Kirjahaku

As we prepare each year to celebrate the Incarnation, the Advent season reminds us that we live in an interim period between the First and Second Comings of Jesus Christ. In this book of twelve riveting sermons on a variety of Advent themes (all based on texts from Cycle B of the Revised Common Lectionary), Michael Ruffin explores the challenges of Christian living in this time between the First and Second Advents -- particularly the tension between the modes of patience and action. Though we await Jesus' return with hopeful anticipation, Advent waiting is active waiting. Ruffin's messages invite readers to share in the richly rewarding life of faith, while providing abundant comfort and inspiration for those who endeavor to live as disciples of Jesus in the modern world. Preachers looking for an imaginative illustration or observation to stimulate their sermons will find ample material in this book. But this is much more than just a reference for ministers preparing to preach during Advent -- it's also an excellent resource for spiritual reflections reminding us that the good news in these days between the Advents is that Jesus Christ is Immanuel, God with us. Possessed by an abiding love for the Lord Christ, Michael Ruffin approaches a season that he loves with his scholarly skills of exegesis, his insight into contemporary life issues, his common sense, and his disarming humor, crafting a collection of sermons that will bless the reader, inspire the preacher, and remind us all of the renewal that Advent brings. James C. Elder Jr. Pastor, First Baptist Church Fitzgerald, Georgia Michael L. Ruffin is the pastor of The First Baptist Church in Fitzgerald, Georgia. He is a graduate of Mercer University (B.A.) and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (M.Div., Ph.D.).

This study focuses on Jesus' parables that are unique to the Gospel of Luke. These parables are stories that, according to Luke, Jesus shared with his disciples as they accompanied him on the most crucial journey they ever took together-the journey to Jerusalem. There Jesus would die, and there the disciples would learn of the true nature and cost of following him.These stories in Luke's Gospel are pilgrimage parables. They are parables for those on the way to being the people of God. They are not places where we stop and stay; they are rather places where we learn what we need to learn and from which, equipped with Jesus' directions, we continue the journey. But we will see that they are also places to which we repeatedly return.Because it became Scripture, Luke's Gospel functions for us as it has for generations of believers through the centuries: as our guidebook while we try to find our own way in following Jesus. Like Jesus' first disciples and like Luke's original audience, we want to follow Jesus in taking up our cross and laying down our life.This Teaching Guide for the Smyth & Helwys Annual Bible Study on Luke's parables includes teaching options, suggested worship and sermon outlines, and approaches to leading discussions and group study. This guide also includes relevant lesson plans for including youth and children in a congregational study of the parables of Luke.