Dogs and cats, cows and sheep, frogs and crickets: all creation comes together in a harmony of sounds praising God.

Diddy Disciples is a creative and playful new worship and Bible storytelling resource for babies, toddlers and young children. Diddy Disciples aims to encourage participation, discipleship and leadership from children’s earliest years, using storytelling, singing, colour, repetition, art and lots and lots of movement! Peer-learning is actively encouraged with many opportunities for young children to learn from each other. Groups are invited to build their own Diddy Disciples sessions, choosing from different options. Leaders can use the material to create a service to follow the pattern of their church’s Sunday worship, a simple midweek baby and toddler singing session, or anything in between! Book 1 includes: Over 20 weeks’ worth of fully worked-out sessions organized into 4-6 week units from September to December All the information you need to set up and run Diddy Disciples in your group Plenty of opportunities to tailor the material to your own context, resources and tradition All sorts of creative ‘starter ideas’ for using everyday art and play resources to spark children's imaginations and engagement as they respond to the biblical stories. The Units are: Jesus’ wonderful love: six weeks introducing some of Jesus’ most famous parables God the maker: six weeks on creation and caring for it, including a Harvest celebration In November we remember: four weeks including All Saints and Remembrance Sunday Getting ready for baby Jesus: five weeks journeying through Advent to Christmas

This introductory theology text helps students articulate basic Christian doctrines, think theologically so they can act Christianly in a diverse world, and connect Christian thought to their everyday lives of faith. Written from a solidly evangelical yet ecumenically aware perspective, this book models a way of doing theology that is generous and charitable. It attends to history and contemporary debates and features voices from the global church. Sidebars made up of illustrative quotations, key Scripture passages, classic hymn texts, and devotional poetry punctuate the chapters. The first edition of this book has been well received (over 25,000 copies sold). Updated and revised throughout, this second edition also includes a new section on gender and race as well as new end-of-chapter material connecting each doctrine to a spiritual discipline.

From the Foreword: "This book of gospel music is a collection of lyrics and chords representing th e familiar praises of Jesus Christ. The chords, noted above the lyrics, will aid in the accompaniment of the songs. The starting note indicates the first note of the melody. The main purpose of this book is to give the gospel singer a place to find his favorite songs and all the verses he may wish to sing. Some of these familiar songs date back to the early Christian Church, while others are contemporary. One will find here th e longstanding hymns of the Church, revival songs and choruses, Negro spirituals, and children’s songs. I have truly enjoyed putting this collection together for you. I hope you will find this book both a blessing and an inspiration to your spiritual life. God bless you."

The Christian practice of hymn singing, says renowned biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann, is a countercultural act. It marks the Christian community as different from an unforgiving and often ungrateful culture. It is also, he adds, an "absurd enterprise in the midst of the hyper-busy, market-driven society that surrounds us. In this helpful and engaging volume, Brueggemann discusses both why we sing and what we sing. The first part of the book examines the Psalms and what they can teach us about the reasons that corporate song is a part of the Christian tradition. The second part looks at fifteen popular hymns, including classic and contemporary ones such as Blest Be the Ties That Binds, God's Eye Is on the Sparrow, Once to Every Man and Nation, Someone Asked the Question, and We Are Marching in the Light of God, and the reasons why they have caught our imagination. To know why we sing, Brueggemann writes, may bring us to a deeper delight in our singing and a strengthened resolve to sing without calculation before the God who is enthroned on the praises of Israel (Ps. 22:3).

Whether used for thematic story times, program and curriculum planning, readers' advisory, or collection development, this updated edition of the well-known companion makes finding the right picture books for your library a breeze. Generations of savvy librarians and educators have relied on this detailed subject guide to children's picture books for all aspects of children's services, and this new edition does not disappoint. Covering more than 18,000 books published through 2017, it empowers users to identify current and classic titles on topics ranging from apples to zebras. Organized simply, with a subject guide that categorizes subjects by theme and topic and subject headings arranged alphabetically, this reference applies more than 1,200 intuitive (as opposed to formal catalog) subject terms to children's picture books, making it both a comprehensive and user-friendly resource that is accessible to parents and teachers as well as librarians. It can be used to identify titles to fill in gaps in library collections, to find books on particular topics for young readers, to help teachers locate titles to support lessons, or to design thematic programs and story times. Title and illustrator indexes, in addition to a bibliographic guide arranged alphabetically by author name, further extend access to titles.

Guidance for Leaders Seeking a Richer Way to Employ Worship Music Worship expert Constance Cherry offers comprehensive guidance to Christian leaders seeking a deeper, richer way to employ worship music in engaging ways for twenty-first-century worshipers. Following Cherry's successful book The Worship Architect, this work helps Christian leaders think theologically and act pastorally about worship music in their churches. It addresses larger issues beyond the surface struggles of musical styles and provides tools to critically evaluate worship songs. The book is applicable to all Christian traditions and worship styles and is well suited to both the classroom and the local church. Each chapter concludes with suggested practical exercises, recommended reading, and basic vocabulary terms.

The key question in planning all ages worship is: "How can we share the Bible passages and their message, visually and actively, in ways that will keep children involved as well as inspire adults?" Usually we are looking for a drama, or a parade, or an experience that can involve the whole congregation. Once we have that in place then the hymns, prayers, and so forth come quite easily. This book includes such resources for use on special days when children are present.