This Year's Lenten Study book is all about Atonement. It is setting out to explain, why Jesus died and what he achieved in doing so. The very real reasons why we can claim the Gospel is "Good News".

It is nice that this year we have a home grown auther of our Lenten book, Rev Dr Anne van Gend is a priest in the Diocese of Dunedin. I also love the fact that she has recognised that as humans we each have our own story and that we make sense of the world through story. Which is why books, movies and tv shows are all so popular. Anne has chosen to use 2 of my favorite sets of books/tv shows/movies to help us understand the concepts she is trying to share with us. She is using the Harry Potter series by J.K.Rowling and the Narnia Series by C.S.Lewis. If you are not familiar with these 2 series, where have you been? Narnia is a children's fantasy series and available as books, movies, and a TV series except for the 1st book which was never made into a movie, even the tv series started with the 2nd book so you will have to actually read or listen to the audio book, The Magicians Nephew by C.S.Lewis, it is the Genesis of Narnia. Harry Potter is for teens rather than children and the story is very dark in places. It is never too late, I suggest you check them out and watch or read them, there is a more to them than just simple escapism. Start with Narnia.

Each week there will be a different theory of atonement, as Anne takes us through what Jesus did and puts it in context. Each one uses a different story from the Old Testament. You don't have to work out how they fit together, they don't necessarily, just like you won't find Harry Potter in Narnia, they are different stories. They are individual spokes of a wheel all eventually meeting at the same hub - Jesus!

This is deep stuff but these stories are at the heart of our faith, so if you don't understand something, pause, take a deep breath but don't give up. If you get really stuck - contact me via our contact page and I will get you an answer - I will be doing this right along with all of you and if I get stuck, I have several people I can consult. So we should be all good. Or you could buy Anne's full book: Restoring the Story: The Good News of Atonement.