Joyful and daunting opportunities to live into God's dream of justice and beloved community are compelling and available. Hope, says Luther Smith Jr., is essential to the needed personal and social transformations that prepare us for such sacred opportunities. Yet genuine hope is often confused as merely wish fulfillment, optimism, or perceiving better tomorrows. In Hope Is Here! Smith describes how we truly perceive and join "the work of hope" enlivening us to a life that is oriented toward imm...
A 2023 Indies Award Finalist"In this book, Erickson’s steps don’t lead to grand cathedrals but to the transformative, powerful elements supporting life itself. " —Foreword Reviews"Travel writer Erickson has written a travelogue about areas of the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, that have sacred and spiritual meaning to people now and throughout history . . . Ideal for fans of Erickson’s work, curious readers, armchair travelers, and those who are compelled to take a spiritual pilgrim...
Travel with Erickson in The Soul of the Family Tree to learn how the spirits of your ancestral past can guide you today.Growing up in a passionately Norwegian-American town in Iowa, travel writer Lori Erickson rolled her eyes at traditions like Nordic Fest and steaming pots of rømmegrøt. But like many Americans, she eventually felt drawn to genealogy- the “quintessential hobby of middle age.” Her quest to know more about the Vikings and immigrants who perch in her family tree led her to visit No...
Contemplative disciplines, such as centering prayer and meditation, have been part of Christian life for centuries. They seem hard to practice now, not simply because our distracted and hyperstimulated age makes them difficult but also because they can appear irrelevant to the needs of a fractured and ugly historical moment. Yet these practices are more essential now than ever, claims Wendy Farley. These practices essentially awaken and attune us to the beauty both of the created order and of hu...
From the masses of young people spurning organized religion to faithful followers of Jesus, there is a deep hunger across gender, age, socioeconomics, and denominational backgrounds for practical, tangible ways to live a life of love, mercy, and justice in our divided, fragmented world. But where do we start? It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the world's problems, with solutions to violence and poverty and oppression seeming so far out of reach.But you have more power to change the world than you...
The world is full of good-hearted heathens, those who love people and those who want to do good in the world. They’re not against God—they just have no use for church. Church is boring and hypocritical. Plus, who wants to sit through a sermon every week? But while organized religion doesn’t appeal to them, these heathens long for a connection to something bigger than themselves: meaning, community, mission.
Pastor Jerry Herships leads a church-ish community full of good-hearted heathens. ...
As we make our way into the twenty-first century, many Christians are looking for an expression of discipleship that speaks meaningfully to our time, a faith yearning that is at once personally intimate and relevant and that grows out of and nurtures authentic Christian community.
The Pilgrim’s Compass shepherds readers through a metaphorical pilgrimage to consider one’s life a journey for faith formation. Using this book as a guide to help Christians consider their journey as they walk through ...
There are few things more joyous in a congregation than the presentation of a new baby or small child for baptism. With a new and attractive design, The Baptism of Your Child: A Book for Families answers common questions new parents and new members with small children may have about having their children baptized and walks them through the traditional elements of baptismal service. Perfect for parents in any denomination practicing infant baptism, The Baptism of Your Child: A Book for Families a...
There are few things more joyous in a congregation than the presentation of a new baby or small child for baptism. With an attractive new design and updated to reflect the sacrament of baptism found in the new Book of Common Worship, The Baptism of Your Child: A Book for Presbyterians Families answers common questions new parents and new members with small children may have about having their children baptized. Wehrheim walks parents through the traditional elements of Presbyterian baptismal ser...
Also available as a pack of 5, item 0664264247.
There are few things more joyous in a congregation than the presentation of a new baby or small child for baptism. With a new and attractive design, The Baptism of Your Child: A Book for Families answers common questions new parents and new members with small children may have about having their children baptized and walks them through the traditional elements of baptismal service. Perfect for parents in any denomination practicing infant baptism, ...
Also available as a pack of 5, item 0664264239.There are few things more joyous in a congregation than the presentation of a new baby or small child for baptism. With an attractive new design and updated to reflect the sacrament of baptism found in the new Book of Common Worship, The Baptism of Your Child: A Book for Presbyterians Families answers common questions new parents and new members with small children may have about having their children baptized. Wehrheim walks parents through the tra...
Our faith is full of heroes who experienced God powerfully in solitude. From Hagar and the Hebrew prophets to Jesus in the wilderness to St. Francis and Catherine of Siena, we see how escape from the toil and temptations of daily life can open our eyes, ears, minds, and hearts to the still, small voice of God. In the vast desert or a tiny room, solitude-frightening for some and a welcome reprieve for others-is far from an antisocial self-indulgence but rather is an opportunity for transformation...
In this imaginative retelling, John Pritchard explores the Gospel of Luke by looking through the eyes of the disciple John. The Journey to Jerusalem follows Luke’s account from Luke 9:51, as Jesus “set his face to go to Jerusalem.” Perfect for individual or group study, The Journey to Jerusalem provides weekday readings for Lent, from Ash Wednesday to Good Friday, along with a poem for each Saturday. Questions for reflection and discussion are also included.
