"For the greatest, most profound, tenderest things in the world, we must wait." Never are moments of quiet reflection more important than during the rush of the Christmas season. These beautiful meditations from the works of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the most beloved theologians of the twentieth century, are perfect as brief devotions for those who already love Bonhoeffer's work and as wonderful introductions to his writing for young readers and others not yet familiar with him. Combined with beautifully evocative, full-color photographs, these passages remind us of the profound wonders we celebrate during Advent and Christmas and of the reverence appropriate to the season. Includes a short biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Perfect for gift giving.

Rudolf Steiner, the often undervalued, multifaceted genius of modern times, contributed much to the regeneration of culture. In addition to his philosophical teachings, he provided ideas for the development of many practical activities, including education - both general and special - agriculture, medicine, economics, architecture, science, religion and the arts. Steiner's original contribution to human knowledge was based on his ability to conduct 'spiritual research', the investigation of metaphysical dimensions of existence. With his scientific and philosophical training, he brought a new systematic discipline to the field, allowing for conscious methods and comprehensive results. A natural seer from childhood, he cultivated his spiritual vision to a high degree, enabling him to speak with authority on previously veiled mysteries of life. Samples of Steiner's work are to be found in this introductory reader in which Matthew Barton brings together excerpts from Steiner's many talks and writings on the festivals of Whitsun and Ascension. The volume also features an editorial introduction, afterword, commentary and notes.

How does Christian ethics begin? This pioneering study explores the grammar of the Christian life as it is embodied and learned in worship as the formative experience of the 'fellow citizens of God's people'. The book presents the first in-depth theological investigation of the phenomenon of 'political worship' by exposing the political nature of worship and the worship dimension of politics. In a careful analysis of biblical and traditional conceptions of worship, Wannenwetsch demonstrates how the genuine political character of worship neutralizes attempts to politicize or de-politicize it. In the imprinting of the experience of divine reconciliation on the Christian body, worship challenges the deepest antagonisms of political theory and practice: antagonisms of 'private and public', 'freedom and necessity', and 'action and contemplation'. At the same time, the 'spill over' of worship into every sphere of life instils a healthy suspicion of post-liberal conceptualizations of role-mobility. In the experience of 'hearing in communion', an encounter with a word that does not deceive announces the end of the rule of the hermeneutics of suspicion. Further questions discussed include the conditions of true consensus, forgiveness as a political virtue, `political rhetoric' between accountability and self-justification, how 'reversible role-taking' can avoid losing the otherness of the other, and how the rhetoric of 'responsibility' can be saved from hubris or depression. Particular practices or dimensions of worship (confession, preaching, praising, intercession, observance of holy days) are examined and their heuristic and formative potentials explored in relation to these topics. A special feature of the study is a strong ecumenical and international focus. The book brings into conversation a variety of traditions (including Lutheran, Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox) and contemporary voices. An original contribution to Christian ethics, the book addresses systematic and practical theology as well as political theory, while indicating the essential interpenetration of these disciplines.

With the sensitivity born of time and experience, Charles Hoffacker presents an unusually warm and caring approach to preaching at a pivotal transition in human life, one which goes to the very heart of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Hoffacker teaches the reader, whether a seasoned preacher or a novice homilist, to find the key to unlocking the mystery of Jesus promise of eternal life in a mortal life now ended.

The Reformation restored the Scriptures to the people, but the job was only halfway finished. Today the church is awakening to the truth that ministry is not just the domain of clergy, but belongs to the entire body of Christ. God is moving her to complete her unfinished business of placing the ministry back in the hands of the people. Unfinished Business has played a pivotal part in helping the church reclaim ministry at the grassroots level. First published in 1990 as The New Reformation, it has become a classic resource for church life. Expanding on and updating the original material with fresh examples and references to eight key important movements, this new edition lays foundations for the church to move from: . Passive to active . Maintenance to mission . Clergy to people of God . Teacher/caregiver to equipping enabler Pointing us back to the church as an organism, not an institution, author Greg Ogden shows how each of us is called to help finish the Reformation s unfinished business: expressing the priesthood of every believer practically in the church, the world, and all avenues of life."

When Luke Larson and his wife Evie embarked on a 500-mile pilgrimage across northern Spain, their purpose was to experience walking as a way of keeping company with Jesus and his companions, of both earth and heaven, such as Saint Ignatius of Loyola. "Keeping Company" is filled with personal, luminously candid, and often amusing stories of the couple's experiences along the Way of Saint James. More than anything, this book invites you to step off the treadmill of self-effort in your quest to experience God more intimately through the spiritual practice of walking, literally, with God.

