Just In Time Prayers For Advent And Christmas

Brief, affordable, practical resources to help all who plan and lead in worship.

Ready-to-use worship and preaching resources for the four Sundays in Advent including Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Includes biblically-based sermon briefs, suggested Scriptures, hymns, prayers, and litanies for lighting the Advent Wreath. To help pastors minister more effectively during this important church season. Contents include: Introduction: The Ways We Know Jesus First Sunday in Advent: Emmanuel Second Sunday in Advent: Son of Man Third Sunday in Advent: Example Fourth Sunday in Advent: Lord Christmas Eve: Son of God Christmas Day: Word of God

Jesus: God's Unlikely Revelation Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany Services includes biblically-based sermons, suggested scriptures, children's time, hymn and prayers, as well as litanies for lighting the Advent wreath. Also included are suggestions for seasonal funerals. These services offer a completing message of hope during this important church season, when people often visit a church for the first time. Each service focuses on and celebrates a different aspect of the theme: Jesus: God's Unlikely Revelation 1. First Sunday of Advent- Jesus: The Unlikely Image of God (Genesis 1:26-27; Colossians 1:15-17) 2. Second Sunday in Advent Jesus: The Unlikely Gift from God (Isaiah 55:1-9) 3. Third Sunday of Advent Jesus: The Unlikely Story of God with Us (Matthew 1:18-25) 4. Fourth Sunday of Advent Jesus: The Unlikely Messiah (John 7:25-31) 5. Christmas Eve Jesus: An Unlikely Peacemaker (Luke 2:8-20) 6. Christmas Day An Unlikely Christmas Card (Matthew 2:13-23) 7. Epiphany John the Baptizer: Jesus' Unlikely Herald (John 1:1-14) Seasonal Funerals

Ready-to-use worship resources for the 4 Sundays of Advent, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Epiphany

This seasonal book combines prayers from the Liturgy of the Hours and from the tradition's most eloquent authors to provide a simple and graceful order of prayer appropriate for individuals or groups.

This book is a toolbox of children's sermons that present special ways to include children in our Sunday worship and to build their faith. The sermons are organized in two sections. Part One includes sermons focused on "The Center of Our Faith." This opening section includes sermons that center on God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Bible as the church's Book. Part Two is titled "Pathways to Our Faith." Sermons in this section engage children in exploring the nature of the community of faith; two primary sacraments of the Christian faith, Holy Communion (The Lord's Supper) and baptism; and symbols of the faith. The sermons include ideas for dialogue, prompts, and experiences designed for children to be part of both the action and the message. --from the Introduction.

Some of us fear moments when we need to defend our theology. Some of us seek them out. But we are seldom ready the way Jesus seemed to be ready. So how do we draw others to God in the midst of these ordinary conversations the way Jesus did? In Speaking of Jesus, Carl Medearis draws on his experience of international reconciliation between Muslims and Christians to remind us of the heart of the matter: Jesus. Here he gives us tools, stories, and the foundation we need to move beyond “us” and “them” and simply talk about the One who changes it all. As Carl writes, “While others are explaining and defending various isms and ologies we’re simply pointing people to our friend. The one who uncovers and disarms. Who leads people right to himself. The beginning and the end of the story. A good story indeed.”

The Reed of God is an inspirational classic written by a British Roman Catholic ecclesiastical artist, Caryll Houselander. This book contains a beautiful meditation on Mary, Mother of God and so much more. Reading this book will bring you closer to Our Blessed Mother, and hence, to Christ Himself. Filled with lyrical prose and touching analogies, the author shows how Mary was the "Reed of God" and that we are all vessels waiting to do God's work, and carrying Christ within us.