Honest Advent
Honest Advent

Author: Scott Erickson

Publisher: Zondervan

Published: 2020-10-20

Total Pages: 218

ISBN-13: 0310361885

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In a world that's difficult to make sense of, and a season that's so often overtaken by consumerism, here you'll find heart-stirring illustrations and thought-provoking meditations designed to show you the raw, powerfully sacred story of Christmas in a new light. Has the joy of the holiday season become painfully dissonant with the hard edges of life? Do you feel weary from the way Christmas has become a polished, predictable brand? You aren't alone. For too many of us, Christmas has lost its wonder. What if we stopped treating the Christmas story as something that happened a long time ago and started believing that it's a story that's still happening today? From celebrated artist and storyteller Scott Erickson comes Honest Advent, 25 days of illustrations and meditations that will help you rekindle the wonder of this season. Honest Advent creates a space for you to encounter the Incarnate Christ in unexpected places: like a pregnancy announcement in an era of political unrest and empirical bloodshed, the morning sickness of a Middle Eastern teenager, and the shocking biology of birth that goes far beyond the sanitized brand of Christmas as we know it today. Within the pages of Honest Advent, Erickson teaches us the valuable lessons he's learned about: Finding hope and light in the darkest winters What it means to embrace the unexpected How God uses everyday vulnerability to help us understand ourselves, and our faith, better Through powerful benedictions, prayers, and questions for honest reflection, you'll discover how the wonder of God-with-Us is still happening today: in your unexpected change of plans, your unaccomplished dreams, your overcrowded lodging, and your humble stories of new beginnings. Praise for Honest Advent: "Scott Erickson's beautifully crafted book helped me see God-with-Us with fresh eyes. Honest Advent is no shallow seasonal gift book; it's an invitation to explore the divine flourishes of everyday human vulnerabilities. A transformative read, regardless of the time of year." --Jonathan Merritt, author of Learning to Speak God from Scratch "Beautiful. Evocative. A wake-up call to the mystery of life." --John Mark Comer, author of The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry

Silence and Other Surprising Invitations of Advent
Silence and Other Surprising Invitations of Advent

Author: Enuma Okoro

Publisher: Upper Room Books

Published: 2012-09-01

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13: 0835811700

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Usually when we think of the Advent story, Mary, Joseph, and the angel Gabriel come to mind. Okoro approaches Advent a little differently, inviting us to sit for a while with Zechariah and Elizabeth and the story of how they came to bear their only son, John. "The Advent story we so often associate with the joy of Christmas actually begins with deep sorrow and longing. But thankfully, in the kingdom of God, there is always more to the story than meets the eye," Enuma Okoro writes. Zechariah and Elizabeth were good people. They had maintained faith and hope in God for many years, despite Elizabeth's inability to conceive, a condition considered shameful in their time. So they were quite familiar with the universal human experiences of longing and waiting. Even though this couple's story takes up only one chapter in Luke's Gospel, it contains enough lessons about faith and life to last for weeks. In her beautifully written, imaginative meditations for each day of Advent, Okoro looks closely at the doubts and longings of Zechariah and Elizabeth. As you explore their story, Okoro guides you to reflect on your own experiences of waiting and longing, of grief and the need for community, and of hungering for God. These poetic and poignant meditations will linger with you long after Christmas. Reflection questions and a prayer challenge accompany each week's meditations. A perfect book for individual or group study.

A Surprising God
A Surprising God

Author: Thomas G. Long

Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press

Published: 2021-08-24

Total Pages: 131

ISBN-13: 1646982150

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The world is slowly emerging from the worst global emergency in a century, and the myriad struggles of the contemporary moment—division, isolation, illness, and uncertainty—make living our faith a challenge. For Christians, a number of questions have gained new urgency: Where do we find hope when it seems in such short supply? Where are the signs of God's peace in this divided world? Where do we find a deeper sense of joy? Thomas G. Long and Donyelle C. McCray remind us that these are the questions of Advent in their new daily devotional, A Surprising God. Mindful of the stresses of life today in a world torn apart by conflict, marked by political division, and in the midst of a global health crisis, these devotions for Advent and Christmas invite readers to honest reflection on the challenges of being people of faith in this moment. Long and McCray explore what it means to wait for our salvation, to be open to the surprising thing that God is about to do, and to find hope in God's choice of the small and the insignificant.

Advent Conspiracy
Advent Conspiracy

Author: Rick McKinley

Publisher: Zondervan

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 162

ISBN-13: 0310324521

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In four compelling sessions, Advent Conspiracy invites individuals, families, groups, and entire churches to substitute compassion for consumerism by practicing four simple but powerful countercultural concepts.

May It Be So
May It Be So

Author: Justin McRoberts

Publisher: WaterBrook

Published: 2019-09-24

Total Pages: 130

ISBN-13: 0525653082

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Combining prayers in two languages--words and images--this contemporary prayer guide will help you spend time in conversation with God. As people of faith, we all struggle at times to sustain a flourishing prayer life--a loss felt all the more keenly in these times of confusion, political turbulence, and global calamity. This unique book offers a timeless solution for the spiritual and skeptical alike. Combining story-driven reflections with visual and written prayers, this simple 40-day prayer guide will help you reconnect with God as you rediscover your own ongoing conversation with Him. Using the familiar refrains in the Lord's Prayer as a guide, this groundbreaking resource invites you to reconnect with God creatively and organically.

