St Mary's Church, Dymock

Welcome to Modulo - The Big Picture which begins with the same topics as the other Modulo versions, but adds many more parts to give greater detail for people who would like that.

If you're a newcomer to Christianity, or would like a revision, we recommend you start with Module 0 in order to create a 'Firm Foundation'. It provides answers to basic questions starting with "Does God exist?” “What's He like?" “How do we know?”

Alternatively, if you already have some knowledge of Christianity (or have done one of the other Modulo versions), you can skip Module 0 and go straight to Module 1, which includes a short revision, so you won't miss out.

The first Part of each Module (numbered /0) gives an Introduction, whilst the rest of each Module (numbered /1, /2, etc) explores the detail.

• 0: A Firm Foundation
• 1: The Old Covenant
• 2: The New Covenant
• 3: The Apostle' Response
• 4: Authority's Response
• 5: Our Own Response
• 6: God's Response
• 7: Prayers and Praying
• 8: Notes for Leaders
  
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Module 0 is designed to create 'A Firm Foundation' to help you make better sense of the information that follows.

It asks whether God exists, what he's like, how we can build a relationship with him, and explains of how to look-up references in the Christian holy book – The Bible.
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• Module 0 is an optional place to start if you're new to Christianity, or would like a revision of the basics, before beginning to explore the main text at Module 1.
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Module 1 looks at how God revealed himself to humanity, gave us Laws to live by, made a Covenant (an agreement) with the early people to protect them if they would obey his Laws, and how they and we today still find it too difficult to keep them, so we keep breaking those Laws, plus a description of the types of the problems people get into as a result.

• Module 1 begins with a short revision of the basics (which you can skip if you've done Module 0), before using the Bible's 'Old Testament' to explore the need for Christianity.
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Module 2 considers what God did about our disobedience of his Laws in order to bring us back into a proper relationship with him – the birth, teaching, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ – hence the name ‘Christianity’.

There are four summaries of these events in the Bible's New Testament, written by different authors to suit different readers; this Module combines data from all four of them.
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• Module 2 makes use of the first part of the Bible's 'New Testament' (the ‘Gospel’) to explore the life and purposes of Jesus Christ.
  
  
• (People in Jesus’ time didn't have surnames but were named after their father or their type of work. ‘Christ’ means ‘Chosen One’ – chosen by God to make amends for our sin).
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Module 3 looks at how Jesus' immediate followers, his Apostles, responded after he returned to heaven; how they spread his message to a wider world than just the Jews in Israel; and so began the Christian church.

• Module 3 also uses the Bible’s New Testament, but this time the book that comes after the Gospels called ‘The Acts of The Apostles’; plus the books of ‘Letters’ that follow ‘Acts’ and were written by the Apostles to guide us.
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Module 4 looks at how the church has developed since Bible times, from the Roman era, through the Middle Ages, The Reformation, the 19th century, and the most recent century to become the church we know today.
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• We've used many records from history to show how the early church developed over the centuries from just after the first Apostles died, right up to date.
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Module 5 explores how a number of individual people made a ‘special response’. It suggests why we each need to respond and helps us to do that.

• An optional ‘Service of Response’ is included if you would like to use it.
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Module 6 is an explanation of a vision that reveals God’s response, ie: his plan for creation, as recorded in the Bible’s Book called ‘Revelation’.

This book justifies the whole Bible as it has hundreds of references back into both the Old and New Testaments and helps to join it all up (We don't look at all of the references, just the more important!). .
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• Revelation is written in a style called ‘Apocryphal’ meaning ‘hidden’ because it hides its message in lots of symbolism, so we attempt to explain it. As a result, the Book of Revelation is sometimes called ‘The Apocrypha’.
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Module 7 is a simple guide to prayers and praying to help you build your own relationship with God. It also contains an opening prayer you can use for each of the Modules and one you can use at the end.

• Some people find praying difficult, but it's a good way to get to know God, so this Module has ideas to help you. (But you can of course use your own words if you want to).
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Module 8 is optional. It provides guidance for a group leader if you would like to form your own group and feel you would like help to do that.
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• Leading a group shouldn't be difficult but can be daunting. The best advice is just ‘enjoy it’.
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