Are you tired of the materialistic craziness of Christmas celebrations? Instead of relishing the wonder and joy of the holy holiday, we stumble through in a commercial haze, feeling exhausted and ready for it all to be mercifully finished.

Is there an alternative to this commercial dilemma? Happily there is What we need is not only permission to reclaim our sacred season, but also creative ideas for peace-filled, stress-free, and meaningful celebrations.

A plethora of delightful and diverse ideas can help your family not only to anticipate the season but also to grow closer through Advent and enjoy the holy season in a more meaningful, other-centered way.

This book introduces the reader to the history of European Christian pilgrimage in the twelve hundred years between the conversion of the Emperor Constantine and the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation. It sheds light on the varied reasons for which men and women of all classes undertook journeys, which might be long (to Rome, Jerusalem and Compostela) or short (to innumerable local shrines). It also considers the geography of pilgrimage and its cultural legacy.

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Holloway preached a powerful and very personal brand of sermon at Gray's Inn, and elsewhere, between 1997 and his death in office in 2010. Such was his following that it went without question that a selection of the 190 sermons he left should be published, not only for the benefit of those who heard them delivered, but to reach the much wider audience for whom these unique essays will provide guidance and entertainment, as well as human and spiritual wisdom.

A classic book of ceremonies and services according to the Western Rite, for all services other than the Eucharist which a parish priest would normally carry out. It contains orders of service for baptism, marriage, funerals, sick visiting, home communion and penance, as well as numerous blessing ceremonies for buildings, objects and events. It may be used alongside Common Worship and The Book of Common Prayer, and includes an appendix of prayers for a wide range of needs and occasions. Material from the Western Rite and the Book of Common Prayer is printed side-by-side, making this a useful resource for priests and parishioners who prefer ancient rites which pre-date the splits and divisions brought about by the Reformation.

This book examines the collection of prayers known as the Qumran Hodayot (= Thanksgiving Hymns) in light of ancient visionary traditions, new developments in neuropsychology, and post-structuralist understandings of the embodied subject. The thesis of this book is that the ritualized reading of reports describing visionary experiences written in the first person "I" had the potential to create within the ancient reader the subjectivity of a visionary which can then predispose him to have a religious experience. This study examines how references to the body and the strategic arousal of emotions could have functioned within a practice of performative reading to engender a religious experience of ascent. In so doing, this book offers new interdisciplinary insights into meditative ritual reading as a religious practice for transformation in antiquity.

The Lord s Prayer is arguably the most important prayer in Christianity. Still, exactly how the prayer developed in the life of the early church has remained hidden in ancient manuscripts. Hammerling s thorough and ground-breaking examination of these works reveals that early authors enthusiastically expounded upon its power and mystery, claiming that the prayer uttered by Christ belonged at the core of Christian ritual and beliefs. Many early church writers labeled it a "perfect summary of the gospel" and joyously referred to it as a pearl of great price and worth.

The WorshipMusic.com 2003 Book of the Year Andy Park writes, "I've learned through the years that becoming a worship leader involves far more than developing a set of skills--it's all about developing a life in God." Here's your opportunity to sit at the feet of one who has for twenty-five years led contemporary worship services in the United States and Canada. In Park's book you'll get an inside look at how this worship leader has learned to follow the leading of the Spirit as he brings others into God's presence. And you'll find practical advice, experienced counsel and inspiring ideas on a variety of issues like songwriting pulling together a team staying humble planning the flow of worship what to do in times of dryness working with the pastor and much more Above all, Park will help you discover what it means for you as a worship leader to be first and foremost a worshiper.

We all have a little bit of Pharisaism in us.

Pharisaism is one of the sins that angered Jesus the most. Yet we are often in bondage to it without realizing it. How can we recognize the warning signs in our own hearts and lives and be set free?

Do you consider yourself a better Christian than others? Do you enjoy pointing out others' faults while ignoring your own? Do you fail to practice what you preach? If so, you might be a Pharisee--a modern-day version of the religious leaders in Jesus' day whom He condemned for their legalism and self-righteousness. It's time to take a hard look at your attitudes and behavior and allow the Holy Spirit to set you free.

You will learn the following:

• Twenty-five signs that indicate you might be a Pharisee
• Why the sin of pharisaism angered Jesus
• The opposite character trait Jesus modeled
• Steps to take to rid pharisaism from your heart and mind

The call of Deep Church is not just for theologians and church leaders; it is also about each individual Christian experiencing and knowing that Jesus rescues from the depths and changes them deeply In this book Frog and Amy Orr-Ewing explore the concept of Deep Church in a 21st-century context. They argue that a missionary congregation needs to be deeply evangelical and evangelistic, deeply reliant on the power of the Holy Spirit, deeply engaged with its surrounding culture and community, deeply realistic about its limitations and temptations, and deeply convinced of its faith, in the face of all other worldviews and alternatives. Deep Church is about restoring the heart of the Christian faith within a rapidly changing and demanding culture, without lurching from one new methodology to another, rescuing today's church from unnecessary disillusionment, and wholeheartedly embracing Christ and his Kingdom.

Holiness is totally about our orientation to a Holy, perfect God who sees us, calls out our name and blesses us abundantly. Holiness is often taught as being about how well we live out our Christian faith and what we should and shouldn't do. This makes it about how well we perform as a believer. In A Monkey's Orientation holiness is unpacked and looked at as more about orientating ourselves to the Fathers blessing, making it about where we are rather than what we do.

Have we replaced the glory of God with our church programs. If so, is there anything we can do to get the glory of God back into our gatherings and individual lives? While we have good music, well-written songs and history to learn from, we can still miss having the presence of God in our meetings the way it was in Bible times. In this challenging and often provocative book, Jarrod Cooper deals with these important questions. Providing plenty of biblical illustrations to support his concerns, Jarrod shakes up more of our conventional thinking on the subject or worship. Can we for example only worship in the presence of the microphone, worship leader and powerpoint. What if all these were stripped away and it was just God and us? What would our worship be like then?