Services for the Lenten Candles


Book Description

Just as the Lenten season reminds the Christian of Christ's journey to the cross, the seven candles and the weekly extinguishing of each one enhances that long, soon-to-be dark journey. When the last candle is extinguished and the darkness seems to be all-consuming, worshipers will feel the darkness of the soul at the time of Christ's crucifixion. Using one or two liturgists, flexible services are provided for every Sunday during the Lenten season as well as Good Friday and Easter Sunday, during which a Paschal candle is lighted. The beauty and symbolism of these services will add meaning and dimension to your Lenten worship as the congregation is reminded each Sunday of being one step closer in the journey to the cross. Robert S. Jarboe is pastor of Faith Chapel United Methodist Church in Huntington, Indiana. He is a graduate of Manchester College with a B.S. in music, majoring in piano and voice. He earned his M.Div. degree from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio.




The Sacred Pulse


Book Description

Contemporary life is leaving us frazzled, overwhelmed, and out of sorts. Our life's rhythm is often borrowed from the pace of life around us. Humans have created such a loud, fast tempo of perfection and production that we often forget--if we ever knew it at all--the rhythms designed for our well-being. In The Sacred Pulse, pastor and author April Fiet invites us to examine the frantic patterns of our lives to reclaim the deeper, sacred pulses that pattern our days. Through stories, scripture, and practical guidance for daily living, she lays out twelve rhythms--including gardening, handcrafts, friendship, and holidays--that are both sustainable and sustaining. Everyday acts like mealtime and shopping, and sporadic rhythms like the occasional snow day: reclaiming these patterns can remind us of the holy movement of God in the world. In a world of hustle and bravado, silencing the noise takes practice. The Sacred Pulse shows us how to strip away all of the competing beats we have settled for so we can tap into the joyful, holy rhythms of life.




Faithful Women and Their Extraordinary God


Book Description

These are the stories of five ordinary women-Sarah Edwards, Lilias Trotter, Gladys Aylward, Esther Ahn Kim, and Helen Roseveare-who trusted in their extraordinary God as he led them to do great things for his kingdom. Noël Piper holds up their lives and deeds as examples of what it means to be truly faithful. Learning about these women will challenge readers to make a difference for Christ in their families, in the church, and throughout the world.




Together in Ministry


Book Description

Is it possible for churches and organizations to foster healthy mixed-gender ministry collaboration? Longtime ministry leader Rob Dixon casts a compelling—and encouraging—vision for flourishing partnerships between women and men. With research findings, biblical examples, real-life stories, and practical next steps, this roadmap equips teams and individuals with next steps for making that vision a reality.




Stories of God at Home


Book Description

A method for families to share the biblical story at home and learn the practice of sharing one another’s stories as part of God’s Story. Using Godly Play® methods, Jerome Berryman offers families a way of nourishing faith in the home while supporting children’s spiritual growth through the practice of “storying,” our most ancient way of making meaning. This book offers “storying” rituals and techniques from Godly Play for exploring the meaning of Christmas, Easter, Creation, the Parable of the Good Shepherd, Pentecost, and the Trinity to give sustenance to the family’s flow, play, love, and spirituality. Stories of God at Home follows the rhythm of life’s cycles (birth, death, earth, life, God, and depth) in telling biblical stories and shows how parents and caretakers can grasp their role with children using classic children’s literature.




Lenten Resources for Worship Leaders


Book Description

These field-tested materials represent the creative effort of many denominations. Each includes ideas for preparation, items needed, suggestions for use, number of parts, and the time for best use. This complete Lenten volume for busy ministers includes: - Shadows Around The Cross: A Tenebrae - A Good Friday Vigil - The Service Of Diminishing Lights -- for Sundays in Lent - Justified By Greed: Monologue Of A Pharisee -- for Lent - The Passover Haggadah: A Traditional Seder Service - Litany For Forgiveness - Litany For Palm Sunday - Litany For Easter - Meditation: Forgiveness Is Peace - Meditation: You Make The Difference - Litany Of Confession - Litany For Peace




Manual of Indulgences


Book Description

This exclusive English-language translation of the Manual on Indulgences explains what indulgences are and provides the many devotional prayers associated with them.




Wounded for Us


Book Description

By focusing on the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf -- and powerfully linking it to our lives today -- this comprehensive resource offers a compelling approach to observing Lent that truly prepares worshipers to experience Easter's new hope, new possibilities, and new life. Based on the ancient tradition of the five wounds of Christ, Wounded For Us identifies places where we find ourselves hurting, then connects them to one of the wounds Jesus suffered and explores how Christ's resurrection offers reconciliation and healing. Wounded For Us draws an imaginative analogy between Jesus' wounds and these areas in our lives where we are wounded: * Head (crown of thorns) -- our thoughts * Side (piercing) -- our spirit and emotions * Back (scourging) -- our hopes and dreams * Hands (nails) -- our relationships * Feet (nails) -- our actions With sermon and worship material for Ash Wednesday, the Sundays in Lent, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday, Wounded For Us provides a complete package with everything needed for developing meaningful, thematically unified services throughout the Lenten season. Each sermon suggests an action plan that applies the "cure" of the gospel to our wounds, and reproducible outlines that help the congregation focus on the main themes are also included. C. David Hogsett served several congregations in the North Indiana conference of the United Methodist Church during nearly four decades of active ministry. Hogsett holds degrees from Purdue University (B.S. in math), Southern Methodist University's Perkins School of Theology (B.D., S.T.M.), and McCormick Theological Seminary (D.Min.).




In the Candle's Glow


Book Description

The bees do their work. The beekeeper does hers. And little Felicia, with the honesty and faith of a child, takes the fruit of the bee and the beekeeper's efforts and lights her candle and prays. She prays once, she prays twice, she prays three prayers, then watches the breeze from the window carry her prayers from the candle heavenward. A children's picture book for preschool and up




Roman Pilgrimage


Book Description

The annual Lenten pilgrimage to dozens of Rome’s most striking churches is a sacred tradition dating back almost two millennia, to the earliest days of Christianity. Along this historic spiritual pathway, today’s pilgrims confront the mysteries of the Christian faith through a program of biblical and early Christian readings amplified by some of the greatest art and architecture of western civilization. In Roman Pilgrimage, bestselling theologian and papal biographer George Weigel, art historian Elizabeth Lev, and photographer Stephen Weigel lead readers through this unique religious and aesthetic journey with magnificent photographs and revealing commentaries on the pilgrimage’s liturgies, art, and architecture. Through reflections on each day’s readings about faith and doubt, heroism and weakness, self-examination and conversion, sin and grace, Rome’s familiar sites take on a new resonance. And along that same historical path, typically unexplored treasures—artifacts of ancient history and hidden artistic wonders—appear in their original luster, revealing new dimensions of one of the world’s most intriguing and multi-layered cities. A compelling guide to the Eternal City, the Lenten Season, and the itinerary of conversion that is Christian life throughout the year, Roman Pilgrimage reminds readers that the imitation of Christ through faith, hope, and love is the template of all true discipleship, as the exquisite beauty of the Roman station churches invites reflection on the deepest truths of Christianity.