Worship
Showing 101–200 of 259 results
-
Gods Eye View
$18.99Add to cartIn God’s Eye View, Tommy Tenney explores how worship lifts us up to see the trouble we face from God’s perspective instead of being trapped in an earthly, time-bound viewpoint. The higher we go, the smaller our problems seem. Tenney also teaches the Principle of Magnification: The closer you get to something, the bigger it appears. In other words, worship not only “shrinks” our problems; it also magnifies God in our lives and to others. Worship doesn’t really change our problems; it just minimizes their influence over us as we focus on God. He doesn’t promise to remove all of our circumstances, but God does assure us that in His presence and from His perspective–we can see things as they really are and not how they appear to be. In the book of Revelation John was instructed to “behold the Lion,” but from an earthly perspective John saw only the Lamb. The heavenly perspective reveals that the Lamb is the Lion, the babe of Bethlehem is the “ancient of days,” and the dragon is really a weakened lizard. God’s eye view is higher than man’s. Higher than a bird’s eye view, higher than a man’s eye view is God’s eye view.
-
Names Of God
$16.99Add to cartLord… Door… Rock… Redeemer… Way… Truth… Life… These are a few of the 45 names of God that Mary Foxwell Loeks illuminates in this classic collection of meditations. Short and succinct, thought-provoking and memorable, these praise pieces provide an aid to both private and corporate worship. Each meditation includes examples of the Names in scripture, a thoughtful life application and a closing prayer.
-
What Language Shall I Borrow
$24.99Add to cartWhat language is most appropriate for worship? Should it lean to the colloquial, perhaps targeting those attending worship for the first time? Or should it be a language with deeper roots, the language of a community that already loves the God to whom worship is offered? Ronald Byars here argues that the communal worship speech that truly honors both the majesty and the intimacy of God is, in fact, biblical language. Far from limiting worship, biblical language encompasses a vast range of speech from poetry and prose to parable and narrative. Byars explains how this language pushes us beyond what we already think we know, requiring us to think about death and resurrection, beginnings and endings, and how to hold on to faith. It is the language of relationship, both in community and in worship. Written for both leaders of worship and individual worshipers, What Language Shall I Borrow? offers a richer understanding of communal praise.
-
God Against Religion
$33.99Add to cartIn God against Religion Matthew Myer Boulton outlines a Christian theology that takes worship as its basic framework, conceiving worship as the occasion of not only an approach toward God in piety, but also separation from God in sin. Drawing on the thought of Martin Luther, John Calvin, and especially Karl Barth, Boulton rethinks the broadest themes of Christian theology through the lens of Christian worship. He offers three groundbreaking thoughts: that the catastrophe of “sin” is liturgy’s original and continual work, that the miracle of “reconciliation” is liturgy’s decisive transformation in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, and that the glory of “redemption” is and will be liturgy’s end. The result is a fascinating proposal of a systematic, liturgical theology in the Reformed tradition. It will lead scholars, pastors, and anyone interested in thinking about Christian theology and Christian worship in fresh, critical, challenging directions.
-
Family : All Age Worship
$24.99Add to cartThis is a ready-to-use resource for all-age worship services on the theme of Family. Using a wide range of innovative teaching activities, users will be able to simply put on family services. It includes drama, poetry, prayers, activity ideas and lots of humour. It will make life easy – you can either use the ideas straight from the page or adapt them by adding your own ideas. Topics covered include: Mums and Dads, siblings, money, work, conflict and household jobs.
-
Baccalaureate : Guidelines For Inspirational Worship Services To Honor Grad
$8.95Add to cartPreface
Introduction
Time Line For Baccalaureate Preparations
Student Participation
Sample Informational Letter To Local Pastors
Sample Letter Of Invitation To Faculty And Administrators
Sample Informational Letter To Seniors
Sample Formal Invitation
Sample Press Release For Local Newspapers
Sample Public Service Announcements For Radio And Television
Order Of Worship With Explanations
About The Bulletins
Sample Bulletin
Music For Baccalaureate
Bouquet Of Thanks
Scripture Challenge
About The Meditations
Sample Meditation: Dispelling The Darkness
Sample Meditation: The Clean Slate
Sample Meditation: Light For Our World
Sample Meditation: Becoming A Follower
Gifts For The Seniors
Reception Guidelines
Funding For Baccalaureate
ReferencesAdditional Info
Graduation is a time of new beginnings. The old chapter has come to an end, and the time has come to turn the page. The Baccalaureate service offers loved ones a time to pray a blessing over graduates of high school and university and to send them on their way. It reminds them to seek guidance from the Lord as they start down a new path.This resource contains everything needed to get a Baccalaureate service up and running. It includes:
A time line for preparation (part of the FREE excerpt — click to download)
Sample letters and press releases to churches, schools, and local media
An order of worship (with music suggestions)
Sample bulletin
4 sample sermons
Reception guidelines
much more
Download FREE excerpt (includes FREE “Time Line For Baccalaureate Preparations”)The components of this resource book will ensure that your service is a success. Baccalaureate: Guidelines for Inspirational Worship Services to Honor Graduates is essential to reviving the Baccalaureate service tradition in your community. With this volume you’ll be covering your new graduates in prayer and blessings as they spread their wings and take flight.
-
Chant Made Simple Second Edition
$19.95Add to cartThe purity and simplicity of Gregorian chant is what fed the musical and liturgical life of Christianity for more than a millennium before there were any Protestants. But after the reforms of the Vatican II concils in the 1960s, chant went into disuse.
Gregorian chant is back, and more popular than it has been in the last forty years. This handy book is for musicians of all denominations and levels of ability to sing chant, and to understand it more than ever before.
New for the second edition of this classic work are: an entirely new interior design that is easier to navigate and read, many additional chants, and historical and spiritual introductions to each of them.
-
African American Christian Worship (Expanded)
$20.99Add to cartCosten again delights readers with a lively history and theology of the African American worship experience.
An update of the 1993 classic, with an expanded discussion of ritual practices in African communities and clarification of the ritual use of music in worship. -
Worshiping Artist : Equipping You And Your Ministry Team To Lead Others In
$24.99Add to cartWhether you serve as a vocalist, instrumentalist, technician, dancer, actor, or in some other role, you know what a blessing it is to serve on your church’s worship team. But you also know that some days you’re more technically prepared than you are spiritually prepared for the ministry of leading others in worship. In the midst of rehearsals, setup, and myriad distractions, not to mention the busyness of daily life, it’s easy to miss the forest for the trees. How can you and your fellow team members be prepared to worship in spirit and truth as well as lead others in worship with integrity?
With thirty years of experience in worship leading, Rory Noland knows the issues-in both the private life of the worship team member and the public ministry of a worship team. In this readable book, he offers practical insights on how to * Grow as a private worshiper * Encounter the character of God during worship * Respond to the character of God during worship * Be transformed by the character of God * Learn from ancient worship leaders … and more.
So relevant you’ll think the author was eavesdropping on your last church service, The Worshiping Artist is ideal to read either by yourself or as a team.
-
Lectionary Worship Workbook Series 3 Cycle A (Expanded)
$34.95Add to cartIf you’re looking for ways to add excitement to your Sunday morning services while continuing to follow the lectionary texts, look no further! This remarkably inventive volume includes all the core liturgical elements of worship and introduces your congregation to innovative ventures into the fine arts — yet everything revolves around each week’s assigned lectionary passages. Whether you choose to use the stately calls to worship, litanies, and prayers, or try your hand (and those of your congregants) at dance, art, or drama, all can be done to bring glory to God and a fresh sense of his blessing to your services. There’s also a wealth of musical suggestions reinforcing the main themes and ideas of the prayers, including hymns chosen from a wide variety of denominational hymnals, psalm settings, and appropriate anthems for the choir. The Lectionary Worship Workbook is a comprehensive library of creative material that will enable you and your congregation to encounter the living God — and keep your worship services fresh, passionate, and stimulating.
