Are you looking for fresh, thoughtful material for your congregation's Lenten journey that prepares them to experience the marvelous joy of the risen Christ? Here's an anthology of ready-to-use resources that you can build on to create memorable Ash Wednesday and Holy Week services. Included are:
* "A Season In Purgatory," an Ash Wednesday service with a sermon examining the concept of purgatory and how we atone for our sin.
* "Why I Am An Optimist," a service and message for Passion/Palm Sunday that reminds us why it is important to empty ourselves and experience the pain and despair...

Set in rural Ohio churches, New Mercies I See does for the ministry what James Herriot did for veterinary medicine in All Creatures Great and Small. Whether it's sudden rain falling on a pain-wracked young man clinging to his brother's coffin, the guilty woman whose love for an abused baby brings resurrection to them both, or the overly enthusiastic pastor who has to serve communion with walnut juice freckling his face, these humorous, poignant, thought-provoking, and heartwarming stories recognize that the persistent grace of God is never far from any one of us.

Here's a practical collection of thoughtful material to help you celebrate several special occasions during the fall and winter months: Rally Day, Reformation Sunday, All Saints' Day, Thanksgiving, Advent, and Youth Sunday.

Included are:
The Saga Of Bobby Wildgoose, a service and sermon specifically tailored for the fall kick-off of Sunday school and commissioning of new Sunday school teachers. The message relates the inspirational story of the beginnings of the Sunday school movement, illustrating the difference that one person can make in the lives of young people.
Facing The...

The Old Testament is a rich tapestry that details how God's plan of salvation was being worked out centuries before the birth of Christ. Yet many people in the pews are not as familiar as they should be with the Hebrew scriptures and their profound lessons for modern living. In this penetrating collection of spiritually enlightening messages based on the First Readings from Cycle C of the Revised Common Lectionary, five distinguished preachers unlock the secrets of some often overlooked passages from the Old Testament and the Book of Acts. These sermons for each Sunday and major celebration...

Of each week's lectionary texts, the Psalms are the least frequently used as a basis for sermons ? yet they are incredibly rich in the very life substance that makes preaching relevant. From personal suffering to the absence of God, from national failure to the burden of personal sin, the Psalms are filled with the pathos of the human struggle for and with God. Hear My Voice is an invaluable tool for tapping into this abundant source of sermonic material. It's a comprehensive collection of informative homiletical commentaries on the Psalm texts drawn from the pages of the acclaimed preaching...

Modern life presents many difficult and challenging situations -- but as the Hebrew scriptures reveal in rich detail, that's nothing new for God's people. Indeed, the Bible shares the epic story of how God's faithful followers were formed and shaped through centuries of trial by fire. In this inspiring collection of powerful messages, five master practitioners of the homiletic craft explore passages from the Old Testament and the Book of Acts, and show how the wisdom contained in those ancient texts offers vital moral and spiritual guidance for contemporary living. Building on stories in...