Our culture has undergone a major shift: younger generations have less and less interest in the printed word as they become predominantly image oriented. In response, as congregations increasingly learn to be more sophisticated in using newer electronic technologies, they are finding themselves at different places in the quest to understand, acquire, manage, and benefit from the technology boom. Worship leaders in congregations already using some electronic media are realizing that they could be doing more with it, and are seeking new ideas. Congregational leaders scrambling to catch up with a worship committee that has decided it's time for a change aren't sure of the next steps. Or maybe there's been a gift to the congregation to be spent on electronics, and no one is quite sure how best to use the money. Michael Bausch's book grows out of several years' of conversation, personal experimentation, and experience with multimedia worship in one modest-sized, small-town church, while also drawing on the experiences and work of other churches learning to use electronic media in worship. Bausch balances concern for practical issues, such as finances and architecture, with attention to theological integrity and the challenges of sustaining media-enhanced worship. He skillfully shows how the artistic resources of the world around us can enhance our awareness of God's presence in worship.

What is at stake is authenticity. . . . Sooner or later Christians tire of public meetings that are profoundly inauthentic, regardless of how well (or poorly) arranged, directed, performed. We long to meet, corporately, with the living and majestic God and to offer him the praise that is his due. ---D. A. Carson Worship is a hot topic, but the ways that Christians from different traditions view it vary greatly. What is worship? More important, what does it look like in action, both in our corporate gatherings and in our daily lives? These concerns---the blending of principle and practice---are what Worship by the Book addresses. Cutting through cultural cliches, D. A. Carson, Mark Ashton, Kent Hughes, and Timothy Keller explore, respectively: .Worship Under the Word .Following in Cranmer s Footsteps .Free Church Worship: The Challenge of Freedom .Reformed Worship in the Global City This is not a comprehensive theology of worship, writes Carson. Still less is it a sociological analysis of current trends or a minister s manual chockfull of how to instructions. Rather, this book offers pastors, other congregational leaders, and seminary students a thought-provoking biblical theology of worship, followed by a look at how three very different traditions of churchmanship might move from this theological base to a better understanding of corporate worship. Running the gamut from biblical theology to historical assessment all the way to sample service sheets, Worship by the Book shows how local churches in diverse traditions can foster corporate worship that is God-honoring, Word-revering, heartfelt, and historically and culturally informed."

Augustins Sermones ad populum bilden den groessten Einzelposten all seiner Werke. Ihre Rolle in der Augustinus-Rezeption entspricht dagegen keineswegs ihrer Bedeutung. Die Vorstellungen von Person und Denken Augustins sind daher oft verzeichnet, weil seine Pastoral zu wenig zur Kenntnis genommen wird. Zu ihrer besseren Erschliessung legt der vierte Band der zweisprachigen Ausgabe dreizehn Weihnachtspredigten vor, wovon elf erstmals ins Deutsche ubertragen wurden. Der en face abgedruckte Text gibt die grundlegende Maurineredition unter kritischem Vergleich mit den spateren Editionen und deren Abweichungen wieder. Die Einleitungen und Anmerkungen erlautern das zur Einordnung und zum Verstandnis der Texte Erforderliche: Echtheit, UEberlieferung, Chronologie, Textkritik, Struktur, Stil, historische Daten, Theologie und Liturgie. Ein besonderer Schwerpunkt liegt auf dem Nachweis des biblischen Gedankengutes.

The Growing Edge is a book of Howard Thurman's sermons. For Thurman, the sermon is an act of worship in which the preacher exposes his spirit and mind as they seek to reveal the spirit of the Living God upon them. Thurman presents his sermons in six sections: Concerning Enemies, Concerning Prayer, Concerning God, Concerning Peace, Concerning Festivals, and Concerning Christian Character.

The complete text in Latin and English of the Catholic Roman Rite Triduum Masses (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Vigil) as well as Easter Sunday according to the 1962 Missale Romanum.

Stephen Cherry's latest book is a sequence of beautifully crafted prayer-meditations, providing simple yet profound spiritual nourishment for the Lenten season. The book gives an engaging introduction to the different ways that prayer can work in the lives of the busiest of Christians. Barefoot Prayers is ideal for people who may have little time for sitting and reading but more time for thinking and reflecting.