-
Bee Attitudes
$12.95Add to cartFrank Ramirez believes that youth and children are the church of today and should be invited to participate regularly in worship. To this end, he has written delightful plays that are meant to bring Christ into our ordinary days. Whether performed in elaborate style with costuming and staging, or simply read directly from the script in a much simpler style, these plays that include copy privileges will add whimsy to worship services while teaching deep truths. It will be hard to determine who enjoys them the most — the children and youth who are performing or the parents and grandparents with the cameras!
From “Witnesses to the Light” — which features angels named Fantastic, Marvelous, Wonderful, and Gabriel — to “Holy Water” — with sheep named Be Bop, Bo Peep, Bah Humbug, and Bill — all six dramas presented in The Bee Attitudes will delight young and old.
-
Africana Worship Book Year A
$27.00Add to cartWhat is worship? For the Africana community, worship is the time or place where God “shows up and shows out,” affirming that an active God embodies human lives through companionship and communion. This type of worship allows God to enter into worshipper’s lives with an openness to respond with swaying of the body, tapping feet, weeping eyes, and heartfelt emotion.
-
Wedding Of Worship
$13.49Add to cartWhether you are pre-married and planning a wedding, married and planning to renew your vows or single and preparing yourself for the moment in time that God presents you to your husband, Wedding of Worship will challenge your mind, refresh your spirit and above all bring you heart to heart with God. Ariel shares a new perspective from her own personal experience as to how the heart of the bride-to-be affects the entire wedding planning process. Wedding of Worship is an eye-opening work that speaks to honoring God during your ceremony, idolizations that can occur, the importance of selecting honorable wedding attendants and applying biblical principles during the planning process. Wedding of Worship is a necessary read for any Christian woman that truly seeks after God.
-
New Pastors Guide To Leading Worship
$17.99Add to cart14 Chapters
Additional Info
This practical book is for new pastors as they move into the role of worship leader and planner. When faced with the weekly rhythm of planning and leading worship, new pastors sometimes find themselves overwhelmed with the tasks. Barbara Day Miller centers on pastors and their identity as worship leader, on guidelines for leadership, and on the “why” and “how” of the worship service. She also explores the pastor’s role in guiding the planning of the worship service and the connecting of the congregation with the historical practices of the church. Brief narratives from other church leaders provide encouragement and useful guidelines for grounding worship-leading in the historic model of the liturgy. -
More Services For The Advent Wreath Cycle C
$17.95Add to cartThe Advent wreath is a powerful symbol that draws our attention to the coming of Christ — past, present, and future. But while it’s a traditional element of Advent worship, the Advent wreath is often vaguely linked to the rest of the service, especially for those who follow the lectionary. Building on his successful volume Services For The Advent Wreath, Robert Jarboe offers a wide selection of adaptable resources that firmly place the Advent candles in the context of the day’s scripture readings. There are complete orders of service based on each Cycle C lectionary text for every Sunday in Advent, as well as Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Each service is conveniently formatted, with reproducible sheets that can be given to participants as well as bulletin inserts with congregational readings. It’s everything you need to make this important symbol a centerpiece of the worship celebration — all in one place!
Each service includes:
* litanies
* scripture readings
* prayers
* an original musical introit -
Christmas Journey : Advent Christmas Resources
$14.95Add to cartThis complete set of seasonal material offers everything you need for an exciting Advent and Christmas program. With dramatic monologues, sermons, children’s messages and worship liturgies, a Sunday school program, and a pair of Christmas Eve candlelight services, there’s something for everyone, whatever your congregation’s size or worship style.
An Unlikely Cast (Alan E. Siewert) is a set of dramatic monologues that reveal the inner thoughts and feelings of five characters who were deeply involved in the unfolding divine drama of the nativity: Joseph, Mary, John the Baptist, the innkeeper, and a shepherd. The monologues can be used in midweek Advent services, special programs, or Sunday morning worship. Staging and costuming suggestions are included, to help you bring these exciting accounts to life.
The Colors Of Christmas (H. Michael Nehls) is a creative series of six sermons and children’s messages in which each week features a different color. The sermons use the color idea to stress such Christian themes as royalty, sacrifice, and holiness, while the children’s messages utilize the inventive device of passing out ribbon swatches of the color of the day; as the youngsters receive the various ribbons, they can collect a “ribbon rainbow.”
Is This The Road To Bethlehem? (Judy Gattis Smith) is an Advent worship liturgy in which children are the main participants. The centerpiece is an “action/sermon” featuring six brief readings using illustrative wooden figures. All the elements of a typical worship service are present — but in a manner that focuses on the interests and expressions of children, allowing them to experience worship rather than just listen and watch.
Producing Christmas (Jennifer Hockenberry Dragseth) is a humorous children’s play which casts the Christmas story as the ultimate Hollywood blockbuster. Everyone wants to be a part of the big movie — and they all have ideas about how to make it a hit, only to finally learn why the coming of the Christ child is truly the “greatest story ever told.” With participants ranging in age from junior high to preschoolers, this flexible piece is perfect for a brief Sunday school program.
A Christmas Journey and Christmas Letters (Rod Tkach) are imaginative Christmas Eve services weaving together carols, prayers, scripture readings, and several brief meditations. In A Christmas Journey, the reflections guide worshipers on a journey from being home alone to the ultimate destination of the
-
Wonder Of Worship
$22.99Add to cartWorship is ground zero for spiritual warfare and affects every part of the believer’s life. The Wonder of Worship defines true, acceptable worship, its real purpose, and the three things necessary for worship to occur. Starting with the basics of what it means to worship God in spirit and truth, The Wonder of Worship discusses the relationship of the Christian’s private worship and public worship experiences. In the process it explores the practical side of worship, worship preparation, and even the format for public worship. Ultimately, worship that is pleasing to God does not depend on the contemporary believer’s worship practices or preferences. It all comes down to the Person of worship. Jesus is the One who makes true worship a wonder to enjoy, now and in eternity. He is the Wonder of Worship.
-
Wonder Of Worship
$14.99Add to cartWorship is ground zero for spiritual warfare and affects every part of the believer’s life. The Wonder of Worship defines true, acceptable worship, its real purpose, and the three things necessary for worship to occur. Starting with the basics of what it means to worship God in spirit and truth, The Wonder of Worship discusses the relationship of the Christian’s private worship and public worship experiences. In the process it explores the practical side of worship, worship preparation, and even the format for public worship. Ultimately, worship that is pleasing to God does not depend on the contemporary believer’s worship practices or preferences. It all comes down to the Person of worship. Jesus is the One who makes true worship a wonder to enjoy, now and in eternity. He is the Wonder of Worship.
-
With One Voice (Reprinted)
$21.00Add to cartEvery Sunday morning people all over the world look up at a screen, open a hymnal, or simply take a breath … and sing. Why? Are people just participating in the service or is there something more behind church music? With One Voice examines the theology of song in worship and looks at how music is used to relate to God. Whatever the style, song has the power to bring believers into the company of the Savior himself and allows them to participate in the very redemption of all creation. Between these pages, worship leaders, church musicians, and all churchgoers will discover not just the history of song in worship but why believers continue to sing in worship today.
