When God Comes Down: An Advent Study for Adults

by James A Harnish

Overview

When God Comes Down is a five-week study, providing one lesson for each week of Advent and one for Christmas. Each lesson includes a key Scripture, a brief reflection, discussion/reflection questions, a brief prayer, and a focus for the coming week. In this study, Harnish explores the meaning of the incarnation…God with us in human flesh.  Often our Advent/Christmas journey is focused on us – our memories, feelings, relationships and experiences.  This study puts the focus on God’s action in Jesus Christ.  It encourages participants to think more deeply in terms of the biblical, theological, and spiritual meaning of the Nativity and to apply it to their own lives. The study looks at the stories of the primary biblical characters in the birth stories through whose lives the miracle of incarnation happened: Zechariah, Elizabeth, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. Harnish also looks at a traditional character in nativity plays, one who is not mentioned in the Bible, the innkeeper.  Through all these characters, he helps us claim for ourselves the reality of God's presence with us.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781426751080
Publisher:	Abingdon Press
Publication date:	09/01/2012
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.13(d)

About the Author

The Rev. Dr. James A. Harnish retired after 43 years of pastoral ministry in the Florida Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. He was the founding pastor of St. Luke's United Methodist Church in Orlando and served for 22 years as the Senior Pastor of Hyde Park United Methodist Church in Tampa. He is the author of A Disciple's Heart: Growing in Love and Grace, Earn. Save. Give. Wesley's Simple Rules for Money, and Make a Difference: Following Your Passion and Finding Your Place to Serve. He was a consulting editor for The New Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible and a contributor to The Wesley Study Bible. He and his wife, Martha, have two married daughters and five grandchildren in Florida and South Carolina.