Suffer Strong
Suffer Strong

Author: Katherine Wolf

Publisher: Zondervan

Published: 2020-02-11

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 031034459X

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Is it possible to embrace suffering as a privilege, rather than a punishment? Beloved authors Katherine and Jay Wolf offer readers the bold invitation to trust a known God with an unknown future, as well as practical insights into surviving anything by redefining how we think about everything. After miraculously surviving a near-fatal brainstem stroke at age 26, as told in their memoir, Hope Heals, life for Katherine and Jay Wolf changed forever - and so did the way they viewed God, the world, and themselves in it. There was no going back to normal after such a tragedy. Yet Katherine and Jay learned that suffering is not the end, but rather the beginning of a new story. In Suffer Strong, they invite us into this new story as they share universal lessons and helpful practices that will help us to: Recognize we are being equipped for an uncommon assignment, not cursed by our story. Transform our unmet expectations into brave anticipations. Disrupt the myth that joy can only be found in a pain-free life. Rewrite the narrative of hard circumstances by turning our definitions of suffering into declarations of strength. And, ultimately, thrive even in the lives we never imagined living.

All Creation Waits: The Advent Mystery of New Beginnings
All Creation Waits: The Advent Mystery of New Beginnings

Author: Gayle Boss

Publisher: Paraclete Press

Published: 2016-10-03

Total Pages: 141

ISBN-13: 1612618790

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From the bestselling author of Wild Hope — a beautiful book for Advent. Open a window each day of Advent onto the natural world. Here are twenty-five fresh images of the foundational truth that lies beneath and within the Christ story. In twenty-five portraits depicting how wild animals of the northern hemisphere ingeniously adapt when darkness and cold descend, we see and hear as if for the first time the ancient wisdom of Advent: The dark is not an end but the way a new beginning comes. Short, daily reflections that paint vivid, poetic images of familiar animals, paired with charming original wood-cuts, will engage both children and adults. Anyone who does not want to be caught, again, in the consumer hype of “the holiday season” but rather to be taken up into the eternal truth the natural world reveals will welcome this book. An ECPA 2023 Christmas Bestseller. Learn more about All Creation Waits and find free resources at AllCreationWaits.com

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry

Author: John Mark Comer

Publisher: WaterBrook

Published: 2019-10-29

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 0525653104

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ECPA BESTSELLER • A compelling emotional and spiritual case against hurry and in favor of a slower, simpler way of life “As someone all too familiar with ‘hurry sickness,’ I desperately needed this book.”—Scott Harrison, New York Times best-selling author of Thirst “Who am I becoming?” That was the question nagging pastor and author John Mark Comer. Outwardly, he appeared successful. But inwardly, things weren’t pretty. So he turned to a trusted mentor for guidance and heard these words: “Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life. Hurry is the great enemy of the spiritual life.” It wasn’t the response he expected, but it was—and continues to be—the answer he needs. Too often we treat the symptoms of toxicity in our modern world instead of trying to pinpoint the cause. A growing number of voices are pointing at hurry, or busyness, as a root of much evil. Within the pages of this book, you’ll find a fascinating roadmap to staying emotionally healthy and spiritually alive in the chaos of the modern world.

Prayer: Forty Days of Practice
Prayer: Forty Days of Practice

Author: Justin McRoberts

Publisher: National Geographic Books

Published: 2019-02-05

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 0525653058

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A simple yet profound guide to facilitate the instinctively human desire to pray. We pray because we are human, not because we are religious. Something in our nature points beyond itself; something in us searches for and desires personal connection with God. Although communicating with our Creator through prayer is innate, the effective practice of it often feels just beyond our reach. This unique book guides you to pray in deeper and more authentic ways. The short prayers and thought-provoking imagery, interspersed with contemplative reflections and suggested practices, will stir, inform, and encourage you. The simplicity of the prayers and the aesthetic appeal of the images will inspire people in every facet of life, including those with no real religious background at all.

Say Yes
Say Yes

Author: Scott Erickson

Publisher: Zondervan

Published: 2022-01-25

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 0310361923

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Say Yes gives you the mental and spiritual practices you need to enjoy your life again--and bring greater fullness than you could imagine before. "My life doesn't look anything like I wanted it to. How do I even keep going?" When the dreams for our life die, our vision of who we hoped to become often dies too. That's when The Voice of Giving Up appears. Visual artist and spiritual director Scott Erickson has had long midnight conversations with The Voice of Giving Up, and he knows how anxiety and depression make The Voice especially loud. But he's discovered that our darkest moments are sometimes doorways to a deeper, more joy-filled journey of recovering who we are, why we're here, and why the future bursts with possibilities if we are willing to say yes to life's brightest gifts. In Say Yes, Scott helps you learn how to reawaken your deepest desires, disempower your greatest fears, and identify the destructive narratives holding you back. Combined with Scott's beautiful, thought-provoking illustrations, this is a profound exploration of beginning again after: Disappointment at how life is turning out Suspecting we are not prepared or smart enough Losing hope that change is possible and that pain can have a purpose Take the first step to gain the gentle yet powerful tools you need, and say yes to what lies ahead today.