-PDF Download- Finding Our Way With The Magi A Daily Guide Through The Season Of Advent EBOOK

Finding Our Way with the Magi: A Daily Guide Through the Season of Advent

Author: John Michael Helms

Publisher:

Published: 2011-10-01

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 9780983986300

For those who want something deeper than the commercialized trappings of the Advent season, Finding Our Way with the Magi gives readers a daily opportunity to be spiritually challenged, encouraged, inspired, and confronted with Jesus' admonitions to live out our faith in an increasingly secular world.Seamless shifts are made from common, sometimes humorous life stories to biblical truths that all of us need to apply to our daily lives. Creative "Advent Actions" appear at the end of each day's reading to give concrete, practical suggestions for putting that day's focus into practice during Advent. Guided prayers help readers begin a conversation with God based on the reading for the day.Michael Helms clears away the layers of wrappings, ribbons, and assorted commercial glitz so that once again we can gaze upon the Christ Child. These delightful, often touching reflections usher us gracefully through the Advent season.-Dr. Jim BarnetteProfessor, Samford UniversityWith the narrative grace of a gifted pastor, Michael Helms offers meaningful devotional engagement along with thoughtful direction for actually living through the Advent season with purpose and intention.-Rev. Dr. Amy ButlerSenior Pastor, Calvary Baptist Church Washington, DCMichael Helms' Finding Our Way with the Magi is a Christ-centered GPS that will navigate your family through the Advent season with a gentleness and grace that foster the peace and hope so often absent in the daily bustle of life.-Dr. Bruce GourleyExecutive Director, Baptist History & Heritage SocietyDr. Michael Helms is the senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of Jefferson, Georgia, and the author of numerous books, including Finding Our Way: An Introspective Journey Through the Labyrinth of Life, Hoping Liberia: Stories of Civil War from Africa's First Republic, and Finding Our Way Through the Wilderness-A Journey for Lent and Other Days of Spiritual Reflection and Prayer.

A Way to the Manger

Author: Lisa M. Black

Publisher: iUniverse

Published: 2023-02-02

Total Pages: 66

ISBN-13: 1663236801

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Just like everyone in the story of Jesus’ birth, we each have a unique path when it comes to finding our way to God. Some paths are long, arduous and uncomfortable like the very pregnant Mary riding the donkey to Bethlehem. Some are joyous like the shepherds’ race into town after their encounter with the angels. Some are thrust upon us like Joseph in a time of crisis. Suffice it to say, there are a lot of ways to the manger – a lot of ways to God - but they all end at the same place – in His presence. “ Way to the Manger” is a daily guide through Advent to help you along your way to His presence.

The Road to Bethlehem

Author: Leanna Lindsey Hollis M. D.

Publisher: Pinon Press

Published: 2013-11

Total Pages: 70

ISBN-13: 9780977020133

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Experience the Advent Season in a new way through this insightful and inspiring daily prayer and devotional guide. Not only will you have a fresh look at the Christmas story as told by Luke, but you will also find new ways of praying for those you love. First written as devotionals for a group of parents praying for their children, these daily guides are now presented as a tool for your use during the weeks leading to Christmas. You will be blessed, challenged, and changed as you make your way along the road to Bethlehem.

The Reed of God

Author: Caryll Houselander

Publisher: DigiCat

Published: 2023-11-26

Total Pages: 126

ISBN-13:

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The Reed of God is an inspirational classic written by a British Roman Catholic ecclesiastical artist, Caryll Houselander. This book contains a beautiful meditation on Mary, Mother of God and so much more. Reading this book will bring you closer to Our Blessed Mother, and hence, to Christ Himself. Filled with lyrical prose and touching analogies, the author shows how Mary was the "Reed of God" and that we are all vessels waiting to do God's work, and carrying Christ within us.

Abcs of Advent

Author: Anita Brock Bryant

Publisher: AuthorHouse

Published: 2009-10

Total Pages: 42

ISBN-13: 144903151X

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Advent is the time of year just before Christmas when we prepare ourselves and our homes for celebrating the birth of Jesus. It is a time full of preparations. We clean and decorate. We make, bake and buy gifts for our friends and family. We attend parties at our schools, churches and at the homes of our friends and family. This is also the time when we prepare our hearts to worship. It is a time when we read and focus on the stories in our Bible that tell us about Jesus' birth. Each Advent season offers us an opportunity to hear the Christmas story again and gives us the challenge of finding new meaning in this familiar story. This devotional book is a special way for children to prepare for Christmas. Parents can even use this guide to work together with their child to make this experience one to treasure for years to come. Each page of this book has a short reading about the Christmas story that matches a letter of the alphabet for each day of Advent. Each day also has an opportunity for both younger and older children to reflect, through journaling or drawing, on the day's lesson. This is a time to get ready for something new and exciting. Go now and listen to the Christmas story again and treasure its moments of new discovery.

An Unlikely Advent Leader Guide

Author: Rachel Billups

Publisher: Abingdon Press

Published: 2023-09-05

Total Pages: 60

ISBN-13: 1791028985

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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. The Leader Guide contains everything needed to guide a group through the four-week study, including session plans, activities, discussion questions, and multiple format options. Additional components for the four-week small group study include the book and DVD/Video Sessions featuring Rachel Billups.

