Advent is for adoring Jesus.
The Christmas season is one of the busiest times of year. But it's also a season of reflection and preparation for that special day when we mark Immanuel's coming—the arrival of our eternal God in our own frail humanit… Read more…
Prepare yourself to celebrate the real reason for the season—Jesus!
Beginning with the first day of Advent, this four-week devotional will take you through the entire Christmas season with twenty-one readings organized around the weekly themes of Advent.
Through short, engaging reflections on hope, peace, joy, and love… Read more…
Advent, says Fleming Rutledge, is not for the faint of heart. As the midnight of the Christian year, the season of Advent is rife with dark, gritty realities. In this book, with her trademark wit and wisdom, Rutledge explores Advent as a time of rich paradoxes, a season celebrating at once Christ’s incarnation and his second coming, and she masterfully… Read more…
“Do not be afraid. I am bringing you good news that will be a great joy to all the people. Today your Savior was born. . . . He is Christ, the Lord.”Luke 2:10–11 NCVYou’ve heard the Christmas story time and again. Perhaps it seems there’s nothing new to discover. Take another look, a closer gaze, at the details that reveal God’s love in the gift … Read more…
RED IS THE COLOR... of softly glowing candles on a frosty night, bright holly berries, lights on the tree, and the big bow on the festive wreath at your front door. But that s not why red is the color of Christmas. Red is also the color of the blood that Jesus the Redeemer shed on the cross for the sins of the whole world. That beautiful Baby in the manger a… Read more…
The repetition of Christmas traditions can appear to dull the powerful nature of the holiday. God Rest Ye Merry is meant to rekindle the Christian's understanding of Advent on every front, from politics to shopping to uproarious celebration.
Pastor Douglas Wilson critiques false reasons for the season (and false objections to it), teac… Read more…
How to focus on Christ during AdventMost Christians agree that Christmas is all about Jesus, yet most of us spend little time preparing our hearts to celebrate Him. Why is this? Partly because we don’t know how.In Unwrapping the Names of Jesus, Asheritah Ciuciu leads readers through the four weeks of Advent (Hope, Preparation, Joy, and Love). Each w… Read more…
This new volume in the Feasting on the Word series provides an alternative to strict lectionary use for Advent, with six thematically-designed services for the four Sunday in Advent, as well as, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Four midweek services provide a supplemental study of John the Baptist to enhance the congregation's Advent experience. The res… Read more…
One of the best-loved and most quoted stories of "the man who invented Christmas"--English writer Charles Dickens--A Christmas Carol debuted in 1843 and has touched millions of hearts since. The familiar story of cruel miser Ebenezer Scrooge who never met a shilling he doesn't like. . .and hardly a man he does. . .and who hates Christmas most of all… Read more…
This year, don't let Christmas sneak up on you again.
The wonder and awe of the Christmas season can easily get overshadowed by lights, tinsel, bows, and paper—not to mention last-minute trips to the mall and v… Read more…
Handel's Messiah is one of the most beloved musical works of the western world, playing an especially sentimental role in many people's Christmas traditions. The libretto of the work, taken directly from the King James text of fourteen books of the Bible, has turned many otherwise forgettable phrases into memorable, singable, cherished lines of Scrip… Read more…
"Walking into Advent can be like walking through the wardrobe."With its enchanting themes of snow and cold, light and darkness, meals and gifts, temptation and sin, forgiveness and hope—and even an appearance by Father Christmas—C. S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe fits naturally into the Advent season. As the reader seeks a storied ki… Read more…
"There are only two places where the powerful and great in this world lose their courage, tremble in the depths of their souls, and become truly afraid. These are the manger and the cross of Jesus Christ." "No priest, no theologian stood at the cradle of Bethlehem. And yet, all Christian theology finds its beginnings in the miracle of miracles, that God beca… Read more…
"A page in history was about to turn. Though Israel's world was in the throes of upheaval, it was only a matter of time before the sun of righteousness would rise. These people needed rescue, but they weren't waiting for the stars to align or for the political climate to change. They were waiting for God. They were on his timetable. He was sending hi… Read more…
Preeminent hymn writer and liturgist Brian Wren offers this new collection of worship resources suitable for use in a variety of worship traditions. These theologically sound and creative worship resources include orders of worship (liturgies) and worship elements such as litanies, calls to worship, thanksgivings, and affirmations of faith, all crafted to en… Read more…
“I enthusiastically recommend this book.” -David PlattEvery Christmas, Christians all over the world celebrate the Advent season, recognizing the love, hope, joy, and peace that is found only in Jesus Christ. Through this devotional, Scott James brings to light the many promises of Christ—from birth to ascension—that demonstrate His love for us durin… Read more…
To “prepare for Christmasâ€� in our society is to be sucked into a vortex of indulgence, from decor to gifts to calorie-rich foods. Layer upon layer of tinsel, lights, and wrapping paper create the illusion of abundance, disguising the feeling of emptiness in our souls. The arrival of the Messiah, by contrast, is true abundance disguised by the im… Read more…
Valuable not only for their sublime musical expression, the African American spirituals give us profound insights into the human condition and the Christian life. Many focus on an essential scene of the Christian drama: the coming of God as the child in Bethlehem and as the hope of the world and the liberator of God's oppressed people. In these devotions… Read more…
The Christmas season is often one of the busiest and most stressful times of the year, and it’s easy to lose sight of what makes it special. Helping us refocus on what’s truly important, well-known pastor and author John Piper leads readers through twenty-four short meditations on Advent. The devotionals—drawn from Piper’s extensive preaching and tea… Read more…
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 glo… Read more…