-
Drama Of Dance In The Local Church
$13.49Add to cartWhat is liturgical dance? And where does it come from? Does it have any scriptural foundation? These are relevant questions discussed in The Drama of Dance in the Local Church, which looks at liturgical dance and its place in the worship service. Liturgical dance has been acknowledged by many in the religious community as a way to assist individuals and church bodies in enhancing the worship experience. This book is for anyone who wishes to explore their gifts through drama and dance, as well as those who are still struggling with the idea of dance in the church. It is designed to help readers understand the great significance a liturgical dance ministry can have on the church. It will help familiarize church leaders and parishioners with scriptures that support dance ministries.
-
Designing Worship Together
$29.00Add to cartThis book draws on more than two decades of collaborative worship planning by pastor Howard Vanderwell and musician Norma deWaal Malefyt of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, offering thoughtful, field-tested processes and tools for planning, implementing, and evaluating life-enriching weekly worship.
The authors enter into the trenches of weekly congregational life with this book, offering helpful insights into the process of how worship services are planned and led. DeWaal Malefyt and Vanderwell’s approach to worship arises from the biblical narrative, using the language of the Christian tradition and emphasizing that worship tells the story of God’s efforts through history to show us the path to union with God.
Designing Worship Together is also deeply connected to the experience of local congregations. DeWaal Malefyt and Vanderwell understand that the way in which God’s saving deeds are proclaimed will differ from church to church, from place to place, and from culture to culture and they present a process for designing worship services that is equally applicable in a wide diversity of congregations.
Foreword writer Robert Webber writes of Designing Worship Together, “In a day when worship, born out of an antihistorical attitude focuses on the self-what I need, what I want, what I do-it is refreshing to find a book that focuses on God yet is deeply concerned about the people engaged in worship.”
While many books are available about the theology of worship, worship styles, and issues of music, there are few resources on the value of careful worship planning. DeWaal Malefyt and Vanderwell offer the practical nuts-and-bolts that worship planners need, but this book is far more than a how-to for worship planners. In addition to describing best practices for worship planners, they clarify the role of vital worship in the life of a healthy congregation; identify the biblical assumptions underlying Christian worship; highlight the importance of team work in worship planning; name the issues and barriers worship planners must overcome; and suggest a variety of models for worship planning and evaluation.
This invaluable resource also features more than a dozen field-tested tools and a selected bibliography for worship planners to use as they continue to develop their ministries.
-
More Services For The Advent Wreath Cycle B
$14.95Add to cartThe Advent wreath is a powerful symbol that draws the attention of worshipers to the coming of Christ — past, present, and future. But it can be a challenge to link this traditional element of Advent worship to the rest of the service, especially for those who follow the lectionary. Building on his successful volume Services For The Advent Wreath, Robert Jarboe offers a wide selection of adaptable resources for any size congregation that firmly place the Advent candles in the context of the day’s scripture readings. There are complete orders of service based on each Cycle B lectionary text for every Sunday in Advent, as well as Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Each service is conveniently formatted, with reproducible sheets that can be given to participants as well as bulletin inserts with congregational readings. It’s everything you need to make this important symbol a centerpiece of the worship celebration — all in one place!
Each service includes:
* litanies
* scripture readings
* prayers
* an original musical introit -
Lectionary Worship Aids Series 7 Cycle B
$23.95Add to cartYour word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105)
Coming up with fresh, meaningful worship material each Sunday that illuminates scripture and preaching themes is a pressure-filled responsibility. That’s why busy pastors and worship leaders will love this all-new edition of a perennial CSS favorite. It’s an easy-to-use reference offering several prayers relating to the assigned scriptural passages for every Sunday and major observance in Cycle B of the Revised Common Lectionary. For each First Lesson, Second Lesson, and Gospel text there’s a call to worship, a collect, a prayer of confession, and suggested hymns. Supplemental material includes alternate verses for several familiar hymns, as well as an anointing service, a communion and feetwashing service, and a lamentation service for the anniversary of 9/11. This complete collection offers a wide selection of practical aids for creating sincerely reverent, thematically unified worship experiences in which hymns, prayers, and scripture all work together to dance in and around God’s Word.
-
Prayz In The Garden
$13.49Add to cartPrayz in the Garden is not just a book. It is a call. This book was possible because my ex-wife was given a vision of me when I was dying from a drug overdose. I was literally prayed back to life-truly an Elijah story. Prayz in the Garden is a place: where we give back that hour in the garden where we can water the Lord where dreams come true where the cost has been counted where we belong as holy priests where there are divine prayers and agony in worship where deep spiritual healing and cleansing are found where there is unified freedom in diversity Best of all, it is a place in which we had always believed as children and as adults we have hoped. It is He who placed eternity in our hearts and gave light to all who came into the world. In the garden we shall find the heart and call of God. In deep union at the master’s table we shall find purpose, for it is only at His table that it can be found. It is a lamentation in which the Father is bestowing upon us. Your Shepherd in Christ, Li’l Drummer Boy
-
More Profound Alleluia
$23.99Add to cartTwo questions lie at the heart of this rich, suggestive book: What are the theological implications of worship? and What are the liturgical implications of theology? Convinced that worship and theology are integrally related, the authors of A More Profound Alleluia show in practical terms how liturgy and doctrine fruitfully illuminate each other.
Each chapter pairs an element of the worship service with related Christian teachings, clearly demonstrating how the great doctrines of the faith find their natural expression in the drama of worship and how the liturgy in turn finds its corollary in doctrine. The interrelation of theology and worship is illustrated with anecdotes from congregational life, resources drawn from church history, and themes from novels and films. Each chapter also includes two hymn texts that exemplify orthodox doctrine communicated through song.
A More Profound Alleluia will be a valuable text for courses in theology or worship, will help worship leaders to plan services with greater theological depth, and will enhance worship for Christian believers generally.
-
Worship : His Love Endures Forever
$12.00Add to cartWhy do we worship?
Do we do it simply because it’s part of a church service, or does it spring from a heart of genuine praise?
The Bible gives us a clear picture of what worship is–and isn’t–about. In eight studies Sundee Tucker Frazier helps you dig into the Bible, learning how to worship with your whole life and taking you to the heart of the matter–the character of the God who loves you.
This LifeGuide Bible Study features questions for starting group discussions and for meeting God in personal reflection, together with leader’s notes and a “Now or Later” section in each study.
-
Wonderful Words Of Life
$31.99Add to cartAlthough the use of hymns in many evangelical congregations seems to be declining, Richard Mouw (in the introduction) predicts a resurgence of hymnody in the future. Other notable contributors examining the various historical and theological dimensions of hymns in American Protestantism include Mark Noll, Susan Wise Bauer, Kevin Kee, and Jeffrey VanderWilt. The essays probe the influence of Isaac Watts, the practical implications of hymns for living the Christian life, and the character of hymns as bearers of good (or bad) theology. Wonderful Words of Life provides an engaging treatment of an often neglected field of study, which bridges the gap between Christian belief and practice.
