Worship at Home: Advent & Christmas 2020

Worship at Home: Advent & Christmas 2020

Author: Mary Scifres

Publisher: Abingdon Press

Published: 2020-11-03

Total Pages: 69

ISBN-13: 1791020283

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Worship at Home: Advent and Christmas 2020 is packed with weekly worship services you can do on your own or with others and includes services for each week in Advent, Christmas Eve, the Sunday after Christmas, and Epiphany. This book is for congregations and individuals who want to stay spiritually connected and growing, even when they’re not worshiping together in the same space. It provides everything you need to conduct meaningful, spiritually fulfilling, traditionally rooted worship services at home or in other intimate environments. Each service includes essential worship elements, from gathering to benediction, with words and actions you can say and do yourself. Included are links for online musical selections plus traditional hymn suggestions from a variety of hymnals. You’ll find helpful ideas for how to use this resource in a variety of settings, and how to create worshipful spaces, even in your own home. The Worship at Home series is organized by the liturgical year, with a new book for each season: Advent and Christmas, Lent, Easter and Eastertide, Pentecost, and the weeks after Pentecost. Ways the resource can be used by individuals and families include: - Individuals can use the resource for personal devotion and worship at any time, wherever they like. Go through the entire service, or simply choose whatever portions are helpful. Read a prayer and meditate. Watch a video clip and reflect on it. Sing a song or hymn. - Families can use Worship at Home in the same ways, any time and any place. - Suggestions are included for creating worship spaces at home, and for involving children in the services. Here are some ways the resource can be used by a congregation or group: - Pastors or group leaders can use Worship at Home as the worship plans for weekly church services. The pastor might prepare a sermon or homily, but everything else is ready to go. - People can use the resource for worship in any space—at a senior care center, in a park, on the lawn, at the church, and so forth. No bulletins or hymnals are needed. - People gathered to worship via Zoom, FaceTime, Facebook or Instagram Live, or livestream will all be reading aloud the same prayers from these books, singing the same songs or singing along with a video. Worship at Home provides a participatory experience and a sense of community, even when people are worshiping remotely.


To Whom the Angel Spoke

To Whom the Angel Spoke

Author: Terry Kay

Publisher: Peachtree Publishing Company

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781561455027

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A holiday classic about the power and unity of belief in the face of differences. To Whom the Angel Spoke is the story of three shepherds who are as different as men can be. One night, those men hear a voice, and because they believe the voice's words about the birth of Jesus, they become alike. In author Terry Kay's moving story, the unifying power of simple belief transcends differences, reminding us that, as diverse as we are, there is a celebration that can bring us all together.


Faithful Families

Faithful Families

Author: Traci Smith

Publisher: Chalice Press

Published: 2017-03-07

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 0827211236

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A new and expanded version of Seamless Faith, now with more than a dozen new spiritual practices and additional resources for parents, kids, grandparents, and communities that care about families! Add family faith moments to your daily routine with little or no prep, and share meaningful spiritual experiences with your children! Traci Smith, a pastor and mother of three, offers ways to discover and develop new spiritual practices as a family, whether you're a new seeker or a lifelong follower. Faithful Families is brimming with easy, do-it-yourself ideas for transforming your family's everyday moments into sacred moments! Faithful Families helps you: connect faith to your family's everyday life; add family faith moments into your daily routine; learn new spiritual practices alongside your children; teach your children to appreciate religious diversity with time-tested non-Christian and Christian spiritual practices; respond to life's everyday challenges and opportunities with meaningful practices Faithful Families is the perfect gift for Parents, Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles; Baptisms; Baby Showers; New Families; Christian educators and those they serve; Preschool Classes; and Godparents Faithful Families is part of The Young Clergy Women Project


The Christmas We Didn't Expect

The Christmas We Didn't Expect

Author: David Mathis

Publisher: The Good Book Company

Published: 2020-10-01

Total Pages: 125

ISBN-13: 1784985546

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Life is full of unexpected twists and turns and this has been particularly so in 2020. But the most unexpected and significant event in the history of the world actually happened over 2000 years ago when God himself became one of us in the person of Jesus Christ. These Advent reflections, written by David Mathis, help us to lift our eyes to wonder of the incarnation and worship the one who came to save us and make our futures certain. Be amazed once more by the unexpected details of Jesus' unique birth and saving work with these short daily devotions and prayers, and renew your worship of our humble, generous and loving Savior.


