Living the Christian Year: Time to Inhabit the Story of God
"Only occasionally does a book come along which will become a steady companion in my own journey of discipleship. Bobby Gross has engagingly written that kind of book. It both points the way to a fuller understanding of God's great story in Christ, and simultaneously provides guidance and tools to help me weave my life into God's story as I enter the steady rhythms of the Christian calendar. I have never seen a book quite like this." (Dr. Stephen A. Hayner, professor of evangelism and church growth, Columbia Theological Seminary)"Culture's daily story of noise, busyness, consumerism and competition is often the loudest shaping voice of our lives. It can influence choices more than a weekly or monthly dose of churchgoing does. Bobby Gross opens the possibility for another voice and another story to shape us on a daily basis.Living the Christian Yearinvites believers to live by the rhythms of God's redemption story. This lovely book hooks our daily life into the extraordinary beauty and usefulness of the liturgical year--a year spent in following the life of Jesus. I delight in a book that reveals how Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, Pentecost and Ordinary Time place our ordinary lives in the context of the most amazing story ever--the story that can guide us at all times and in all places." (Adele Calhoun, copastor, Redeemer Community Church and author of Spiritual Disciplines Handbook)"Whether we know and believe it or not, we live in sacred time. The only time that is is created, given, sustained and re-created  by God--time that God will one day fulfill.Living the Christian Yearbeckons us to lay hold of this reality, to richly dwell in the story that holds time together, and as we do so to practice the communion that holds God's  people together in grace across time and around the globe. This is the biblical story out of which comes all true worship and justice." (Mark Labberton, author of The Dangerous Act of Worship)"Bobby Gross has written a jewel of a book about the depth and riches of observing the Christian year. Christians in nonliturgical settings will be touched by his understanding, not to mention those who are already living the Christian feasts and seasons in liturgical churches. They, too, will gain insight to match their customary practice. This is a book to dip into and enjoy." (Emilie Griffin, author of Clinging and Doors into Prayer)"Many devout Christian believers are unaware of the richness to be found in the Christian calendar year, with its high and low points, its celebrations, its times of self-examination and repentance, and even what is known as 'ordinary time.' Bobby Gross, who began to live the seasons of the Christian year as an adult, celebrates the story of Jesus' life through liturgy. This is a bountiful resource, thought-provoking, informative and motivational, showing how liturgy can help us in our deep need to pursue God and a holy life." (Luci Shaw, writer-in-residence, Regent College, and author of Water My Soul and Breath for the Bones)"Beautiful in its gentleness and humility, this book is a gift to Christians of all communions and denominations, for it deals with our beginnings and the originating, sacred rhythms from which we all come. Only Bobby Gross could have so gracefully opened the church's liturgical calendar to all who wish to see, and only he could have laid so rich a feast of devotion as this for those who yearn to enter." (Phyllis Tickle, author of The Divine Hours)