-
Lectionary Worship Aids Series 7 Cycle A
$23.95Add to cartLectionary Worship Aids by Frank Ramirez is a lectionary book based on Cycle A of the Revised Common Lectionary. Here are some of the topics covered in this lectionary book:
– Worship
– Worship resources
– Worship services
– Worship aids
– Lectionary
– Cycle A of the Revised Common Lectionary
– Lectionary worship aids
– Lectionary resources
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Psalm 119:105 KJV) -
Work Of The People
$17.95Add to cartThe word “liturgy” literally means “the work of the people” — so the active participation of everyone in the congregation should be the goal of Christian worship. Designed to help you attain that sense of full partnership, The Work Of The People provides you with a full year’s worth of eloquent resources for thoughtful, reverent services. It’s a comprehensive collection of liturgical prayers and readings for 52 Sundays, with each week’s material based on a common subject (Freedom, Hospitality, Peace, and Stewardship are just a few examples). Written in everyday language that connects them to our daily lives, the prayers are conceived for congregational reading (either responsively or in unison) — and their thematic unity will lead to reflection and insight in addition to praise and celebration.
The components for each week include:
* call to worship
* invocation
* call to confession
* prayer of confession
* words of assurance
* Psalm reading
* offering sentences
* prayer of dedication
* benediction
* scripture references (as possible texts for homilies based on the theme) -
Lectionary Worship Workbook Series 4 Cycle A
$29.95Add to cartThe church is a wonderful place to use all of our God-given senses, and this inspiring collection of liturgical resources utilizes art, music, drama, silence, and even aromas to retell the marvelous story of God’s covenantal relationships with humankind. As a starting-off place for pastors and worship planners, this innovative workbook is certain to keep the creative juices flowing with new methods of making worship moving and relevant for all your parishioners.
For each Sunday there’s a complete selection of written liturgical material (calls to worship, prayers, choral readings, and benedictions) to supplement and strengthen your worship services — all specifically tailored to the week’s scripture readings. But that’s not all! There’s also a wealth of musical suggestions, including hymns chosen from a variety of denominational hymnals and appropriate anthems for the choir.
By focusing all of the elements of worship in ways that really connect with the people in your pews, these resources will breathe new life into the scriptures. Anyone who contributes to worshipers hearing the Good News — pastors, musicians, artists, lay readers, and directors of drama groups — should have a copy of this must-have volume in their library.
-
Sustained To Serve
$9.95Add to cartThe inspiring prayers in Sustained To Serve open a window into the presence of the living Christ in our ordinary daily activities. Originally created for use during the communion and offering parts of worship services, these heartfelt petitions share deep feelings of awe and wonder at Christ’s sacrificial love and offer thanksgiving for God’s infinite gifts. With material for a variety of seasons and circumstances, this book is much more than just a collection of worship aids — it’s also perfect for devotional reading or just to help bring you closer to the Almighty amidst the bustle of everyday life.
-
Lectionary Worship Workbook Series 2 Cycle C
$41.95Add to cartThe most impressive thing about Wayne Keller’s body of ideas for worship throughout the Christian Year is his boldness. He is bold in demanding that we, his colleagues in liturgical leadership, plan worship which has to do with the reality of our congregations’ experience in the world, rather than just leading people through a proper agenda of acts and words which have no bearing on what we do the rest of the week. He is bold in challenging us to bring that real world — with its pains and its pleasures, its hungers and its feasts, its beauty and its ugliness — to exposure before the living God. And he is bold in helping us shine the strong, exposing light of the transforming Word on our real lives and on that real world, so that we may move beyond planning worship as a “nice,” safe, feel-good routine from which we depart the same people we were when we arrived. We are thrilled by the seriousness and authentic reverence with which this author approaches the planning of worship. Thank God for Wayne Keller and for his deep respect for the central act of the Christian community: the blessed and life-transforming experience of the worship of God.
Richard Avery and Donald Marsh
Port Jervis, New YorkWayne Keller’s method creates not only a contemporary appeal, but also effects a congregational involvement so necessary today within the liturgical context. His approach is fresh and practical and yet a reflection consistently of a solid liturgical and homiletical background. Keller has the ability to appeal to the everydayness of congregational experience.
Donald Macleod
Francis L. Patton Professor Emeritus
Princeton Theological SeminaryThe good humor of Wayne Keller’s work helps us feel at home in our imperfect world and feel more empathy for the rough edges of others and ourselves. Wayne’s work encourages hope and faith with the way we are.
Doug Adams
Professor of Christianity and the Arts
Pacific School of Religion and Graduate Theological UnionA cascade of insights, ideas, suggestions, and plans for stimulating the working pastor’s imagination and guiding in worship planning.
Robert Coote
Professor, San Francisco Theological Seminary
Editor, Mustard-Seed ChurchesWayne Keller elevates us to an authentic bring-your-warts-and-smiles encounter with the living God … a remarkable year-round resource for the entire worship team.
Paul Hackett
Former pastor and member, First Presbyterian Church
Puyallup, WashingtonKeller says, “I ha
-
Earth And All Stars
$14.95Add to cartAll ages will enjoy this collection of songs by the author of Earth and All Stars and Love, Love, Love! Herb Brokering, a treasure among hymn writers of our time, has selected 170 of the best of his hymn and song texts for this volume. Includes over forty “Songs to Children’s Rhymes” set to melodies known by young and old. These songs are easy to learn and fun to sing at home, in learning settings, in worship, and wherever God’s people join their voices. Developed with the assistance of Wheat Ridge Ministries.
-
Sermon Warm Ups
$12.95Add to cartCould you use an attention-getting introduction to set up a talk or sermon? If so, the brief sketches in this collection are exactly what you need to create living illustrations of scriptural themes that will stick in your audience’s memory. Jesus explained concepts about God’s kingdom through parables utilizing elements familiar to his listeners; likewise, the modern storytelling in these short, easy-to-prepare scenes helps worshipers understand the gospel by depicting the biblical message in the context of our daily lives. And they’re effective. Since drama draws on both our visual and auditory senses, it’s a proven vehicle for increasing learning and retention rates. When you want a change of pace that will really make a difference, these scenes are great for use in place of the sermon or for various types of fellowship programs.
Contents include:
* The Inheritance (Ephesians 1:13-14; Mark 6:14-29)
* Cooking With Carol (John 6:24-35, 41-51)
* The Pray-er (James 5:13-20)
* Are You Calling Me? (Hebrews 5:1-10; Mark 10:35-40)
… and many more! -
Old Wine In New Skins 2
$16.95Add to cartAcross the broad spectrum of the Christian faith, worship services are in transition. There is a richness of expression in traditional worship structures that needs to be maintained, yet there is a vitality and joy in contemporary praise celebrations that is an essential part of the Christian spirit. But whatever the style of service, whether it’s traditional, contemporary, or “blended,” meaningful worship that makes a powerful impact is directly connected to our daily lives, addressing our hopes and fears.
Like the first volume of Old Wine In New Skins, this comprehensive collection provides plenty of resources for strengthening and reinvigorating your worship services. There are two years’ worth (104) of calls to worship in a wide variety of styles that can be used in almost any setting. Each weaves together suggested hymns or praise songs with spoken material utilizing everyday language and images, creating a strong thematic thrust that truly prepares the congregation to stand before the Lord in praise and petition. There’s also a group of brief reflections that can be used as sermon illustrations, theme-setters for the service, or newsletter features.
-
Belonging To God
$22.00Add to cart1. Service For The Lord’s Day: Order With Liturgical Texts
2. Proclamation
3. Resources For The Liturgical Year
4. Special Occasions
5. Alternative Settings
6. Book And Music ResourcesAdditional Info
This exciting new resource for Presbyterian pastors, worship leaders, and educators demonstrates how to incorporate the new Belonging To God catechism into worship services-allowing for the full inclusion of children. The book provides prayers, calls to worship, baptismal resources, confirmation resources, graduation rites, and more, all based on the new children’s catechism. In addition, it includes suggestions for using the catechism in sermons-for children specifically and for the entire congregation-and offers bulletin suggestions, and annotated bibliography, and a comprehensive listing of other catechism resources. -
To God Alone Be Glory
$57.00Add to cartIn this highly useful text, the fruit of extensive study and research, Harold Daniels tells the fascinating story of the history of Reformed worship in America, from the 1600s to the present. He describes the development and objectives of the Book Of Common Worship and explores how the book itself serves as an agenda for liturgical reform within the church. In a substantive second part of the book, Daniels provides the sources of the prayers and other material used in the Book Of Common Worship. Persons involved in planning, presenting, studying, or teaching about Presbyterian worship will benefit greatly from having a copy of this comprehensive resource in their personal library.