Imagining a New World

Imagining a New World

Author: Terri Hord Owens

Publisher: Chalice Press

Published: 2020-09-22

Total Pages: 46

ISBN-13: 0827216807

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Pause from the whirlwind of the holidays to imagine God's vision for a new world in Christ's coming. Inspired by the "peaceable kingdom" scripture from Isaiah 11, these daily, five-minute devotions include scripture, reflections, and a prayer. "The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them." -Isaiah 11: 6. In this Advent devotional centered on the beloved scripture on the "peaceable Kingdom," reflect on God's vision for a new world and what it means for us today. Daily, five-minute devotions explore the courage to imagine, permission to change, and freedom from fear. A scripture verse and prayer round out each devotion. Written by Terri Hord Owens, the leader of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Imagining a New World offers an inspiring pause during the day to reflect more prayerfully on what the season of Advent inspires in you and your community.


Christmas in the Four Gospel Homes

Christmas in the Four Gospel Homes

Author: Cynthia M. Campbell

Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press

Published: 2019-08-27

Total Pages: 149

ISBN-13: 1611649684

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How might a house look for Christmas based on what each Gospel says about it? In Christmas in the Four Gospel Homes, beautiful illustrations from architect Kevin Burns reimagine each of the four Gospels as a house, which the church visits at Christmas. In each section, Cynthia M. Campbell reflects on the distinctive perspective of the birth of Jesus or the incarnation offered by each Gospel. Suitable for individual or group study, Christmas in the Four Gospel Homes creatively reimagines the season and inspires new and exciting reflection for Advent.


Advent in Plain Sight

Advent in Plain Sight

Author: Jill J. Duffield

Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press

Published: 2021-09-14

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 1646982037

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At Christmas, God came into our ordinary world in the form of a child, and still today, God is at work through the ordinary stuff of life, if we train our eyes to see. In this daily devotional for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany, Jill J. Duffield draws readers' attention to ten ordinary objects that appear in the biblical narratives of messianic prophesy and incarnation—objects we encounter in our own lives. Through objects such as gates, trees, cloth, light, and water, readers will find new meaning in the biblical account of Jesus’ coming. By connecting everyday objects with biblical texts, Advent in Plain Sight prompts readers to see the near kingdom of heaven on earth and ponder what that divine proximity enables and asks them to do and be. Each daily devotional features a Scripture reading, prayer, and reflection, reminding Christians that God still dwells among us, even in the most ordinary places.


Good News of Great Joy

Good News of Great Joy

Author: John Piper

Publisher: Crossway

Published: 2021-08-18

Total Pages: 110

ISBN-13: 1433573261

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25 Advent Readings by Pastor and Author John Piper Come, let us adore him. This beloved Advent refrain captures the heart of the season. Advent is for adoring Jesus. It is a season of preparation to ready our hearts for the glory of Christmas Day as we celebrate the coming of the eternal God in our frail humanity. These twenty-five short devotional readings from John Piper aim to help you keep Christ at the center of the Advent season.


Dog in the Manger

Dog in the Manger

Author: Tim Schenck

Publisher: Forward Movement Publications

Published: 2015-02-13

Total Pages: 98

ISBN-13: 9780880283717

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With laugh-out-loud humor anchored by spiritual truths, author Tim Schenck helps us maintain our spiritual sanity through the often-frenetic chaos of Advent and Christmas. Illustrated by popular cartoonist Jay Sidebotham, "Dog in the Manger" also explores the major characters of the season in new ways, including John the Baptist, Mary, Joseph and of course, Jesus. Thoughtful questions following each section make "Dog in the Manger" ideal for personal or group use.


Almost Christmas

Almost Christmas

Author: Magrey deVega

Publisher: Abingdon Press

Published: 2019-09-17

Total Pages: 129

ISBN-13: 1501890581

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In 1741, John Wesley preached his famous sermon titled “The Almost Christian” in which he encouraged people to follow Christ wholeheartedly. We should not be satisfied with being almost Christian but rather strive towards being altogether a Christian. In Almost Christmas: A Wesleyan Advent Experience, author and pastor Magrey deVega leads a group of authors to explore how we can make the same commitment to Christ during Advent, connecting our Wesleyan heritage with the traditional Advent themes of Love, Hope, Joy, and Peace. In this book, perfect for Advent, deVega and the other authors break down the barriers that prevent us from experiencing an “altogether” love, hope, joy, and peace in Christ in our lives and in the world around us. They demonstrate the promises God offers to us that makes those longings a reality, inviting us to claim those promises for ourselves this Advent and celebrate an altogether Christmas. Chapters include: Altogether Love Altogether Hope Altogether Joy Altogether Peace Additional components for a four-week study include a DVD featuring Magrey deVega and the other writers and a comprehensive Leader Guide, as well as nativity hymns by Charles Wesley, litanies for lighting the Advent wreath, and prayers that can be incorporated into both worship and small group settings. A daily devotional and a youth study book are also available.