Mike Claridge
website and resources
Courses
On this page you’ll find a selection of courses. Most of these were written as Lent courses and were ‘repurposed’ during the ‘lock down’
of the Covid19 Pandemic in 2020.
Praying with Luke’s Gospel
Praying with Luke's Gospel
A five session course originally written as a Lent Course in 2010 for St Andrews West Bromwich and West Bromwich Methodist Circuit.
The sessions are: Introduction to Prayer, The Lord’s Prayer, Parables of Prayer, Prayers of the Nativity and the Prayer of the Passion (Jesus’ Prayer in Gethsemane).
There are videos of the slideshows (on Vimeo) and/or ‘thumbnail’ PDFs for each session.
Please note that the videos do not have a soundtrack.
Day One:
Introduction
to Prayer.
Day Two:
The Lord’s
Prayer.
Day Three:
Parables
of Prayer.
Day Four:
Prayers of
The Nativity.
Day Five:
Prayer of
The Passion.
Additional items:
A List of books used to prepare the course, or referred to in the text.
A list of verses where “Prayer” occurs in Luke’s Gospel.
A synopsis: A side-by-side comparison of the way Matthew, Mark and Luke describe Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemene.
The Lord’s Prayer in Syrian-Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke.
A Short Tour of Mark’s Gospel
A five session course exploring the shortest and oldest Gospel.
Originally written as a Lent Course in 2009.
Click for a short video introduction each day (YouTube), then explore using the linked PDF sheet.
Session One:
Background to Mark’s Gospel
What’s a Gospel? Who was Mark? Why, when and where did he write this?
Session Two:
Jesus’ Galilean Ministry (Parables)
What’s a parable? How are ‘Mark’s’ parables different? Parables and meanings.
Session Three:
Jesus’ Galilean Ministry (Miracles)
Miracle workers. Mark’s use of miracles. What do we think about healings?
Session Four:
The Road to Jerusalem - Road of Discipleship
The journey to Jerusalem. What does it teach us about discipleship?
Session Five:
Controversy, The Cross, and Resurrection
The events of Holy Week, The Last Supper, Jesus’ death and it’s meaning,
The Resurrection and our New Life.
Five ‘repurposed’ sessions originally written by myself for a weekly Lent Course in 2015.
The videos - reflect in music, including Bach’s St Matthew’s Passion and Handel’s Messiah, and paintings on Jesus’ journey to the Cross in Matthew’s Gospel.
The PDFs - one for each session, have bible study notes, and devotional material from my “Symbols of the Passion” reflections. Click the relevant link below:
Session 1:
Matthew
26 .1-16
Session 2:
Matthew 26
17-46
Session 3:
Matthew
26 .47 - 27 .10
Session 4:
Matthew
27 .11-37
Session 5:
Matthew
27 .38-66
I compiled ‘Starters and Refreshments’ as a Lent Course in 2008, drawing on some of the material from Brenda Woods’ ‘Come as you Are’, a membership course published by The Methodist Church. ‘Starters and Refreshments’ has been used in occasions since as a short course to prepare people for Confirmation and Membership. It is suitable both for those starting out in, or enquiring about, the Christian faith, and for those who are looking to explore or refresh their faith.
For more information, and to read further, a good general website about the Christian faith is christianity.org.uk
Click here
Session One:
So What!
To encourage us to think about God.
To introduce the Old Testament as telling us about God’s relationship with us.
Session Two:
Behold!
To look at the life of Jesus and how people reacted to him.
To look at who Jesus is for us
Session Three:
Passion!
To look at the meaning of the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Session Four:
Spirit Filled!
To look at the role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of disciples.
Session Five:
Keep Going!
To look at what it means to be a disciple
To examine the importance of prayer and bible study in discipleship.
