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Advent Resources – Staff Favorites

December 1, 2021

As we enter Advent, we find ourselves pulled in many directions. It is especially important during this season to discipline our minds—to set our hearts and thoughts on things that are beautiful, good, and true.

Many of you have asked what resources Upper House staff reflect on during this season. Here we share some of our favorites, hoping that you find them as enriching as we do.

 

Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ (Eerdmans, 2018)

Theologian Fleming Rutledge authored this fabulous collection of insightful sermons on themes of the Incarnation, Second Coming, and the time in between. Upper House’s Eric Carlsson appreciates the way Rutledge challenges us to consider the significance of Advent in light of God’s redeeming work in the world.

 

The Advent Project

This online daily devotional is full of rich meditations accompanied by music and visual art. Click this link and you can subscribe to receive it everyday leading up to Christmas. Upper House’s Kate Austin values this resource, citing Biola President Barry Corey’s description of Advent as a “merriment and melancholy together, beauty so sublime that, like the best art, it…comforts and rocks us to the core.”

Honest Advent (Zondervan, 2018)

Honest Advent is a unique 25-day devotional for those looking for something with a little more grit and a little less red and green. Author and painter, Scott Erickson, presents thought-provoking images and meditations that evoke fresh wonder at God-with-Us. Upper House’s Dan Johnson appreciates Erickson’s way of illuminating the God “who showed up in the hardest parts of our humanity and is still doing so today.”

She Reads Truth Advent 2021 Study Book: Everlasting Light

Ths publication offers a five-week Advent experience featuring daily Scripture readings that trace the biblical theme of Jesus as the everlasting light. The study book also includes an introduction to Advent, guided prayers, reflection prompts, Christmas hymns, recipes, and more. Upper House’s Melissa Shackelford recommends this creative resource for the many women in our community.

Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas (Plough Publishing House, 2001)

This wonderful collection features 50 great spiritual writers from antiquity to the present day: Chrysostom, Aquinas, Luther, Bonhoeffer, L’Engle, Lewis, Merton, Nouwen, Yancey, and more. Upper House’s John Terrill calls it “a reader’s feast.” Dan Hummel says, “I enjoy reflecting with these great writers on the meaning of the incarnation and return every year to find new insights.”