-
Let Us Pray
$28.00Add to cartThis practical book for use in Reformed worship boasts a collection of highly engaging prayers written by current Presbyterian pastors and theologians. Unique amidst most prayer books, the language of these prayers is conversational in tone, rather than formal, and their concerns represent a diversity of approaches. Divided into sections by seasons of the liturgical year, Let Us Pray includes prayers of confession, petition, intercession, and thanksgiving, as well as assurances of pardon, litanies, and calls to worship.
-
1 Bread One Body
$29.00Add to cartAs a troubadour for global music and an instigator of cross-cultural worship for more than 15 years in a variety of denominational settings, including congregational, national, and international venues, Michael Hawn has observed many faithful people who find that a taste of Pentecost in worship is refreshing and invigorating. In One Bread, One Body: Exploring Cultural Diversity in Worship, Hawn seeks to help bridge the gap between the human tendency to prefer ethnic and cultural homogeneity in worship and the church’s mandate to offer a more diverse and inclusive experience. He offers a rainbow vision of the universal church where young and old joyfully and thoughtfully respond to the movement of God’s Spirit in multicultural worship.
Hawn and four colleagues from Perkins School of Theology in Dallas formed a diverse team in ethnicity, gender, academic field of study, and denominational affiliation to study four United Methodist congregations in the Dallas area that are grappling with cross-cultural ministry. Their four case studies illustrate both the pain and the possibilities encountered in capturing the Spirit of Pentecost in worship. Hawn also offers a concise and practical theological framework as well as numerous strategies and an extensive bibliography for implementing “culturally conscious worship.” This book is invaluable for congregations that want to undertake the hard work of cross-cultural worship. Foreword by Justo Gonzalez.
-
Great Worship Awakening
$30.00Add to cartIn this helpful (and much-needed) book, author Robb Redman-pastor, consultant, and educator-offers a unique insider’s explanation of the ins and outs of Christian worship trends. The book explores the four major developments that comprise what he calls the “worship awakening”: the seeker service movement, the “praise and worship” movement, the Christian worship music industry, and the liturgical renewal movement. Redman explains that these trends offer important examples and lessons for established churches. The Great Worship Awakening also includes helpful guidance for congregations who are considering making changes to their current worship style.
-
Soaring Where Christ Has Led
$30.95Add to cartBelieving that Christian worship should be both exciting and stimulating and respectful of God and worshipers and liturgical traditions, Dick Avery and Don Marsh have put their considerable talents together to bring you ideas and music that make worship soar. As you read these groundbreaking ideas tailored to the seasons of the church year, you’ll find yourself saying, “Yes! YES! YES!” — and you’ll be eager to put them in place with your congregation.
Everything Avery and Marsh describe in this remarkable volume has been done successfully in their congregation at the regular Sunday morning service of worship, so you will find no off-the-wall suggestions pushed for mere novelty’s sake or just to “shake things up.” Rather, every principle, every suggestion, every idea has a purpose and goal befitting the Gospel and designed to help worshipers tune in to the mighty Lord of All.
With all of this plus several samples of original Avery & Marsh music, written especially for Sunday morning worship, Soaring Where Christ Has Led is a resource you will use week after week in planning worship services that delight congregations, honor God with momentous expressions of joy, and teach the way of Christ in today’s world.
Nationally renowned for their creative worship celebrations, Richard Avery and Donald Marsh were colleagues in ministry for 40 years at the First Presbyterian Church in Port Jervis, New York, where Avery served as pastor and Marsh as choirmaster (directing 3 choirs) and director of arts (producing 83 major plays and working with educational projects). They have collaborated in composing hymns, songs, and anthems, of which more than 150 have been published. During the last 30 years they have led regional and national church assemblies, conferences, and workshops on worship, music, and drama for many denominations and in virtually all 50 states.
A native of California, Avery is a graduate of the University of Redlands and Union Theological Seminary in New York. Marsh has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Houston, and worked for 17 years in New York’s music and theater world as a composer, choreographer, pianist, and actor. Avery and Marsh continue their collaboration in composing for the church and in leading special liturgical and musical events while living in retirement in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
-
Worship Aids Series 1 Year 1
$18.95Add to cartPreparing to lead a congregation in worship Sunday after Sunday is a formidable and pressure-filled responsibility. That’s why busy worship planners will love this handy, easy-to-use resource with several prayers and a worship theme for every Sunday throughout the year. Each week’s material includes three scripture texts, with a call to worship, an invocation/collect, a prayer of confession, and suggested hymns relating to each passage. This complete collection offers a wide selection of practical aids for creating sincerely reverent, meaningful worship.
“The creative task of a worship leader requires useful resources, both practical and spiritual, for use in public worship as well as personal devotions. This volume provides a source for meditation, prayer, and fellowship with God and the people of God. The genius of the book is couched in the connection Kirkland makes between his own spirituality, the poetry of the biblical texts, and the spiritual quest of the worshiper and the worship leader.”
Ernest S. Lyght
United Methodist Bishop
New York, New York
“Every busy pastor appreciates well-organized and theologically sound help when planning worship each week. Kirkland’s vast pastoral experience and deep spiritual commitment can greatly enhance worship in our congregations. Worship Aids will prove to be a very useful tool in every pastor’s study.”
F. Herbert Skeete
United Methodist Bishop Emeritus
Riverdale, New York -
Age Of The Reformation
$55.99Add to cartHughes Oliphant Old’s survey of preaching throughout the history of the Christian church has been heralded as a monumental achievement. This fourth volume of Old’s history brings the story of preaching up through the Protestant Reformation to the end of the seventeenth century.
This is the pivotal volume in Old’s project because it covers not only what the Reformers preached but also their reform of preaching itself. Luther made a clear break with the preaching traditions of the Middle Ages, while figures like Bucer and Calvin developed a strong expository approach to preaching. Old traces the main events and people involved in the development of distinctly Protestant forms of preaching, giving due attention to how and in what sense preaching was itself an act of worship.
-
Silent Songs Of Worship
$15.99Add to cart19
Additional Info
“For several years prior to beginning this text, I had experienced an inward ‘wince’ over the pride I saw in myself as a trained musician and worship leader. Each time I received praise from others for the work I was doing, my spirit chafed. Just about the time I began to be able to verbalize my interior discomfort, I was assigned to teach a class on Moses’ Tabernacle at a Bible college where I was on staff. In my preparation to teach this class, I began to perceive God’s idea of worship. To my surprise, I found that worship from God’s perspective has nothing to do with musical excellence. God’s ultimate intention for worship has little to do with audible music at all, rather it is to create the music of His Presence within us. God wants you and I to reverberate with His inaudible music. As I studied Moses’ Tabernacle, I began to hear new songs, silent songs. Though previously I had always been the ‘composer’ of my own worship expression to God, I was awestruck to discover that this ‘absent-of-noise’ music being written within me was both from God and to God.” -
Symbols Of The Christian Faith
$23.99Add to cartSymbols of the Christian Faith is an illustrated guide to the major visual symbols used by the Christian church throughout history. These stylized illustrations, designed by artist Alva William Steffler, are intended to provide usable, up-to-date resources for contemporary church worship and Christian education. Throughout church history symbols have been used to aid worship and to communicate difficult spiritual ideas. Steffler here collects these symbols, from early Christian catacomb art to the present, offering fresh graphic interpretations of old visual forms. The accompanying text notes the biblical sources for the various symbols and traces their use in church tradition and their links to Greco-Roman culture. Extensive glossaries and indexes round out the book.
