As we prepare each year to celebrate the Incarnation, the Advent season reminds us that we live in an interim period between the First and Second Comings of Jesus Christ. In this book of twelve riveting sermons on a variety of Advent themes (all based on texts from Cycle B of the Revised Common Lectionary), Michael Ruffin explores the challenges of Christian living in this time between the First and Second Advents -- particularly the tension between the modes of patience and action. Though we await Jesus' return with hopeful anticipation, Advent waiting is active waiting. Ruffin's messages invite readers to share in the richly rewarding life of faith, while providing abundant comfort and inspiration for those who endeavor to live as disciples of Jesus in the modern world. Preachers looking for an imaginative illustration or observation to stimulate their sermons will find ample material in this book. But this is much more than just a reference for ministers preparing to preach during Advent -- it's also an excellent resource for spiritual reflections reminding us that the good news in these days between the Advents is that Jesus Christ is Immanuel, God with us. Possessed by an abiding love for the Lord Christ, Michael Ruffin approaches a season that he loves with his scholarly skills of exegesis, his insight into contemporary life issues, his common sense, and his disarming humor, crafting a collection of sermons that will bless the reader, inspire the preacher, and remind us all of the renewal that Advent brings. James C. Elder Jr. Pastor, First Baptist Church Fitzgerald, Georgia Michael L. Ruffin is the pastor of The First Baptist Church in Fitzgerald, Georgia. He is a graduate of Mercer University (B.A.) and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (M.Div., Ph.D.).

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 unfolds the ethical and future-oriented significance of Advent for the church.

Bobby Gross presents chapters on each season of the liturgical year, accompanied by weekly devotions based on the Sunday readings of the lectionary cycle. His book offers a flexible weekly format, designed to let you break the devotions down any way you want to.

If Barbara Brown Taylor and Steven Covey ever wrote a book together, this might be the book! Living Compass is a church-based faith and wellness program designed for individuals and small groups. Readers engage in a 10-week, self-guided wellness retreat, consisting of daily ten-minute readings, plus small, meaningful action steps designed for getting “your life, your relationships, and your work headed in a new direction,” according to the author. Deeply spiritual and exceedingly practical, this book joins the national Living Compass network, which includes a website, workshop series, wellness resources (including a free Living Well with Living Compass app), social media, and soon, a new multi-million-dollar wellness center to be located in the offices of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago. Structured holistic wellness program for individuals and groups based on a highly successful retreat model developed by priest-psychologist. Builds on the national network of Living Compass workshops, presentations, and publications, and soon, a multi-million faith and wellness center in Chicago. Each chapter includes questions for reflection.

Advent is about God -- and Jesus -- coming to meet us in the low places of our lives, when we are our most vulnerable.

In these refreshingly unconventional meditations, scientist John Polkinghorne connects the perspectives of science and religion in honest and thoughtful reflections for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany. Giving new meaning to the penitence of Advent and the hope of the Christian faith, he considers God's ultimate purposes along with scientific knowledge of the fate of the universe. Complete with Scriptural references and prayers,Living With Hopeencourages Christians to think about the beginning and end of the world and to come to discover what it means to truly affirm God's purpose in creation.

The New York Times bestselling Christmas classic. Over 250,000 books in print. An annual bestseller. Thousands of readers have already fallen in love with Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts, and this Christmas, Ann will help readers celebrate the lineage and the majesty of God’s greatest gift—Jesus Christ. In what has already become a holiday classic, Voskamp reaches back into the pages of the Old Testament to explore the lineage of Jesus via the advent tradition of “The Jesse Tree.” Beginning with Jesse, the father of David, The Greatest Gift retraces the epic pageantry of mankind, from Adam to the Messiah, with each day’s reading pointing to the coming promise of Christ. Sure to become a holiday staple in every Christian home, The Greatest Gift is the perfect gift for the holidays and a timeless reminder of the true meaning of Christmas.

Between Advents continues Bruce Taylor’s series of sermons for the Common Lectionary (Revised), offering theologically rich, sacramentally reflective, ecumenically compatible, and biblically centered proclamations for the Sundays and major feast days of Year C, from Advent through Eastertide. Included is an appendix, featuring a sermon preached in departure from the lectionary on the occasion of a high school baccalaureate service conducted shortly after the United States military invasion of Iraq. His strong commitment to Christian unity and deep appreciation of the heritage and contemporary relevance of the church and the importance of individual discipleship are a common thread in these sermons for the first half of the church year featuring Gospel readings from Luke. Included is a sampling of engaging story sermons, illustrating how this style of preaching can be used in lectionary-based preaching. Preachers and devotional readers alike will find Between Advents to be a valuable companion as they discover the profound beauty of sacramental worship through the course of the liturgical year and meditate on the Scripture passages commended for Christian worship in the lectionary cycle.

While We Wait takes group participants deeper into their own journey toward God by providing weekly readings and group session plans. The first two chapters focus on the questions asked by Tamar, Zechariah, and Ruth, while the later chapters focus on the questions of Elizabeth, Mary, and the Magi. Coming from a fresh angle, While We Wait provides new territory for connecting readers with their own faith questions.While We Wait addresses Advent as God's deepening search for us. The chapters move readers into the different levels in which we engage God. Redding helps readers understand that real-life struggles and questions are a legitimate part of Advent's spiritual exploration.While We Wait takes group participants deeper into their own journey toward God by providing weekly readings and group session plans. A complete Advent study, While We Wait offers readers a unique perspective, clear instructions for small-group use, daily scripture accompanied by questions, and spiritual disciplines.