Mosaic

Shane Stanford, Abingdon Press

Are you looking for a study to engage you throughout the season of Lent? Here is a worthwhile study book for adults.

As the blurb on the back says, “In this Lenten Study … Shane Stanford examines how the God of the universe uses the broken pieces of our lives to reframe our purpose, turning our discarded hopes and dreams into something beautiful and useful — a mosaic in which God uses all the pieces.”

There are studies for the six Sundays in Lent along with a prologue study for the day of Ash Wednesday and the remainder of that week, as well as something to reflect upon in Holy Week.

Each study is structured around a common framework of Reveal, Reflect, Refine and Respond.

The Reveal part opens the theme of the study and the Reflect section uses anecdotes and other information to assist us to reflect upon the readings from scripture for that study.

The Refine segment usually has further scripture references to aid in refining our understanding of the issue and how God might call us to grow. It follows a process of a series of reflective questions with headings: Examine, Identify, Define, Name and Commit.

The final part of each study is Respond and is usually presented as a challenge along with suggestions of passages of scripture to study each day of the following week and closing with a prayer.

So Mosaic is a well-written and well-set out study book. It explores such topics as how God uses our restlessness, regret, rebellion and relationships and thus fits in well with the discipline of reflection that Christian people often look for or undertake in the season of Lent.

This helpful study book would be appropriate for individual study or in groups and is available from www.mediacom.org.au.

Jon Humphries