In this new edition that includes a six-session study guide, popular author Walter Brueggemann writes that the Sabbath is not simply about keeping rules but rather about becoming a whole person and restoring a whole society. Brueggemann calls out our 24/7 society of consumption, a society in which we live to achieve, accomplish, perform, and possess. We want more, own more, use more, eat more, and drink more. Brueggemann shows readers how keeping the Sabbath allows us to break thi...
The spiritual practice of mindfulness has continued to gain popularity throughout the years. But what exactly does this practice offer to Christians? In Mindfulness and Christian Spirituality, Tim Stead explores how practicing mindfulness can help Christians better live out their faith. Stead explains what mindfulness is and what is beneficial about it. He also reflects on how it can impact what and how we believe and seeks to find how mindfulness enables our Christian faith to wor...
Everyone knows that stewardship is more than money and finances. Nevertheless, seldom do we give time to explore the profound concept of stewardship in its many dimensions, including stewardship of time, work, body, mind, spirit, community, technology, and more. Beyond the Offering Plate does just that. Written by ten engaging pastors, seminary professors, and church leaders, this unique resource offers a diverse and holistic approach to stewardship. In ten accessible chapters, re...
In a world of constant interruption that values speed over reflection, Sandy Eisenberg Sasso offers an interactive way to find the quiet we need to get in touch with our deepest selves. Designed to give you peace, inspiration, and a much-needed pause amid the business of daily life, Coloring the Silence contains twenty-five illustrations for coloring along with twenty-five reflections and prayers for meditation.
What happens if we imagine the Jesus of Christian theology to be realized in the nonhuman natural world around us? Basic to Christian belief is the notion that God, the creator of all, inhabited the earth in order to call to us. God of Earth embraces this central premise of Christianity - Jesus as both fully divine and fully human - and then allows for the possibility that such a Jesus need not be limited to a human man. What if Jesus were "God of earth" - not only over earth but al...
Inspired by the bestselling book by Marjorie Thompson, Soul Feast: An Inspirational Adult Coloring Book allows the reader to bring these powerful, spiritual reflections to life through coloring. Designed to give you both peace and inspiration, Soul Feast contains 25 illustrations for coloring in along with 25 quotes and prayers for reflection. Exploring important spiritual practices such as "Coloring as Prayer" and "Spiritual Reading," Soul Feast is perfect for meditation and rela...
"Again and again, Alister McGrath elegantly performs that central task of any teacher: to enable his students and readers, starting from the familiar ground of what they already know, to go on to explore new territory and begin to see an expanded horizon."— Church Times Popular author Alister E. McGrath explores the great theme of Christian hope and the way in which it transforms and sustains the Christian life in this fifth and final volume in the Heart of Christian Faith seri...
"In this easy-to-read book, pastor Jack Haberer helps you seek God's will for your life. You'll move from deep theological considerations to street- level, daily-life practicalities-and you'll learn to chart a course through life's complexities, guided by the Scriptures, in the company of the church. My only complaint is that it wasn't available thirty years ago!" —Brian D. McLaren, author, speaker, and activistJack Haberer's It's Complicated helps Christians figure out what to do ...
How can anything be ordinary if we find the glory of God there? Whatever might be said of life's most thrilling or transformative moments, most of our time is spent in ordinary things. We spend a third of our lives sleeping. In our adult lives, perhaps a quarter to a third of each week is spent at work. And then there's more of the common stuff: eating, waiting in line, bathing, getting dressed, and watching TV. So it is that our seventy, eighty, or ninety years go by in common ways...
The key to happiness is being rich, successful, and beautiful, right? Martin Thielen, best-selling author of What's the Least I Can Believe and Still Be a Christian?, insists that this is far from the truth. Happiness, Thielen argues, does not come from external factors like getting a job promotion or finally reaching your goal weight. Rather, happiness is an inside job.In brief, easy-to-read chapters, Thielen offers ten traits of happy and fulfilled people. Using psychological res...
Now available in enlarged print, Soul Feast has equipped and inspired tens of thousands of readers to lead a spiritual life. Marjorie Thompson offers a framework for understanding the spiritual disciplines and provides instruction for developing and nurturing those practices. Many new additions, including a new chapter on keeping the sabbath, make this newly revised edition of Soul Feast a must-have for individual reflection and group study.
First released in 1995, this spiritual classic continues to be a bestseller, as thousands each year accept Marjorie Thompson's invitation to the Christian spiritual life. Offering a framework for understanding the spiritual disciplines and instruction for developing and nurturing those practices, Soul Feast continues to be a favorite for individual reflection and group study. In addition to new forewords from the esteemed Barbara Brown Taylor and Henri J. M. Nouwen, this revised ed...
