Why is the church so important to God? What's really going on in the Bible? How can I make sense of my life?
Finding Ourselves in God's Story invites readers to join a conversation that covers questions about faith. It introduces Christian faith from an Anabaptist perspective and puts readers in touch with two stories that Christians are constantly hearing and telling. First, there is the Bible's story of God working to restore us—and all of creation—to wholeness. The center of this story is Jesus Christ, who lived, died, rose, and still lives—for us. The second story involves our own lives today. How do we connect with God's story? Where is God working in our lives? What will we do with Jesus' invitation to follow him?
This book addresses the pressing questions and concerns that today's youth bring to their faith. Drawing on direct, honest discussions with Mennonite teenagers, young...
500 years of faith. 500 years of service. 500 years of community. 500 years of Anabaptism.
A church begins a nonprofit to assist single mothers in their neighborhood. A baptism takes place in a barrel during a drought in a war-torn country. An urban congregation creates an intentional community of asylum seekers. Published in conjunction with the 500th anniversary of the Anabaptist Christian faith, Faith in Full Color introduces readers to a tapestry of creative expressions of contemporary Anabaptist witness in the world.
This book showcases the intersection of faith and life, showing how congregations, faith communities, and individuals express their faith. Together, these stories written and compiled by Jeanne Zimmerly Jantzi and accompanied by a diverse collection of photos address where we have been and, more importantly, where we are going as Anabaptist Christians: Where do we see God at work in our lives today? How have we seen...
The 500th anniversary of Anabaptism in 2025 gives the church a unique opportunity to look back and live forward. Throughout its long history, the Anabaptist movement has centered on Scripture, discipleship, and reconciliation—with a strong focus on the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus. But we have also expressed our faith in many different ways across a range of cultural contexts. This 30-day devotional, edited by author and historian John D. Roth, draws on insights from Anabaptist church leaders from around the globe and expands the vision of what it means to follow in the footsteps of Jesus today. Daily readings from Scripture, combined with devotional reflections and inspiring testimonies, challenge readers to deeper forms of discipleship. Hear from this vibrant communion of saints all around the world living the faith and challenging the status quo.
How the Story of Jesus Changes the Way We See Everything
by Andrew Arndt
$19.99 / CAD $27.19
ISBN: 9781513816203
Pub Date: 04/15/2025
Be transformed by the gospel light that gleams among us.
When we refer to the gospel only as the death and resurrection of Jesus and what that assures us for the afterlife, we miss out on the full depth of the gracious good news found in the person of Jesus Christ. As a result, most of our actual lives remain untouched by what the man from Galilee said and did during his life as told in the Gospels.
While the gospel is certainly not less than Jesus’ death and resurrection, it is much more than that—and that more is critical for how we imagine ourselves and the world around us. A Strange and Gracious Light cracks open the gospel story as the imaginative and prophetic spark of congregational life, modeling what it looks like to “think Jesus” and “speak Jesus” in our daily lives. Amid the meaninglessness of consumerism, mass entertainment, and political...
While fiction lovers may find Amish romance novels beguiling, the surprising true story of Amish courtship, weddings and marriage unfolds in a new, richly researched book that strives to portray the Plain community with respect and authenticity. Author Beth Oberholtzer introduces real Amish couples in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, inviting readers into the entire process of Amish courtship as well as the inner workings of a daylong wedding event like no other. Amish Weddings offers a true insider’s look—through stories, history, and evocative photos—into the community-wide “making” of an Amish wedding. Personal stories from brides and grooms, attendants, servers, paper ladies, ushers, hostlers, and others provide a window into a unique celebration that honors the couple while enveloping them in their community of faith. In addition to photos from actual Amish weddings, menus and recipes enjoyed by generations of celebrants offer...
We have never been more connected—yet we have never felt more alone.
Isolation is the great soul wound of our time. As Christians, we know that the church has a unique gift to offer a hurting world: communal life in Jesus. This gift has the power to heal our loneliness and isolation. It is good news for the lonely, the isolated, the struggling. So why does it often sound like bad news to those who need it most?
Perhaps because we have misunderstood what the good news actually is—and how we ought to be sharing it. We have collapsed evangelism into offering a golden ticket to some postmortem destiny. But the goodness of the gospel we are called to share is about so much more: shalom, wholeness, and the peaceable kingdom of Christ breaking into the world. This is the gift of communal life in Jesus....
A Devotional Journey with Art, Poetry, and Reflection
Edited by John D. Roth and Eileen R. Kinch
Foreword by Julia Spicher Kasdorf
$20.99 / CAD $28.55
ISBN: 9781513815145
Pub Date: 02/18/2025
Allow the Spirit to stir your soul
Amid busy lives, Drawing Near invites you to slow down, to pause and ponder, and to explore the creative edges of your faith. This unique devotional brings together 40 stunning original artworks that illustrate a particular biblical text or story. Each image is paired with its related scripture text and an original poem by a contemporary Anabaptist writer, along with questions or prompts for further reflection and space for your creative response. The 40 scripture texts, illustrations, and poems provide a starting point. But the biblical passage will come alive in surprising ways as you gaze at the image and allow the Holy Spirit to disrupt the text through the evocative power of art and the surprising insights of well-crafted poems.
This devotional includes plenty of white space for your own response to the...
Though most of us have never wandered a literal desert for forty years, we have all spent some time wandering in a wilderness of one kind or another. So, too, have many women across the pages of the Bible. In their stories of doubt and questioning, of dryness and distance, we can find guideposts for the inevitable wilderness periods in our own lives. As we enter into the wilderness season of the church year, this Lenten devotional by Joanna Harader explores the stories of thirty biblical women—from Eve to Mary Magdalene—who had their own such experiences. For some, the women inhabited a literal wilderness. For others, their wilderness was metaphorical. All were drawn closer to God, who does not leave us to wander alone. Embark on a Lenten journey with these women in the wilderness through daily reflections, prayer...
How Jesus Dignifies, Shapes, and Confronts Our Cultural Identities
by J.W. Buck
Foreword by Jamie Sanchez
$19.99 / CAD $27.19
ISBN: 9781513813660
Pub Date: 12/03/2024
Cultural identity matters—to us and to Jesus.
Culture—that nebulous and easily tossed-around term—is all around us. Nothing we think, do, or say is outside of it. For people of faith, experiences around cultural identity can lead to confusion and conflict, hurt and harm, even as we seek to follow Christ together. But the story of God is clear: We are all made in God’s good image, and God’s people are meant to be a diverse community. No matter where you come from and no matter how complex our cultural narratives, the Scriptures point to the One who embodied a particular identity—of a Jewish man in first-century Palestine—in order to shape our own. God dignifies our culture and wants us to shape it to look more like Jesus. Looking to the example of Jesus, author J. W. Buck offers practical insights into how cultural identity fits...
What does it mean to follow Jesus in the way we read Scripture?
As Christians, we want to follow Jesus in his teachings and way of life, which were significantly shaped by his reading of the Jewish Scriptures. By exploring how Jesus engaged the Scriptures, we can better understand how we should read our Bibles today—thereby following Jesus in the way we study our foundational text. The Word Fulfilled offers in-depth explorations of how Jesus discussed seven important passages in his life and ministry. Through scholarship, scriptural engagement, and imaginative storytelling, author and pastor Michael W. Pahl illuminates what Scripture looked and sounded like in Jesus’ context. For anyone who desires to follow Jesus more deeply, Pahl helps us step back into the world of early Judaism and into synagogues, family kitchens, and other first-century settings as we encounter afresh the Word of God.
