OUR LIFE AND PURPOSE
About SHINE
Formation Resources
If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your darkness shall be as the noonday.
Isaiah 58:10 (NKJV)
We can know the words of faith and still long for their reality to take hold of us. We want to approach the Father with confidence, love with greater freedom, and face the pressures of life knowing whose we are. The risen Jesus opens this life to us. Through the Holy Spirit, we are invited to know Him, share His life and discover the depths of His love.
The Father’s purpose is to form us in the likeness of His Son. Through the Gospel, God shines His light into our hearts, revealing His glory in Jesus Christ. As we behold Him, the Holy Spirit transforms us. The love we see in Christ reshapes what we desire; the truth we receive gives us courage to obey. His life takes shape in ours. This is Christian formation.
READ Isaiah 58:10; 2 Corinthians 4:5–7 (NKJV)
Isaiah 58:10 NKJV
10 If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your darkness shall be as the noonday.
2 Corinthians 4:5–7 NKJV
5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake.
6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
SHINE gives individuals and churches a framework for pursuing this formation together. Its Seven Pillars and Four Streams connect what we discover in Christ with how we worship, pray and live. Through Scripture and the shared life of His Church, we learn to receive His grace and respond with our whole lives.
The vision is a people who bear His likeness together. His mercy changes how we treat one another. His courage strengthens us to speak when fear would silence us. His Spirit equips us to serve, to pray for healing and to carry the Gospel beyond our gatherings. The light we receive in Christ shines through a people learning to live in His love.
This is the calling carried in the name SHINE: to shine with the light of Christ through the lives we share. Isaiah connects the dawning of our light with feeding the hungry and caring for those who suffer. As the Holy Spirit forms us together, His goodness becomes visible in generous hospitality, faithful service and courageous witness to Jesus. We carry His mercy into our neighbourhoods so that others may come to know and glorify our Father in heaven.
Begin with Seven Days of Formation. Each day brings Scripture and meditation into a full prayer, followed by one response to carry into life. Open His Word with expectation. Come to know the Christ whose likeness you are called to bear.
SHINE offers Christian discipleship resources for personal reading and the shared life of churches. Begin with the daily prayer guide, explore the framework as questions arise, and follow the books for a longer journey through Scripture.
Explore the heart of SHINE
The Seven Pillars name aspects of life in Christ that we return to as we grow. The Four Streams explain connected ways we receive and live that life together. Seven Days of Formation brings the framework into a weekly practice; the five Formation Series volumes offer longer journeys through Scripture, reflection and prayer. Explore the question that matters to you, then bring what you discover into prayer and the life you share with others.
Our shared life in Christ
Jesus Christ is risen. He has broken the power of death, opened the way to the Father and poured out the Holy Spirit. The love revealed in His cross reaches us in the life we actually live. We can come before God with our need, receive forgiveness and rise to follow Him with fresh courage.
He gathers us into the Father’s household. We learn to receive one another as people loved by God, carrying burdens and making room for gifts that strengthen the whole Church. Under Christ, our Great High Priest, we serve as a royal priesthood: bringing people before the Father in prayer and making His goodness known among our neighbours.
Read Ephesians 2:19; 1 Peter 2:9–10 (NKJV)
Ephesians 2:19 NKJV
19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
1 Peter 2:9–10 NKJV
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
This shared life has the touch of water, the fragrance of oil and the taste of bread and wine. Baptism joins us to Christ. Anointing accompanies prayer for the Spirit’s consecration, healing and strength. At the Lord’s Table, the gathered Church shares in Christ through the Holy Spirit and receives grace to live as one body. What we receive together shapes the way we forgive, welcome and serve.
We ask boldly for the Spirit to renew us, exercise His gifts among us and empower our witness. Christ’s victory gives us courage to resist evil and continue in love. The Church can pray for healing with expectation, speak truth under pressure, and carry hope into places marked by fear. Our confidence rests in the Lord who has conquered death and remains with His people.
This is the longing behind SHINE: a Church captivated by Christ, strengthened in His love and ready to make Him known. His goodness can become visible in households, workplaces and neighbourhoods as His people follow Him. Let God be God in all His majesty and glory.
For your own life with God
Open Scripture expecting to meet the Christ who calls you to follow Him. Stay with what His words and actions reveal, then bring your own life before Him in prayer. Where His truth exposes a divided loyalty, repent. Where His mercy meets your need, receive it and offer mercy to someone else. Seven Days of Formation gives you a rhythm to return to; each Formation Series volume offers thirty-one days of Scripture, reflection and prayer. The Spirit forms Christ’s likeness as we receive His grace and answer with our lives.
For pastors and church leaders
The Church is called to bear the likeness of the Son she proclaims. His grace gives confidence before the Father; His Spirit forms the love that holds a household together. SHINE invites you to seek this life for yourself and for the people entrusted to your care. These Christian formation resources bring Scripture into prayer and shared reflection, keeping Christ’s character before us as we lead, teach, reconcile and bear witness.
For pastors, elders, bishops, priests, curates and other church leaders, personal formation continues throughout a lifetime of ministry. Students and staff in theological colleges, seminaries and denominational training programmes share that calling. The Formation Series can accompany existing formation programmes, giving lecturers, formation tutors and ordinands Scripture, reflection and prayer to receive personally and consider together. Let the Christ you study become ever more deeply the Lord you love, the pattern of your service and the hope you proclaim.