This book will help you connect the Christmas story with God and how He wants to connect with us....
J. John in this book unpacks who is God and how he connects and interacts with us, and the Christmas story plays a major role in this
Find out and discover something more about who God really is and exactly how he feels about us. Find out how we lost our connection with God and how our connection can be restored.
The Gospel for the person who has everything
Secure, content, competent, reasonably happy and fulfilled, such persons of strength go their own way without any apparent discomfort at having missed the benefits of the Christian faith. . . . What do you say to the person who says, through his or her neglect of the faith, "Thanks, but I don’t need it"? —from the book
Bishop William Willimon brings the Gospel of Jesus Christ to life for the person who has everything – happy, fulfilled human beings, who don’t feel the same level of need expressed by the downcast, the outcast, the brokenhearted, and the miserable. Willimon says that the church’s message to the wretched and sad must not exclude the strong and the joyous.
In nine concise, inspired chapters, he discusses these ideas:
I have prepared the following Carols and Readings service to serve especially the smaller or people limited congregations of the Lutheran Church of Australia in New South Wales and the Lutheran Church of New Zealand. Anyone else is also free to use these resources
2025 Carols and Reading Service - Down to Earth Christmas
2025 Christmas Reflection - Down to Earth Christmas - this can be used either with the carols and readings service or separately also available at https://sermoncentral.com/sermons/god-comes-down-to-earth-richard-schwedes-sermon-on-christmas-296698
Instant Christmas Play - this can be used either with the carols and readings service or separately
I pray your Christmas time not only brings joy to people but also helps people engage with the God who came down to earth for us, to bring reveal his life giving love...
Bishop Richard
Many pastors and church workers are benefiting from regular engagement with a Pastoral Supervisor.
The following are registers of Pastoral Supervisors to help anyone seeking a Pastoral Supervisor in Australia and New Zealand
Australia
Lutheran Church of Australia list
St Marks Theological Centre list
Australasian Association of Supervision list
New Zealand
Centre for Life Long Learning Approved list
A guide to prayer for ministers and other servants is a best seller for nearly 3 decades!
This classic devotional and prayer book is a compilation of scriptures, prayers, readings from well-known spiritual writers, and hymn texts.
Each week centers on a different theme and follows this format: invocation, psalm, daily scripture readings, readings for reflection, prayers (for the church, myself, others), reflection time, and a hymn.
The back of the book contains models for 12 personal one-day retreats.
Featured writers include William Barclay, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Carlo Carretto, Mother Teresa, Richard J. Foster, Elton Trueblood, C. S. Lewis, Henri J. M. Nouwen, Simone Weil, and many others.
