billy Graham, Elizabeth Elliot, Eta Linnemann, and Benjamin Kwashi. Whether they seek to make new followers of Jesus, combat evil and injustice, defend the truth of the Bible, or endure intense persecution, these men and women exhibit a faith of deep resolve.
The Risen Hope series is a narrative–driven journey through the history of the Church. Introducing key people and events from the last two thousand years, readers will be captivated by the fascinating stories and engaging style. Continuing the legacy of its predecessor, the History Lives series, the Risen Hope series is a breath of fresh air on the church history scene. Book 5 of 5.
A narrative–driven, engagingly–written history of the church.
Meet some of the key people who God used to shape His Church and see how He has been at work throughout history.
The Risen Hope series is a narrative–driven journey through the history of the Church. Introducing key people and events from the last two thousand years, readers will be captivated by the fascinating stories and engaging style. Continuing the legacy of its predecessor, the History Lives series, the Risen Hope series is a breath of fresh air on the church history scene.
This five–volume box set contains all the books in the Risen Hope series – and covers all of church history.
Included in the box are:
Redemption: The Church in Ancient Times (3 BC–476 AD)
Reign: The Church in the Middle Ages (476–1485)
Reform: The Church at the Birth of Protestantism (1485–1600)
Renewal: The Church that Expands Outward (1600–1890)
Resolve: The Church that Endures Onward (1890–2023)
An incredible story to educate and inspire young readers with the knowledge of where they’ve come from and where they’re headed. A new generation are growing up: what will come next in the life of the Church?