Advent, says Fleming Rutledge, is not for the faint of heart. As the midnight of the Christian year, the season of Advent is rife with dark, gritty realities. In this book, with her trademark wit and wisdom, Rutledge explores Advent as a time of rich paradoxes, a season celebrating at once Christ's incarnation and his second coming, and she masterfully unfolds the ethical and future-oriented significance of Advent for the church.

Each morning Pope Francis says Mass and offers a short homily for fellow residents and guests in the chapel of St. Martha's Guesthouse, where he has chosen to live. These homilies reflect the spontaneous and original style that has won hearts throughout the world, as well as his power to communicate the gospel message with depth and freshness. In these accounts of Pope Francis's morning homilies from the first five months of his papacy, it is now...

"Volume 1 of the Spurgeon Speaks series collects Spurgeon's reflections on prayer. Known as a mighty man of prayer, his insights will deepen your prayer life too. Presented in lovely editions that you'll be proud to own, the series offers readings on topics of importance to the Prince of Preachers"--

Many pastors are just too busy to fellow the latest theories on preaching and sermon form. In The Shape of Preaching, Dennis M. Cahill seeks both to educate the working pastor on the current issues of sermon design and enable them to use this design in a way that can change their preaching. After first laying the theoretical groundwork with discussions of the theological, cultural, and literary roots of the new approaches to sermon design, Cahill...