Written to help pastors and music directors get ready for worship on special occasions. It contains worship and preaching ideas for twenty special Sundays.

Getting ready for Sunday: a practical guide to worship planning can help you lead worshipers into God's presence to present their worship to Him.

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 21st Century With A 16th Century Faith," a message and service for Reformation Sunday that examines what motivated Martin Luther in his disagreements with the established church and suggests that Luther's ideas about the authority of the Bible, the priesthood of all believers, and justification by faith alone remain the durable bedrock of our Christian faith today. - "Running With The Cloud," a stirring All Saints' Day sermon and service reminding us that we who are living are only a small segment of the church universal, and noting that we can draw great strength from the lives of the "saints" who have gone before us. - "A Solid Place To Stand," a Thanksgiving message and service that explores how the Bible's promise of God's presence with us gives us a firm foundation to base our lives on. - "The Measure Of A Man," "A Heart Prepared," "Night Watch," and "Tidings," a set of four first-person monologue sermons for Advent that tell the old, old story with a twist. We see the birth of the Christ Child unfold through the eyes of Joseph, the innkeeper's wife, a shepherd, and an angel. Key Advent themes such as watching, preparation, and righteous action are raised as each character struggles to make sense of extraordinary events. - A Youth Sunday worship service with a charming children's story honoring the presence and participation of the church's young people. The service celebrates their fresh vision and courage in risking, praying, and creating the future. Stan Purdum is the pastor of Centenary United Methodist Church in Waynesburg, Ohio. He is also the editor of the preaching journal Emphasis, and has written extensively for both the religious and secular press. Purdum is the author of Roll Around Heaven All Day and Playing In Traffic, both accounts of his long-distance bicycle journeys, as well as New Mercies I See (CSS), a collection of parish stories revealing God's grace. Pamela J. Abbey is a United Methodist minister whose early working years were spent in professional theater. She is currently the pastor of Concord United Methodist Church in Concord, California, and has previously served three other congregations in northern California. Abbey holds degrees in theater from the University of Indianapolis (BA) and the University of Minnesota (MA) as well as an MDiv degree from Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California. Elaine M. Ward is a storyteller/writer/preacher who served for nearly twenty years as Minister of Children at University Park United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas. She is a graduate of Capital University, Union Theological Seminary (New York City) and Lancaster Theological Seminary, where she was writer-in-residence for seven years. Now a resident of Austin, Texas, Ward is the author of Asking For Wonder, And The Sea Lay Down, Alleluia and Story Time At The Altar (CSS), as well as Love In A Lunchbox: Poems And Parables For Children's Worship (Abingdon).

The authors have devised an exciting way to introduce three- to - seven year olds to the wonder of worship. Activities are developed around the order of worship commonly used in Reformed churches: assemble in God's name; proclaim, give thanks to and go in God's name.

Pastor and author Martin Thielen has compiled a list of ten things people need to believe, and ten things they don't, in order to be a Christian. This lively and engaging book will be a help to seekers as well as a comfort to believers who may find themselves questioning some of the assumptions they grew up with. With an accessible, storytelling style that's grounded in solid biblical scholarship, Thielen shows how Christians don't need to believe that sinners will be "left behind" to burn in hell or that it's heresy to believe in evolution. And while we must always take the Bible seriously, we don't always have to take it literally. At the same time, Christians do need to believe in Jesus--his life, his teachings, his death and resurrection, and his vision for the world. A great benefit of those beliefs is that they provide promising answers to life's most profound questions, including: Where is God? What matters most? What brings fulfillment? What about suffering? Is there hope? Thielen articulates centrist, mainline Christianity in a way that's fresh and easy to understand, and offers authentic Christian insights that speak to our deepest needs. This new edition includes a leader's guide, previously only available online, and a new introduction from the author that reflects on the book's reception. The leader's guide features unique and easily implemented aids for carrying out a seven-week, congregation-wide initiative that will help local churches reach out to their communities. More information is available at thielen.wjkbooks.com.