Two new Advent books are available from Presbyterian Publishing Corporation
Books by Elizabeth F. Caldwell and Erin Wathen ease the wait by employing the Psalms and the prophets
LOUISVILLE — Presbyterian Publishing Corporation has a pair of new books ahead of the Advent season.
Elizabeth F. Caldwell’s “Waiting: Spending Advent with the Psalms,” also includes a section to help readers abide through the seasons of Christmas and Epiphany.
In Caldwell's most recent book, readers are invited to find sacred stillness in the Psalms amid the rush of Advent. The season of Advent, meant to be a time of waiting, all too often hurtles headlong into Christmas without allowing us to take a breath. The poetry of the Psalms, on the other hand, invites us to slow down, pause, and connect with the thoughts, feelings, and images the psalmist has offered.
To help readers carve out time for reflection and meditation during this ironically hectic time, noted Christian educator and best-selling author Elizabeth Caldwell engages readers in a creative spiritual practice of deeply connecting with one psalm each week to illuminate an enduring attribute of God so that we may recognize how these characteristics are embodied in the One whom God sent to live among us, offering us life and love.
“Waiting: Spending Advent with the Psalms” is divided into two sections to allow readers not only to connect with the Psalms during Advent but to extend this spiritual practice through the seasons of Christmas and Epiphany. The first section, "Waiting," offers four weekly sessions for the Advent season, each of which explores a psalm and illuminates an enduring attribute of God. In addition to reflection questions and a suggested spiritual practice for each week, a leader’s guide for a four-session group study is also included.
The second section, "Abiding," provides four chapters for Christmas Day through Epiphany. Easily used by groups or individuals throughout these seasons, each chapter continues the practice of engaging deeply with a psalm to uncover attributes of God, provides reflection questions, and offers a spiritual practice of praying the psalm for the week to help readers carry the light and love of God into the world around them. The book ends with daily devotions for readers to use during the Twelve Days of Christmas.
Through this unique seasonal practice, individuals, study groups and preachers will find ways to enrich their ministry and sustain their life of faith as one that makes a difference in this world that God has created.
Go here to access free digital resources, which include a sermon series guide, group study and reflection videos from the author, and images for use during worship or group study.
Erin Wathen’s “Witness to the Light: An Advent Study with the Prophets” includes daily readings and study questions to facilitate group discussion. Readers will find helpful resources in the back of the book for congregational worship, mission, and fellowship. Download an excerpt here.
When the night is long, the light still comes. Readers are encouraged to find hope this Advent through the words of the prophets.
For many, Advent and Christmas are celebrated in the darkest time of the year. The experience of waiting and longing for the first glimmer of sunlight over the horizon serves as a poignant and perennial metaphor for the human quest to find hope amid sorrow, hardship and fear.
The prophets knew this feeling well and spoke hope to God’s people with the power to sustain them — and us — through uncertain times. Some sang of God’s faithfulness and some spoke of a messiah. All cast a vision for when current trials were no more because God’s kingdom will have come to Earth.
As we await the birth of Jesus, we carry the heaviness of daily life and listen for the voices of those witnessing to the light. This Advent study features the words and stories of prophetic figures in Scripture, from prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and John the Baptist to lesser-heard voices like Miriam, Joel, Ezekiel, and Anna. Weekly themes — reveal, renew, rejoice, and return — guide readers through an Advent practice that speaks ancient comfort to modern souls, turning our heads toward the signs of life these biblical heroes proclaimed: flowing water in the desert, a vibrant branch from a felled stump, a virgin with child, a dawn to shine in the darkness.
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