{ "item_title" : "The Shape of Becoming", "item_author" : [" Roy Terry "], "item_description" : "The Shape of Becoming: Faith, Community, and the Slow Work of Grace Roy TerryWhat kind of people is our faith shaping us to become? In a time when Christianity is often measured by numbers, certainty, and political influence, The Shape of Becoming asks how life together might form us in the ways of Jesus-people of compassion, courage, justice, and grace.Drawing on more than three decades of ministry at Cornerstone United Methodist Church in Naples, Florida, Roy Terry weaves personal stories, biblical reflection, and practical theology into a hopeful vision of Christian community. Through births and funerals, hurricanes and celebrations, conflict and reconciliation, faith takes shape in the ordinary work of showing up for one another. These reflections emerge from a life shared with people whose struggles, questions, and unexpected gifts have shaped the pastor alongside the congregation.At the heart of the book is a conviction both reassuring and challenging: we are already beloved, and we are still becoming. Grace meets us before we have the right answers or a life we can proudly present. Learning to receive that grace reshapes our habits, loyalties, relationships, and willingness to make room for others.An open Communion table teaches belonging before achievement. Worship and prayer reshape our attention. Offering and service challenge the impulse to treat faith as another consumer choice. The words a congregation repeats become part of its imagination, quietly influencing how people live, love, and respond when the world presses in. Even brokenness can become a place where compassion grows.Terry ventures into the places where Christian community is hardest to sustain. What happens when the church disappoints us? How do imperfect people remain in relationship through disagreement and change? What does it mean to confess Jesus is Lord when political and national loyalties demand our allegiance? How can we practice hope without ignoring suffering or pretending that everything will work out as we wish?Addressing consumer Christianity, Christian nationalism, pastoral fatigue, and institutional failure, Terry takes seriously the wounds churches have caused while exploring what faithful, accountable community might still make possible. His vision of hope makes room for grief, uncertainty, and unfinished stories.Rooted in the Wesleyan understanding of sanctification-lifelong growth in grace-the book makes theology accessible through everyday experience. Holiness becomes recognizable in mercy, justice, humility, and love. Discipleship unfolds through receiving forgiveness, extending hospitality, seeking reconciliation, and attending to the suffering of our neighbors.Written for pastors, lay leaders, seekers, and Christians caught between their love for Jesus and their frustration with the church, The Shape of Becoming invites personal reflection and group conversation across denominational boundaries. In a culture that rewards speed and demands certainty, it offers a patient, courageous vision of faith and the lives we are becoming together.The church is not a place we attend. It is a people we become.", "item_img_path" : "https://covers3.booksamillion.com/covers/bam/9/79/823/424/9798234248886_b.jpg", "price_data" : { "retail_price" : "14.99", "online_price" : "14.99", "our_price" : "14.99", "club_price" : "14.99", "savings_pct" : "0", "savings_amt" : "0.00", "club_savings_pct" : "0", "club_savings_amt" : "0.00", "discount_pct" : "10", "store_price" : "" } }

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