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Your kids are talking about identity. Are you part of the conversation?
 
Today’s kids and youth are talking about identity—and often very differently from the adults around them. How can we walk well with them through their questions about who they are and how they fit into the family of God? We must begin by telling a better gospel story, with an invitational posture that actually expects us to love God and love others.
 
In this engaging and disarming book that speaks to readers across the theological spectrum, author and children’s ministry expert Christie Penner Worden invites grownups along to imagine a more Jesus-centered narrative for the sake of kids who are no longer buying what the church is selling, who do not feel safe, and who have not been welcomed into the conversation that adults are having without them. The Me I Was Made...

Connect with what truly matters this holiday season
 
In the hustle and bustle of the season’s endless to-dos, it can be difficult to truly connect with what matters—honoring beloved traditions with family and friends, being present in our communities, and experiencing God in the celebration of Jesus’ birth. In Comfort and Joy, authors Sherah-Leigh Gerber and Gwen Lantz offer a unique blend of thoughtful reflections and inspiring spiritual practices grounded in noticing the sacred amid the ordinary. Two friends who forged a friendship and a blog through a shared love of writing, together they bring fresh insight, warmth, and opportunities for spiritual nurture and growth. In these pages, you’ll find ways to engage more deeply with favorite traditions and cultivate creative space for new ones.
 
With readings to walk through the Advent and Christmas season, the weekly offerings include a variety of devotional meditations and...

Christ is present and at work in rural communities. How do we lead from that reality?

The temptation to operate from a scarcity mindset is stronger than ever. The tensions unleashed over the past few years—which led to skepticism, breakdowns of trust, declining church attendance, and uncertainty around community ministry—continue to linger in and among our rural churches. Yet God’s loving, redemptive work is happening in all places, no matter how small or far-flung.

In Flyover Church, Brad Roth, the author of God’s Country, describes how rural ministry shares soul-deep commonalities with the church in every place. And he speaks a hopeful message into the distinct challenges—and promises—faced by rural communities. Tracing Jesus’ ministry and bountiful work among the small-town people and places in the gospel of Mark, this book offers a vision for ministry tailored to rural settings. Pastors and leaders everywhere will be encouraged to approach ministry from the...

The future is uncertain. But flourishing doesn’t have to be.

We know without a doubt that humans have power to change the earth in lasting ways. Climate change is not a niche issue: it is the unfolding story of our embodied lives. As we join in with the groaning of creation, we wonder how we and coming generations will make our home in a potentially inhospitable future.

In the face of environmental and social upheaval, Tending Tomorrow lays out a path for Christians seeking courage and inspiration for the uncertain journey ahead. Drawing on metaphors from the natural world, author Leah Reesor-Keller offers foundational, transformative practices for leaders and communities to foster healthier cultures during a time of ecological devastation.
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When we dig into the roots of faith and culture, and envision new interactions and patterns, we plant seeds of change. Seeds that...

A fresh look at our core values
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In the twenty years since a group of Brethren in Christ pastors, educators, administrators, and laypeople first met to identify ten core values for the North American church, much has changed—including the continuing decline of the church in the west; dynamic social movements for racial, gender, and economic justice; vast advances in technology, and a worldwide pandemic.

With so much happening on both the national and international stages, it seems vital that we as Brethren in Christ prayerfully reflect not only on our core values and their application, but on how those values might help our churches engage a dramatically new social context. Are these values merely sentimental slogans? Or do they constitute compelling convictions, genuine guiding lights orienting us and motivating our mission in a rapidly changing world? The answer to that all-important question depends largely on...

Gather around the table with an Old Order Amish family.

For over two decades, bestselling cookbook author and food columnist Lovina Eicher has welcomed readers into life with her Amish family and community. She returns with this collection of well-loved recipes and heartwarming stories. In the pages of The Cherished Table, learn more about traditions and treasured dishes for gatherings large and small. While you may not be cooking for dozens of dinner guests, you’ll find plenty of inspiration for meals with family and friends.
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Fans of Eicher’s earlier cookbooks will find over one hundred delectable recipes in chapters devoted to breakfast dishes, baked goods, garden produce, farm-raised meats, desserts, and more. Alongside the recipes, beautiful photographs showcase the comforting, wholesome dishes and life in an Amish home. Enjoy the tastes and traditions of a community that cherishes family, faith, and fellowship around a shared...

With Bibles and baptism, a movement was born. 

From renegade gatherings of Christian believers in the 1500s to a global communion of more than 2.1 million members, the Anabaptist-Mennonite movement has been marked by faithfulness and failure, continuity and conflict, radicalism and reformation. In this engaging history, Radicals and Reformers traces the origins and development of the Anabaptist and Mennonite movements from their beginnings in Europe through their spread across the globe.  

In this new authoritative introduction to Anabaptist history, historian Troy Osborne reflects on the ways that Anabaptists have defined their identity in new settings and in response to new theological, intellectual, geographic, and political contexts. Drawing from current scholarship and a range of written and visual sources, this book provides an overview of how Mennonites from Zurich to Zimbabwe have adapted to or resisted the world around them. 

The good news is bigger and better than we imagined.

Many Christians, especially young Christians stepping into a world and a church devastated by division, scandal, and abuse, are asking whether the gospel is good news for us today. And many are deciding that faith simply doesn’t have anything to offer. Our gospel has become too small—it looks nothing like the Jesus who embodies good news in the flesh.

How do we recover this gospel? When we turn to the parable of the prodigal son—a story of elaborate parties, upside-down kingdoms, and reunited families—we can hear in Jesus’ own words a clear presentation of a truth that is bigger and better than we’ve imagined.
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In these pages, author and pastor Jonny Morrison invites us on a journey into the welcoming arms of this familiar parable, showing us how it shapes the entire story...

What constitutes a faithful life?

At its most basic level, the New Testament book of Hebrews considers this essential question and pleads with its audience to find in faithful living the rest that Christ offers. Hebrews begins with a poetic reflection on the one who lived the most faithful of lives—Jesus—and concludes with exhortations to go and do likewise.

In the 37th volume in the Believers Church Bible Commentary series, scholars Debra J. Bucher and Estella Boggs Horning examine at great length one important aspect of Hebrews: Jesus as the new covenant and the once-for-all, better sacrifice who replaces the daily and yearly temple offerings in Jerusalem. The authors also consider how this idea has been used to minimize other religious traditions and even to legitimize the horrors of the mid-20th century. They carefully unpack the language around sacrifice and covenant based on the saving work of...

Timeless wisdom for a simpler life

Do you feel trapped in a chaotic, relentless, demanding lifestyle? Discover the secrets to the peaceful, compelling life you long for through the skills honed by our grandmothers and lived out by the Amish. Drink from this well of timeless wisdom and gain practical skills with Brenda L. Yoder as your guide—a counselor, career woman, and busy mom who’s raised her family on a farm in the heart of Amish and Mennonite country.
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In this new book, the author of Fledge: Launching Your Kids without Losing Your Mind equips women with 10 timeless lessons drawn from generations past. Learn to overcome practical obstacles and solve daily challenges with a calm presence, authentic faith, and voice of reason. No matter where you live or your season of life, you can draw inspiration from the simpler life.