Advent Journeys

Author: David Simon

Publisher: CreateSpace

Published: 2015-10-27

Total Pages: 154

ISBN-13: 9781516841738

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This book is a unique advent guide with short daily scripture, reading and questions designed to help the reader bring the original Christmas to life today. The book follows Mary and Joseph, the Shepherds, the Magi, and Zachariah through their journals. The readers will walk and see the sights of the Middle East as they journey to Bethlehem and beyond. This book contains journals for each of the four weeks of Advent plus an additional week's journal by Joseph and Mary to carry the reader into the New Year. The book contains a sixth journal telling the Hanukkah story from the pen of the Maccabees. This final chapter reaches out to interfaith families and to those who desire to learn more about this Jewish celebration. Through an in depth understanding of the Bible, Jewish tradition, details of the Mishnah, this book will take the reader behind the scenes and help them understand life as experienced in the first century. Week one contains the journal of Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, as he performs his Temple duties and sees the angel. Week two contains the journal of Joseph as he and Mary travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Week three shares details of the shepherd's life in the fields outside Bethlehem. Week four journals the travels of the Magi from their Persian mountain top observatory through Jerusalem to Bethlehem. A fifth week journals the exodus of the holy family from Bethlehem to Egypt and back to Nazareth. An extra eight day journal is designed as an evening reading to be shared as Hanukkah candles are lit. Each day's reading starts with five to twenty verses of scripture, then a 400 word reading in journal style detailing activities of the writer during that day, and concludes with a devotional idea and three thought questions. The book will be helpful in individual reading and through discussion of the concluding questions the book can also be used as a five week group Bible study.

Mystery of the Magi

Author: Dwight Longenecker

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2017-11-06

Total Pages: 246

ISBN-13: 1621576566

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"The perfect Christmas gift for anyone interested in the historical background behind the birth of Jesus of Nazareth." — Robert J. Hutchinson, author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Bible, The Dawn of Christianity, and Searching for Jesus. "Utterly refreshing and encouraging." — Eric Metaxas, New York Times bestselling author of Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy and Martin Luther "The best book I know about the Magi." — Sir Colin John Humphreys, Ph.D., author of The Mystery of the Last Supper Modern biblical scholars tend to dismiss the Christmas story of the “wise men from the East” as pious legend. Matthew’s gospel offers few details, but imaginative Christians filled out the story early on, giving us the three kings guided by a magical star who join the adoring shepherds in every Christmas crèche. For many scholars, then, there is no reason to take the gospel story seriously. But are they right? Are the wise men no more than a poetic fancy? In an astonishing feat of detective work, Dwight Longenecker makes a powerful case that the visit of the Magi to Bethlehem really happened. Piecing together the evidence from biblical studies, history, archeology, and astronomy, he goes further, uncovering where they came from, why they came, and what might have happened to them after eluding the murderous King Herod. In the process, he provides a new and fascinating view of the time and place in which Jesus Christ chose to enter the world. The evidence is clear and compelling. The mysterious Magi from the East were in all likelihood astrologers and counselors from the court of the Nabatean king at Petra, where the Hebrew messianic prophecies were well known. The “star” that inspired their journey was a particular planetary alignment—confirmed by computer models—that in the astrological lore of the time portended the birth of a Jewish king. The visitors whose arrival troubled Herod “and all Jerusalem with him” may not have been the turbaned oriental kings of the Christmas carol, but they were real, and by demonstrating that the wise men were no fairy tale, Mystery of the Magi demands a new level of respect for the historical claims of the gospel.

Immanuel

Author: Ann Spangler

Publisher: HarperChristian + ORM

Published: 2009-05-26

Total Pages: 111

ISBN-13: 0310539439

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Ann Spangler believes it’s possible to transform the crazy, wonderful, stressful season we call Christmas into one of greater peace and deeper joy by recovering the gift of Advent.For hundreds of years, Christians have prepared for Christmas by carefully observing the four-week season leading up to it. What’s more, when Christmas did arrive, they celebrated not just for one day but for twelve! So four weeks for Advent and nearly two weeks for Christmas makes six weeks, which is why Ann Spangler has prepared this six-week Christmas devotional.Drawing from her bestselling books Praying the Names of God and Praying the Names of Jesus, Spangler selected six names or titles—including Immanuel, Yeshua, and Bright Morning Star. Each name offers a week’s worth of devotions focusing on God, the miraculous birth of his son, and the promise of his return. In Immanuel, you’ll discover a perfect balance of prayer, reflection, and study to help you open your heart fully to the birth of Jesus and all that it means.

Revelation of the Magi

Author: Brent Landau

Publisher: Zondervan

Published: 2010-11-02

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13: 0061947032

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Each Christmas, adults and children alike delight at the story of the kings from the East who followed the star to Bethlehem to offer gifts to the newborn Christ. While this familiar tale is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, another little-known version later emerged that claimed to be the eyewitness account of the wise men. This ancient manuscript has lain hidden for centuries in the vaults of the Vatican Library, but through the determined persistence of a young scholar, Brent Landau, this astonishing discovery has been translated into English for the very first time as the Revelation of the Magi. Everything we know about the wise men is based on only a few verses from the Bible. With the Revelation of the Magi, we can now read the story from the Magi's perspective. Readers will learn of the Magi's prophecies of God's incarnation from the beginning of time, their startling visitation in the form of a star, the teachings they receive from the baby Jesus, and the wise men's joyous return to their homeland to spread the good news. This ancient version of the Christmas story is guaranteed to astonish and delight. It will also raise larger questions of the significance and meaning of Christ's birth, and the mission to spread the good news to every corner of the globe. All the drama and intrigue of the brief description of Jesus's birth in the Bible is filled out in greater, more colorful detail, offering for the first time the complete story of these beloved characters.