Hymnologische Forschung ist per se interdisziplinar und uberkonfessionell. So gehoeren zwar Psalmen, Hymnen, Sequenzen, Kirchenlieder und Neue Geistliche Lieder in das Gebiet der Praktischen Theologie, genauer: der Liturgiewissenschaft. Reflexionen aus Literatur-, Sprach- und Musikwissenschaft sind jedoch nicht nur Beigabe zur theologischen Untersuchung, sondern fuhren aus je eigenem Blickwinkel zu eigenstandigen hymnologischen Erkenntnissen. Dies und ein wachsendes oeffentliches Interesse an der wissenschaftlichen Beschaftigung mit dem religioesen Liedgut moegen dazu beigetragen haben, dass recht schnell eine Neuauflage des Sammelbandes notwendig geworden ist. Er vereinigt AufsNeuauflage des Sammelbandes notwendig geworden ist. Er vereinigt Aufsatze, die auf der Grundlage von Vortragen und wissenschaftlichen Arbeiten im Kontext des interdisziplinaren Forschungsschwerpunktes "Hymnologie" (Arbeitskreis Gesangbuchforschung, Gesangbuch-Archiv, Graduiertenkolleg) an der Universitat Mainz entstanden sind. Grundfragen der Hymnologie (Mentalitats- und Bedeutungswandel sowie Liedbearbeitung) werden eingehend reflektiert. Mittels ausgewahlter Liedstudien sind daruber hinaus Einblicke in die hymnologische Detailarbeit moeglich.

Many evangelicals paint fundamentalism with the same broad, negative brush. But we owe more to our pietist-revivalist roots than we realize. Richard Mouw s awareness of fundamentalism s problems hasn t robbed his appreciation for its strengths. The Smell of Sawdust sheds thoughtful and revealing light on the colorful parentage of contemporary evangelicalism. If you detect fondness, even a hint of nostalgia, you re right. From its history, to its ethos, to its mores and methods, Mouw takes you on a fascinating journey through the pros and cons of the 'sawdust trail.' Whatever your outlook on the revivalist tradition, whether favorable or not so favorable, these candid, thought-provoking insights will inspire your respect for fundamentalism s strong points, help you learn from its weaknesses, and above all, enrich your life as a Christian. Like the author, you ll find yourself singing the old gospel hymns with new understanding and depth. Filled with anecdotes from the amusing to the poignant, this book takes you back to the sawdust-covered earth of the early tent meetings . . . earlier, to the spiritual hunger that sparked the pietist movement . . . and later, into today, where we strive to effectively communicate the nonnegotiables of our faith to a needy world. The Smell of Sawdust is gentle and deeply personal. It is also wise--neither judgmental nor naive, but healing, furnishing redemptive insights into the character of our fundamentalist heritage. This book will broaden the perspective of thinking Christians who want to engage both their hearts and their intellects to reach the soul of our culture with the gospel."

Today's rapid, deep, and pervasive changes in North American culture present myriad challenges for faith communities now and in the years ahead. Oswald explores the use of rituals as spiritually healing practices for the home, congregation, and broader community. He teaches congregational leaders how individuals and groups can use familiar new rituals to name, evaluate, live out, celebrate, and grow through change.

Here is a summons to pray with twenty great women of faith_from Hildegard of Bingen to Dorothy Day. Brief biographies are followed by commentary, prayer experiences, questions for reflection, and suggestions for action. Meehan brings these women to life, allowing their example to inspire, encourage, and empower you. Meet women who will change your life and enrich your spiritual journey with new possibilities of self-discovery, wisdom, creativity, and friendship. Reminding us that abundance is all around us, and challenging us to make a difference, this book is filled with stories of visionary women with whom we can share the longings that lie deep within us for divine love, deep tranquility, and human intimacy.

The services of Holy Week of the Orthodox Church in Greek and English. Contains: Holy Sunday evening (Nymphios), Holy Monday evening, Holy Tuesday evening, Holy Wednesday morning (Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts) and evening, Holy Wednesday afternoon (Holy Oil), Holy Wednesday evening (Orthros of Holy Thursday), Holy Thursday morning (Vesperal Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great) and evening (The Passion), Holy Friday morning (Great Hours), Holy Friday afternoon (Unnailing), Holy Friday evening (Lamentations w/ Greek phonetics), Holy Saturday morning (Vesperal Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great), Holy Saturday evening (The Vigil of Pascha) and Holy Saturday afternoon (Vespers of Love). The texts of the services are uncut, and include the priestly prayers missing from other texts currently available. Translation by Arch. Ephrem Lash. English text metered and set to traditional Byzantine melodies by David Melling. Paschal Canon adapted to traditional melodies by EIKONA. Second hardcover Printing, March 2014.