-
Speaking The Word
$12.95Add to cartWhat is the condition of the public reading of scripture in your church? If you are searching for new ways to present meaningful scripture reading in the worship setting, this book will help you.
The creating of a speaking choir is one way to elevate oral reading of scripture. This can be a small or large group, depending on the talents and size of your congregation.
Once a choir is formed, it needs direction and reading material. This book offers both. The author provides 30 choral readings and directions on making the choir an effective ministry in your congregation.
The readings are based on Old and New Testament scripture. Topics range from Christmas and Easter to Mother’s Day, praise, missions, and service.
-
People Vs Judas Iscariot The Punishment Phase
$11.95Add to cartWritten in an easy-to-present format, this captivating five-part series takes place in a courtroom, as attorneys present evidence based upon the Bible and tradition. Witnesses who are “subpoenaed” to testify include Peter, John, and Mary Magdalene.
The People vs. Judas Iscariot is a captivating five-part series for Lenten worship or group discussion. Detailed worship bulletins with an order of service are provided for each of the five presentations.
The People vs. Judas Iscariot is written in an easy-to-present format (no memorization required) and includes scripture readings that follow carefully defined themes. The homily takes the shape of a court hearing in which Judas undergoes his punishment phase. Prosecution and defense attorneys attempt to sway the judge and congregation with evidence based upon the Bible and tradition. Various witnesses are “subpoenaed” to testify, including Peter, John, Mary Magdalene, and others.
-
Lenten Worship For Young Adults
$12.95Add to cartEach of these six worship services includes a meditation of about fifteen minutes, as well as prayers, suggested hymns and responsive readings.
A service based on the Seven Last Words
A call to service
An evening service for Lent
A service based on theological ideas
A service based on Baptism
A service based on Holy Communion
No formal rehearsal is required and each service involves between four and seven participants. -
When Its Twilight Time
$14.95Add to cartThis book offers 30 meditations and complete orders of worship for use by clergy or lay persons at retirement centers. Each service includes and opening prayer, suggested scripture, hymns, easy-to-present meditations and appropriate closings. Along with 26 topically-based services, this volume features worship outlines for Easter, communion, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
Worship themes include:
* If We Are Dreamers
* The Best Surprises
* The Larger Design For Living -
18 Special Worship Celebrations
$13.95Add to cartGod is constantly adding ingredients to our life of faith and creating a wonderful mixture of faith, hope and trust in Jesus. (from A Feast Of Worship)
As a quilt wraps us up in the warmth of its cover, we thank God and mothers for the warmth of their love. (from A Special Youth Service For Mother’s Day)
18 Special Worship Celebrations is a collection of worship resources that enhance the life of any congregation. It follows the style of The Weaving Of Hearts, the author’s popular first book of worship resources.
Themes include:
Morning devotional service
Memorial Day observance
Celebration of baptism
Installation of pastor
All Saints’ Day
and 13 others -
Lectionary Worship Aids Series 6 Cycle A
$30.95Add to cartPreparing to lead a congregation in worship Sunday after Sunday can be a formidable and pressure-filled responsibility. That’s why busy worship planners will love this all-new edition of a favorite CSS reference. It’s a handy, easy-to-use resource with several prayers and a worship theme relating to the assigned scriptural passages for every Sunday and major observance in Cycle A of the Revised Common Lectionary. For each First Lesson, Second Lesson, and Gospel text there’s a call to worship, an invocation/collect, a prayer of confession, an offertory prayer, and suggested hymns. But that’s not all: each day’s material also includes the appointed psalm, words of assurance, a pastoral prayer, and a benediction. This complete collection offers a wide selection of practical aids for creating sincerely reverent and more meaningful worship.
-
Lectionary Worship Workbook Series 3 Cycle A (Workbook)
$30.95Add to cartIf you want to make your Sunday morning services come alive, this remarkably inventive volume is exactly what you’ve been searching for. It’s a terrific library of resources that takes the weekly lectionary texts and puts them into the mouths, ears, and hearts of the people. For each week there’s a complete selection of written liturgical material (calls to worship, litanies, prayers, and benedictions) to supplement and strengthen your worship planning — all specifically tailored to the day’s scripture readings. But that’s not all! There’s also a wealth of musical suggestions, including hymns chosen from a wide variety of denominational hymnals, psalm settings, and appropriate anthems for the choir. You’ll even find ideas that draw upon the other creative arts (dance, art, drama) to glorify God and enhance worship. This is an outstanding exegesis of prayer, praise, and thanksgiving and Schifrin’s fertile imagination produces practical worship material that engages the congregation and encourages active participation.
-
Come Let Us Worship
$21.95Add to cartArranged according to the seasons of the church year, this volume presents several worship aids for every Sunday: a call to worship, and invocation, a ritual of friendship, an offertory sentence and prayer, a benediction, and a pastoral prayer. Each is designed to make the Sunday morning worship experience meaningful and uplifting.
-
Onward Through The Fog
$9.95Add to cartThe Sundays of Lent don’t have to be boring! Follow the lectionary and provide your congregation with exciting worship experiences by using these positive yet sensitive dialogue sermons based on Cycle A of the Revised Common Lectionary. Wit and scripture are combined to encourage Christian growth and prod listeners into making a personal commitment. In addition to six sermon dialogues, worship planning aids are included for each Sunday, along with an Ash Wednesday worship service.
In addition to six sermon dialogues, worship planning aids are included for each Sunday, plus an Ash Wednesday worship service with the theme-setting sermon, “Onward! Through The Fog!”
-
Lenten Resources For Worship Leaders
$12.95Add to cartThese field-tested materials represent the creative effort of many denominations. Each includes ideas for preparation, items needed, suggestions for use, number of parts, and the time for best use.
This complete Lenten volume for busy ministers includes:
Shadows Around The Cross: A Tenebrae
A Good Friday Vigil
The Service Of Diminishing Lights — for Sundays in Lent
Justified By Greed: Monologue Of A Pharisee — for Lent
The Passover Haggadah: A Traditional Seder Service
Litany For Forgiveness
Litany For Palm Sunday
Litany For Easter
Meditation: Forgiveness Is Peace
Meditation: You Make The Difference
Litany Of Confession
Litany For Peace -
Chrismons They Point To Jesus
$8.95Add to cartThis book provides patterns, instructions and background information for twenty different Chrismons, or “monograms of Christ.” It also includes a church program for presenting and explaining the meanings of these Christian symbols. The program includes children and adults and incoorporates the singing of the Christmas hymns.
-
Lite Worship Services For Advent And Christmas
$8.95Add to cartPopular CSS author Cynthia Cowen returns with three more imaginative programs that will spice up the Advent/Christmas season for any size congregation. Prepare Your Heart For Christmas is a service of carols and reflections that’s perfect for a midweek Advent program. Designed as a youth program, Advent Bells includes a brief skit with bell ringers and unique chorus songs. We Welcome The Light Of Christmas is a memorable family service for Christmas Eve with a humorous sketch about the Good News and a lost Frisbee which has turned into the Christmas star.
