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Expect the unexpected this Christmas.This four-week Advent study focuses on the experiences of four sets of often overlooked characters in the Nativity story. During this Advent season, Rachel Billups guides readers through the themes of hope, love, joy, and peace by sharing the stories of Elizabeth and Zechariah, Herod, the Magi, and the shepherds. Each set of unexpected characters has something to teach about living faithfully on the journey to Christmas.Additional components to use the book as a four-week small group study include a leader guide and DVD/Video Sessions featuring Rachel Billups.

Discover how everything changed when God was born. Everything seems different at the end of the year. We put lights on our houses to dispel the growing darkness, Christmas music floods local radio stations, apple cider and cranberry sauce are again on the menu, and wrapping paper and tape are always ready. Things just look, smell, and taste differently during the Advent and Christmas season, and these differences are a sign to us that God is about to do something radical and different. Christmas is when God surrounded the divine with senses of his own. That first noel was when God had eyes to see suffering, ears to hear our cries, and hands to hold those in need, and all of these senses were bundled in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. “This will be a sign to you,” the angel told the shepherds, and they traveled to Bethlehem and found a child. What signs do you see during the Advent and Christmas season that point you to the divine?Additional components to use the book as a four-week small group study include a leader guide and DVD/Video Sessions featuring Matt Rawle. This book also includes a link to free downloadable teaching resources for children and youth.

Journey Through Advent with John Wesley's Means of Grace. The season of Advent offers time and space for Christians to prepare for the coming of Jesus Christ at Christmas through reflecting on the story of salvation. In All the Good: A Wesleyan Way of Christmas, a group of diverse Wesleyan scholars will take you on an Advent journey guided by the practices in John Wesley's means of grace. John Wesley's emphasis upon practices of piety and mercy—or good works—drew from the larger Christian tradition. Such practices are often referred to as means of grace.The devotional contains 28 daily devotions for the four weeks of Advent corresponding to the themes of Altogether Love, Altogether Hope, Altogether Joy, and Altogether Peace. Written by pastors and other leaders, the devotions celebrate and bring together the season of Advent and the best of our Wesleyan heritage.Additional resources sold separately include a book, Leader Guide, and a DVD with weekly video segments. Perfect for a small group Advent study.

Rediscover the gift of Advent that comes without packages, ribbons, and bows.We don't know why the Grinch hated Christmas. We just know he did. In this new Advent study, Matt Rawle explores the faith themes in the Christmas classic, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! including, how did the Grinch's heart grow three sizes come Christmas morning? How did Christmas save the Grinch? Could it be that the very thing we think we hate is the one thing that changes our lives? This Advent and Christmas season, look at a familiar classic through the lens of faith and see how Christ speaks to us through our culture. Additional components for a four-week Advent study include a DVD featuring Matt Rawle, a comprehensive Leader Guide, and resources for children and youth.