In 1949, Grace Murphree is three years old when she first remembers thinking about God. Growing up in the sleepy community of Ocean Shores, Florida, Grace finds that life presents her with many challenges and that she often needs to seek God's guidance. Grace struggles through a turbulent childhood in a dysfunctional family as her parents divorce. She experiences a teenage pregnancy that leaves her heartbroken. She suffers the tragic loss of her beloved sister who commits suicide. She raises her children as a single mother. But she also reaps the joys of motherhood, home ownership, and a fulfilling life. Though her trials and tribulations have often had her living in a pervasive state of ongoing disruption to her psyche, the steadfast and tenacious Grace doesn't let life keep her downtrodden for long. In addition to her reliance on faith, she lives by the motto, "Where there is a will, there is a way."

Grace distinguishes Christianity from all other religions. Although commonly used among Christians and non-Christians, the word is too often misunderstood or underappreciated. And yet God's grace is not only the key to becoming a Christian, but also the key to the assurance of salvation and living in freedom to serve God and others. "Simply by Grace" is an easy-to-read introduction to a core Christian belief. By looking at the major questions and issues that surround the concept of grace, Charles C. Bing helps readers understand and appreciate this God-given gift and how simple it really is. "Because only when you understand the simplicity of His grace," writes Bing, "can you begin to understand its deep riches also."

"Searching for Grace invites you into the kind of relationship that we all long for deep in our hearts. The relationship between Scotty and Russ is scary, vulnerable, painful, but gorgeously loving and drenched in grace." --Paul David Tripp, author of New Morning Mercies Anxious? Burnt out? Weary? Why is it so hard for our souls to find rest? In Searching for Grace, Russ and his mentor, Scotty Smith, explore the contours of their lives and why embracing God's grace unreservedly is so difficult for many of us. Their honest conversations offer priceless lessons for parched souls everywhere. Many of us feel anxious and unfulfilled by our everyday existence, yet deeply long for a purposeful, meaningful, and peace-filled life. That tension creates a background buzz of profound discontentment behind everything we do. There is a better way. Searching for Grace reveals the conversations between Russ and Scotty that transformed Russ's life forever, helping him identify the mindsets that contributed to his restlessness. Straight from his little black journal, Russ shares the seven life-giving principles he learned from Scotty that unleashed him to a refreshingly new life, radically built on God's grace.

Christians often assume too sharp a distinction between the Old and New Testaments, argues preacher, author, and teacher J. Ellsworth Kalas. They are too quick to view the Old Testament as a strict book of laws and commandments and the New Testament as a witness to grace. The God of the Old Testament is misperceived as a God of wrath and judgment, while the God of the New Testament is viewed as a God of love and mercy.

"I thought comfort food was supposed to comfort me!" Do you obsess over food? Do you wish you could understand why? Do you have a hard time sticking to a program that helps you lose weight, eat right, exercise, and overall be a healthier and happier you? Did you lose the weight only to gain it back? In a digital age with an endless flow of information, you may be attempting to answer why you emotionally eat with how-to programs. If only knowing how to eat better and lose weight was all it took, you probably wouldn't have picked up this book. When food is used as an emotional coping mechanism, it holds a certain power over you. Author Jenna Barbosa knows this frustrating struggle all too well. Through her journey of understanding why she has felt powerless under the pull of food, she invites you to join her in this journey of looking at the spiritual, mental, and physical components of the emotional eating cycle. Inside this book: -Discover why you emotionally eat. -Destroy the hold shame has on you. -Delight in the freedom of enjoying food as fuel - which happens to taste amazing.

The book of Genesis contains some of the most beautiful and well-known stories in the Bible: the garden, the flood, the tower of Babel, and the lives of the patriarchs. But these are more than just good stories. They lay the groundwork for God's relationship with humanity and for his plan for our salvation, making Genesis foundational to understanding everything else that happens in the Bible. Genesis reveals much about human nature and the nature of God. From the actions of the first man and woman, we see where our rebellious, sinful nature originates. And through the whole book we see the hand of a sovereign God who is loving and merciful, but also just and holy. Time and again in Genesis, God showers his grace upon undeserving humanity, giving us our first tastes of God's enduring faithfulness that shines throughout the entire Bible. R. Kent Hughes, respected pastor and author of many other commentaries in the Preaching the Word series, takes readers back to the beginning of the Bible and moves through Genesis with careful exegesis. He explores the superbly crafted structure of the book as well as the weighty themes it contains. For those who preach, teach, and study God's Word, this exceptionally detailed work will reveal much about the beginnings of God's great story. Part of the Preaching the Word series.

Many people are good at pointing out problems. What if God’s people were among the few who are good at finding solutions? How would our world and our lives be different? This five-week study focuses on the person of Nehemiah in the Bible, who faced the difficult work of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem after his people returned from exile. Confronted with this complicated task and the many dilemmas that came with it, Nehemiah chose not to dwell on his problems or to pursue his own answers. Instead, he sought God’s solutions, following God’s lead and trusting God’s purposes. God’s people today are called to do the same. In each chapter, Talbot Davis shows how Nehemiah’s experiences mirror the problems we face, as individuals and as a society. As you read this book, you will hear God’s call to be someone who finds solutions. You will see how you can follow in Nehemiah’s footsteps, building up your life and the world around you. You will be challenged not to focus on problems, but to seek God’s solutions and how you can help bring them about. This book is based on a sermon series Talbot Davis delivered at Good Shepherd United Methodist Church. Each chapter includes questions for reflection and discussion, a practical focus for the week, a closing prayer, and daily scripture passages to guide personal reading throughout the week.