-
Through The Eyes Of A Child
$12.95Add to cartThe dialogues in this resource are designed for use between a youth and an adult (pastor, parent, or youth leader). Six bulletin formats are included with dialogue scripts.
Worship themes are:
Advent Past, Present, and Future
Jesus Came To Earth
Jesus Will Come Again
Lord Jesus, Quickly Come
Through The Eyes Of A Child (Christmas dialogue)
Through The Eyes Of A Child (Epiphany dialogue) -
Creating Gods Family In Christmas
$7.95Add to cartThe traditional children’s pageant comes together with Christmas scripture lessons, hymns, and other elements of a worship service. The program culminates with the completion of a “living” creche, gradually built throughout the ceremony. Among the very practical features this resource offers are “Leader’s Helps” and a sample bulletin format. No memorization of lines is required. The only setting required is a simple backdrop and manger.
Here is a family Christmas worship resource that provides opportunities to involve children from pre-kindergarten on up.
Included are:
Call to Worship
Christmas hymns
The Christmas scripture lessons
Age group presentations from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade
A suggested bulletin layout
Leader’s helps -
Lost In Wonder Love And Praise
$22.99Add to cartThis collection of prayers for public worship provides the worship leader a superb resource for all occasions of prayer in a worship service; everything from calls to worship to prayers of confession and communion are here. Any congregation will be more in tune with the Spirit of God and more positioned to pray with minimal prompting once these prayers from John Killinger have caused its worshipers, over several months, to risk being lost in God.
-
Worship Innovations 1
$22.95Add to cartBeginning with a step-by-step guide for initiating a “Hanging the Greens” celebration, Janet Burton offers nine creative, easy-to-produce programs in which all ages of the church family can participate in the process of decorating worship areas for the Advent and Christmas seasons. She also includes five plans for breathing new life into using the Advent wreath. Best of all, these practical ideas are very flexible and easily adapted to fit the worship style of almost any congregation.
-
2 Good Friday Tenebrae Services
$9.95Add to cartThese services can be used by any number of participants, and include an order of service. Paradoxes Of The Passion examines the circumstances leading up to the crucifixion of an itinerant preacher from Galilee. What Shall I Do, Then, With Jesus Who Is Called Christ? brings us face to face with Pilate’s question that has echoed down the centuries.
Each of the Tenebrae services in this booklet can be used by any number of participants. An order of service for your bulletin preparations is also included.
Paradoxes Of The Passion brings to the worshiping congregation the circumstances leading up to the crucifixion of an itinerant preacher from Galilee who was no less than the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. The seven paradoxes are interspersed with hymns and prayers.
What Shall I Do, Then, With Jesus Who Is Called Christ? To Pilate’s surprise the crowd sought freedom for the murderer Barabbas rather than for Jesus. Pilate then asked the question that has echoed down the centuries to every man, woman, and child who has ever heard the Gospel: “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” In this thought-provoking Good Friday Tenebrae service, Douglas Meyer explores how various key characters in the Passion story answered that question. Then he considers how The person in the pew answers that question today.
-
2 Tenebrae Readings And Services
$7.95Add to cartTwo Tenebrae Readings And Services provides pastors and congregations with dramatic ways to remember the Passion of the Lord.
Tenebrae I – 9 reading parts
Tenebrae II – 12 reading partsParts are simple enough for both young people and adults. They are creatively drawn from the Bible narratives and present realistic human responses from those who would be his disciples.
These resources require very little preparation. They were conducted in the author’s congregation by calling the readers together an hour before the service.
-
Carpenters Child
$7.95Add to cartThis Christmas Eve service centers on the story of Leah, a young girl from Bethlehem at the time of Jesus’ birth. It is a story of seeming tragedy, despair and restored hope — of a loving daughter, her carpenter father, and the trials they face when he is branded a leper. It could be argued that the title should be The Carpenter’s Children because it refers not only to Leah, but also to the infant Messiah and all people of Christ.
The entire service is about 45-60 minutes in length depending on optional inclusions (such as solos or choir anthems) and can be done very effectively by one liturgist. It can also be split into two or three parts and performed as a readers’ theater, or with characters silently acting out the story as it is being narrated.
A full order of worship, staging instructions, a “children’s moment,” and production and lighting suggestions accompany the story of The Carpenter’s Child.
-
Stones For Bread
$36.00Add to cartWith a proactive and engaging style, Daniel Frankforter explores the consequences of the tendency by many Protestant congregations to adopt new, ” contemporary” styles of worship. With membership and attendance declining, many churches are revamping their worship services to attract or keep participants, but too often the adaptation becomes nothing more than a Spirit-less reflection of popular culture. Stones for Bread presents some of the different programs for “marketing” worship, clarifies the implications for the integrity of a church’s mission and spiritual life, and proposes some alternative means for rejuvenating worship.
-
Blueprints For Worship
$23.99Add to cart165 Pages
Additional Info
This book is intended to provide practical assistance for pastors, musicians, and others who plan and lead worship in local congregations. Based upon the 1989 United Methodist Hymnal, the 1992 United Methodist Book of Worship, and the 1992 Revised Common Lectionary, this book will enable you to create, design, build, and lead effective worship experiences in your local congregation. Through a worksheet format that culls information and references from the sources mentioned above, you’ll be able to more effectively integrate preaching, music, movement, and environment. -
Undivided Soul : Helping Congregations Connect Body And Spirit
$25.99Add to cartIn The Undivided Soul: Helping Congregations Connect Body and Spirit, Cheryl Kirk-Duggan offers a worship, study, and sermon planning resource containing meditations, responsive readings, poems, and small-group leaders. This volume is designed as a year-long teaching/learning guide. Each chapter explores various aspects of faith, health, and spirituality. The book can be used as a worship resource for Sunday worship, retreats, or other gatherings; it can be used as a devotional resource for small groups; it can be a study guide for group study or retreats. This resource is designed to help persons and groups explore the relationship between the faith journey, physical bodies, and spiritual discipline.
-
Real Worship : Playground Battleground Or Holy Ground (Reprinted)
$17.00Add to cartWith 50,000 copies sold, the first edition of Real Worship helped many pastors and worship leaders make biblical sense in the controversy surrounding worship and worship styles. This second edition contains new chapters on taking worship seriously, planning balanced worship, and tradition in worship. A question-and-answer section, a bibliography, and a Scripture index have also been added.
While many books deal with how to worship, they fail to give a definition of true worship. Warren Wiersbe defines what worship is and the four elements it involves: wonder, witness, warfare, and wisdom. As he discusses such controversial issues as art, liturgy, worship styles, and music, Wiersbe keeps the focus on God and demonstrates the balance of worship for which every church should strive.
Real Worship is both biblically based and autobiographical, containing personal testimony, anecdotes, and illustrations from Wiersbe’s pastoral experience.
The first edition of this book was published by Thomas Nelson in 1986.
-
Diverse Worship : African American Caribbean And Hispanic Perspectives
$30.00Add to cartIn this book Pedrito Maynard-Reid explores the multiethnic dimensions of worship by looking at three specific cultural contexts for worship–African-American, Caribbean and Hispanic. After surveying worship and culture through history, the author devotes a section to each of these three cultural contexts. In these sections worship traditions are colorfully described and characterized. Historical developement and change are explored. In each section we gain new perspective on what it means to worship God.
