Children love birthday parties. This is a book – a first of its kind – to help kids understand and celebrate the birthday of the Church. The Day When God Made the Church is the story of Pentecost and how the Holy Spirit shaped, and continues to shape, who we are as God’s Church. Children will learn the story of Pentecost: the sights, sounds, and events of that miraculous day described in the Book of Acts. They will also discover who the Holy Spirit is and how God calls each of us to follow Jesus. At the end, parents, educators, ministers will discover fresh ways to celebrate Pentecost with children in their own churches and families.

Do Christians today see the Lord's Day, the Christian Sabbath, as an unattractive, dreary time of legalistic restriction? If so, have they misunderstood the nature of 'the day God made'? Glen Knecht believes that many have. They have taken what was meant to be 'a little oasis of greenness, for meditation and rest', to be an arid period of irksome inactivity, and have rejected a good gift of God which should have been welcomed and used with joy. Knecht sees the day as rooted in Creation and the teaching and example of Christ, as well as in the Ten Commandments. He urges a return to the right use of this 'little section of time fenced off by God for the restoration and blessing of His people' as a time in which to meditate, rest, serve others, and grow in understanding of God's ways and love.

In this empowering book, Grammy Award–winning singer and songwriter Rory Feek of Joey+Rory encourages children that God made them unique creations. Your children or grandchildren will love cuddling up with you to discover how God delighted over each and every detail of their lives and personalities as He created them—from the shape of their eyes to the sound of their laughter. The Day God Made You also reminds preschoolers and elementary-aged children that God knew their families, their friends, their tears, their gifts, and even their dreams and hopes from the very beginning. This beautiful and affirming story for 4-to-8-year-olds celebrates the diverse and wonderful features God created in each of His children with Rory Feek’s moving lyrical rhymes; reminds all children—including all races and ethnicities, different abilities, and those with special needs—that God created them with purpose and love; encourages positive self-acceptance and self-esteem as children learn to be happy with themselves because God delights in who He created them to be; and is a comforting and inspiring read to share at story times or for sending children to bed with peaceful hearts. This colorful picture book with vivid illustrations from artist Malgosia Piatkowska is a great gift for Christmas, birthdays, baptisms, confirmations, adoption parties, and end-of-school-year celebrations. Delightful rhymes and a powerful message of love make this the perfect parent-child read for families of all shapes and sizes, including nuclear families, single-parent homes, foster families, and adoptive families.

God Made Me for Worship (a part of the God Made Me series) by Jared Kennedy helps children understand the complexity of a Christian worship gathering by using the vision of Isaiah 6. This beautifully illustrated children's book celebrates how God reveals himself to his people in the movements of worship. Sitting in a worship service for any young child can be a difficult experience. One minute everyone is singing loudly, the next everyone is sitting and listening quietly (without talking!). Sometimes the adults know something that should be said out loud, like, "Thanks be to God!" How did they know what to say? How do people know when to talk to one another and shake hands? God Made Me for Worship focuses on teaching kids about the key liturgical movements in a worship gathering, including the call to worship, praise and adoration, confession, assurance and passing the peace, ministry of the Word and sacraments, and benediction and sending. Kennedy guides parents to help their kids understand why we're intentional about worship, encouraging them to engage—not just to manage behavior during a worship gathering, but to invite kids to respond to God along with the whole church body.

From the author of the bestselling children's book When God Made You comes a rhythmic, whimsical journey through creation--for little readers who love science and wonder and the beginnings of all things. For spiritual parents who are looking for a different kind of creation book, Matthew Paul Turner's When God Made the World focuses on the complex way that God created our vast and scientifically operating universe, including the biodiversity of life on our planet and the intricacies of a vast solar system. Scottish illustrator Gillian Gamble brings the natural world to vibrant life with rich colors and poignant detail certain to stretch young minds and engage imaginations. Planet Earth, God made a blue and green sphere, And designed it to orbit the sun once a year. God made daytime and nighttime, climates and seasons, And all kinds of weather that vary by region. God made continents and oceans, islands and seas, A north and south pole that God put in deep freeze. God carved rivers and brooks, mountains and caves, Made beaches with sand and huge crashing waves. God made tropics and plateaus, glaciers and meadows, marshes and tundras and erupting volcanos.

My Utmost for His Highest has been a proven, best-selling devotional for many years. Over the past century, Oswald Chambers’s writings have inspired countless people to drink deeply from the biblical truths that he so passionately championed. His words are simultaneously penetrating and invigorating, and they trigger something in your soul leaving you forever changed. The biblical thoughts and themes that Chambers delivers in this updated-language edition will resonate with you as you seek to grow your faith. We have also included the topical section

What do the music of Metallica and Bach, the film Crash, and stories about Batman have in common? According to author and pastor John Van Sloten, God can speak through all of them if we're listening. Out of his own often startling and sometimes wrenching journey of discovery, Van Sloten shows how God can speak to us through anything and everything heavy metal music, R-rated films, sports, and even the latest fashions. This book might just change the way you hear God's voice and how you live in today's world.

Celebrated children’s author Rebekah McLeod Hutto (The Day When God Made Church) teams up with illustrator Jacob Popčak to introduce kids to the Apostle Paul — in the form of a lovable honey badger! Young readers will be introduced to Paul and his ministry and then hear stories of his friends, including Ananias, Barnabas, Silas, Lydia, Priscilla and Aquila, and Timothy. All of these New Testament characters will help teach kids about friendship, and how Jesus, our friend, calls us to care for each other as friends.

It can no longer be assumed that most people--or even most Christians--have a basic understanding of the Bible. Many don't know the difference between the Old and New Testament, and even the more well-known biblical figures are often misunderstood. It is getting harder to talk about Jesus accurately and compellingly because listeners have no proper context with which to understand God's story of redemption. In this basic introduction to faith, D. A. Carson takes seekers, new Christians, and small groups through the big story of Scripture. He helps readers to know what they believe and why they believe it. The companion leader's guide helps evangelistic study groups, small groups, and Sunday school classes make the best use of this book in group settings.

Many Christians who experience hurt in the church don't just leave their own churches; they leave the church altogether. Whether they have been wounded by pastors or people in the pews, these believers have had enough and are jumping ship in massive numbers. Pastor and churchgoer Chris Jackson is honest about his own failings as well as those of the church at large. He identifies with many of the hurts churchgoing Christians have experienced. In Loving God When You Don't Love the Church, he hopes to provide healing to wounded and disillusioned believers and restore the wonder of a genuine relationship with Jesus and his bride, the church. Jackson's humility, compassion, and practical advice for healing and restoration will touch those who have left the church and those who love them.