-
Choosing Contemporary Music
$32.50Add to cartA one-volume reference work designed to aid worship planners in the selection of contemporary song. Organized by the three- year lectionary cycle, this book also contains integrated scriptural, seasonal, and topical indexes. Song collections indexed include With One Voice; This Far by Faith; Worship & Praise; The Celebration Hymnal; Gather Comprehensive; Glory & Praise; Maranatha! Music Praise; Renew!; Spirit Calls, Rejoice!; and Worship Songs of the Vineyard.
-
Worship Him : Discover The Joy Of Pure Spiritual Worship
$12.99Add to cartThe authors life study of the Holy Spirit takes a fresh turn as she explores the outward evidence of an inward relationship. We will worship day and night with our whole hearts as we “walk in the Spirit” as a response to coming face to face with Jesus Christ, who is revealed to us by the Spirit. Students of the Bible and those responsible for worship will appreciate the depth of her teaching. Those who worship as an expression of joy will better understand what the Word promises for those who worship!
-
Faith We Sing Worship Planner Edition
$24.99Add to cartThis important tool for worship planners contains introduction and acknowledgements, directions for use, informative articles, and commentary (history, when, and how to use) on all 284 songs in The Faith We Sing. You can also find a sample order of worship, copyright information, modulation charts, medley suggestions (contemporary and blended; includes suggestions from other hymnals), and numberous indexes (scripture, topics and catagories, song titles, authors and composers, first line and common titles, meters, and keys).
-
Brief History Of Christian Worship
$23.99Add to cart192 Pages
Additional Info
Writing from an ecumenical perspective, White surveys 2,000 of Christian worship, emphasizing the rich liturgical experiences of North American Christians in recent centuries. A groundbreaking revisionist work that is destined to redirect liturgical history by treating the worshipping community itself as the primary liturgical document. 192 pages, softcover from Abingdon. -
Inside Out : Worship In An Age Of Mission
$22.00Add to cartApplying theology to worship and to the practice of liturgy, this innovative work reclaims the importance of word and sacrament as the center for the church’s life and witnesses. Drawing connections between liturgy and life, this collection deepens worship-life by helping congregations “to talk with each other about the ways we encounter the living God in worship;” and by strengthening “skills that enhance worship.” Worship in an Age of Mission addresses pastoral liturgical and sacramental issues at work in congregations today and offers a comprehensive vision for congregational life centered around word and sacrament.
-
Traces Of Glory
$21.95Add to cartThe first in a 3 volume collection of prayers based on the new Common Worship Lectionary used in many parts of the Anglican Communion, and very similar to lectionaries used in the United States. Written in Celtic style and linked to the Sunday readings–may be used by congregations for the Prayers of the People, as well as individual devotions.
-
Torahs Vision Of Worship
$39.00Add to cartA complement to the author’s earlier Overtures to Biblical Theology study on prayer, this volume addresses the topic of worship as articulated in the first five books of the Bible. Rather than a history of Israelite religion, Balentine’s volume examines the “vision” of worship expounded in the Torah in relation to priesthood, creation, liturgy, and covenant. He concludes by discussing the contemporary situation of experiencing God’s hiddenness and a world caught in despair. Balentine proposes that a fresh look at the Torah offers possibilities of counter-imagination and hope.
-
Praising God : The Trinity In Christian Worship
$26.00Add to cartExplores ways to enrich the language of Christian worship while remaining faithful to the church’s affirmation of God as Trinity. The authors encourage gender-inclusive language for the Trinity, and offer pastoral and theological suggestions about trinitarian language in the worship service.
-
Prayers Encircling The World
$38.00Add to cartThis anthology of contemporary prayer reflects the truly ecumenical and international character of the Christian community, with prayers from more than sixty countries. A peasant from El Salvador prays in these pages alongside a businessman from the United States and a group of African mothers. The 300 prayers repesent a wide spectrum of Christian traditions, including Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Methodist, Reformed, and Evangelical. The themes range over life’s experiences: work and rest, war and peace, family and community, grief and joy, provery and plenty, churches and nations – all find their place in this tapestry of prayer.
-
Lights Symbols And Angels
$12.95Add to cartLights, Symbols And Angels is a compilation of related worship resources that will enhance the Advent/Christmas worship life of any congregation, large or small.
O Come, Blessed Light Of The World! is ideal for raising awareness of the Advent season for families. Those using the material will learn about the Advent candles, read God’s Word for the day, and have a challenge of action each week. Devotions include a reading, reflection, and prayer.
Celebrating The Advent Wreath is a special Advent service which can be used for mid-week or women’s programs. Reflections on each candle will help participants learn more about the Advent wreath.
Christmas Symbols And Songs is a program which blends sharing the meaning of traditional Christmas symbols with the singing of a variety of carols. It’s excellent for a fellowship potluck, women’s tea or program, mid-week worship service, or an intergenerational event.
Angels Inspire Our Worship is an order of worship with a skit that’s ideal for a youth program. The skit, Hark! It’s Harold And The Angel Band, dramatizes an imaginary encounter between Gabe (the archangel Gabriel disguised as a stock boy), Mr. Grumpy and Mr. Grumpier (old men shopping at Heaven’s Grocery Store), and an angel band led by Harold.
Angels In The Outfield is a resource for a Sunday worship experience, mid-week service, or special Advent program. The worship is designed around the ministry of angels, using a baseball theme with appropriate hymns featuring angels.
A Christmas Celebration is a communion/candlelight service for Christmas Eve with readings, litanies, and carols.
A prolific and enthusiastic writer of worship resources, Cynthia E. Cowen has been an established writer with CSS Publishing Company since 1991. She received a B.A. degree in education from Northern Michigan University and is a graduate of the Northern Great Lakes Synod Lay School for Mission. Cowen has served as a licensed lay minister in the Northern Great Lakes Synod of the ELCA at Calvary Lutheran Church, Quinnesec, Michigan, and is currently a rostered Associate in Ministry in Youth And Family at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, Iron Mountain, Michigan. She was elected to the Executive Board of the Church Wide Women’s Organization of the Women of the ELCA in 1996, and served on its Printed Resources committee.
-
Bright Intervals
$14.95Add to cartThese services with meditations are appropriate for any setting or occasion, but are especially useful for worship services in health care centers, retirement homes, and hospitals. Themes will have special meaning for older adults, while humor and narrative stories enliven the message.
These brief worship services with pastoral meditations are appropriate for any informal setting or special occasion. They will be particularly helpful for those who plan worship services for health care centers, retirement homes, hospitals, and nursing homes.
The selected theme of each meditation and service are of broad interest to a wide age spectrum, but will have special meaning for older adults. Beringer uses both humor and narrative stories to enliven the message.
-
Biblical Period
$45.99Add to cart“The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures in the Worship of the Christian Church” is a multivolume study by Hughes Oliphant Old that canvasses the history of preaching from the words of Moses at Mount Sinai through modern times. In Volume 1, “The Biblical Period,” Old begins his survey by discussing the roots of the Christian ministry of the Word in the Worship of Israel. He then examines the preaching of Christ and the Apostles. Finally, Old looks at the development and practice of Christian preaching in the second and third centuries, concluding with the ministry of Origen.
-
These Are The Candles
$7.95Add to cartHere is a resource that will dramatize the lighting of the Advent candles during your worship service. The lighting of each candle is proceeded by a statement, which the author suggests may be read from offstage.
The series of statements reveal the significance of the traditional Advent characters: the angel, the shepherds, the wisemen, Mary and the Christ child.
This simple but dramatic resource provides an explanation of the deeper meaning of the events preceding Jesus’ birth, as they spell out the relationship of these individuals to Christ, the Light of the World.
