Books
4 items
-
BookKneeling in Bethlehem Poetry for Advent and Christmas In a style that is reverent and faith-filled, Anne Weems reflects on the mystery of the Christmas season. Included in this collection are twenty-six new poems…
-
BookBright Evening Star Mystery of the Incarnation Bright Evening Star provides a glimpse into the life stories of this prolific author and her encounters with God. With a foreword by John Tesh, L'Engle invites…
-
BookA Light Has Dawned Meditations on Advent and Christmas A Light Has Dawned recovers the best Advent and Christmas articles from half a century of Christianity Today. Guiding readers through Advent, Christmas, and…
-
BookMeditations on the Birth of Jesus A Renovaré Advent Resource for Spiritual Renewal A four week Advent devotional with meditations on Scripture and art, written by Renovaré team members Miriam (Mimi) Dixon and Margaret Campbell.
Weekly Newsletters
15 items
-
Renovaré WeeklyDecember 20, 2024 “The Word of God wordlessly uttered the sound of a human voice” That day is called the birthday of the Lord on which the Wisdom of God manifested Himself as a speechless Child and the Word of God wordlessly uttered the…
-
Renovaré WeeklyDecember 6, 2024 Heightened Awareness Sometimes God is unmistakable—an Archangel, a Blinding Light. Most of the time, God is easily missed. That’s by design. In humility and out of…
-
Renovaré WeeklyDecember 8, 2023 Uncomplicating Christmas Simplicity in physical stuff, yes. But someone can be a minimalist and still have a heart that hoards anger and control. What I’m talking about is true…
-
Renovaré WeeklyDecember 1, 2023 A Fast and Slow Rescue But the suffering that surrounded Jesus throughout his life and the suffering he experienced firsthand did not suffocate him. Humanity’s hurt moved him; it did…
-
Renovaré WeeklyDecember 23, 2022 Don’t Skip to the Hard Part Trevor suggests, “Make a conscious effort today to rejoice in the good gifts that come your way—a warm cup of coffee, the friendly face of a loved one, the…
-
Renovaré WeeklyDecember 9, 2022 The Humble Soul Knows Its Worth Humility is to see things as they are. It isn’t to think of oneself as a worthless worm who God reluctantly redeemed. It is to fix our heart on God’s…
-
Renovaré WeeklyDecember 17, 2021 A Familiar Longing and Frustration And so, as we enter the liturgical dance of hope and aspiration, may the wonder and mystery of God incarnate remain a constant and reliable reality—a firm…
-
Renovaré WeeklyDecember 3, 2021 Fresh Epiphany When the story of God becoming human comes on like a light bulb in our minds it illuminates everything. Epiphany! It is the assurance our hearts have been…
-
Renovaré WeeklyNovember 26, 2021 Making Room Email inboxes on Black Friday can be quite crowded, so we usually skip our weekly newsletter. But since Advent begins Sunday, it seemed good to send out a…
-
Renovaré WeeklyNovember 27, 2020 Becoming Re-wondered The goal of being “re-wondered” with the incarnation isn’t to recapture an emotional high for its own sake, trying as it were “to make every kiss feel like the…
-
Renovaré WeeklyDecember 20, 2019 Long Obediences What makes for a long obedience is a bunch of daily obediences one after the other, like stones laid for a walking path. Our job is to stay attentive to the…
-
Renovaré WeeklyDecember 13, 2019 When God Breaks In We Have a Choice “When God breaks in we have a choice,” Mimi writes. “Embrace or reject, believe or doubt. Either we abandon ourselves to God’s path, the steps of which are…
Podcast Episodes
6 items
-
Podcast EpisodeVivianne Foster — The Blessing of WelcomeDecember 19, 2025
On this week’s podcast episode, Nathan and Vivianne Foster discuss how to welcome Christ—looking to Jesus’ parents as a picture of consent, receptivity, and… -
Podcast EpisodeJim Schaap — A Christmas Story of JoyDecember 24, 2017
Author Jim Schaap joins again this week, this time reading a story from his book Finding Christmas: Stories of Startling Joy and Perfect Peace. Merry… -
Podcast EpisodeJim Schaap — The Christmas Truce of 1914
December 17, 2017
James (Jim) Schaap is an author, Professor Emeritus of English at Dordt College in Iowa, and a riveting storyteller. In this episode he shares his version of… -
Podcast EpisodePatty Kirk — The Gospel of ChristmasDecember 10, 2017
Advent means "the coming." In this episode Patty Kirk, writer in residence and associate professor of English at John Brown University, reminds us that Advent… -
Podcast EpisodeRichella Parham — The Liturgy of WaitingDecember 3, 2017
In this Advent season of expectation, Renovaré Ministry team member and author Richella Parham joins Nathan again to talk about what she calls the liturgy of… -
Podcast EpisodeCarolyn Arends — Christmas SongsDecember 18, 2016
For nearly each one of the last 25 years Carolyn Arends, Renovaré's Director of Education, has written a new Christmas song. In this episode, the last of the…
Articles
29 items
-
ArticleScrooge Visits His Past from A Christmas Carol “Good Heaven!” said Scrooge, clasping his hands together, as he looked about him. “I was bred in this place. I was a boy here!” In this interchange between…
-
ArticleBoughs of Holly Hannah Anderson invites us to learn from the holly tree the lesson of joy mingled with suffering.
-
ArticleThe Gifts of the Wilderness Longing, emptiness, and waiting can stretch and grow our souls—and prepare space for God to do some of his most holy work.
-
ArticleThe Word Became Flesh The opening words of John's gospel proclaim the Incarnation, and invite us to receive him and become "children of God."
-
ArticleOnly the Workshop Humility in Mary’s Song Mary's obedience, trust, and praise provide a profile in humility that can help us have a truer image of God and of ourselves.
-
ArticleCome, Thou Long Expected Jesus In two short stanzas, Charles Wesley announces the good news of the kingdom, available to us through the one "born a child and yet a King." This hymn offers us…
-
ArticleReceiving the Word with Joy A graduate of the Renovaré Institute, Ali Thomas Steer, sends Advent greetings from the UK with some provocative questions to stretch our imaginations and help…
-
ArticleMy Spirit Rejoices An Advent Sermon In an excerpt from his 1933 Advent sermon, Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes that Mary “knows better than anyone else what it means to wait for Christ’s coming.”
-
ArticleHoly Joy Francis and the First Nativity Scene “I commend Francis of Assisi to you as a model of charismatic jubilee,” writes Richard Foster in Streams of Living Water. In this excerpt, Foster tells the…
-
ArticleWhy the World Is a Perfectly Safe Place To Be Carolyn Arends invites us to agree with Scripture and "replace worst-case scenario thinking by anticipating the future God intends for His creation."
-
ArticleThe Humble and Messy Arrival of God from Meditations on the Birth of Jesus Did the shepherds stop to wonder why the Messiah was born in a stable attended by animals? Someday we can ask them. For now, we notice, with help from this…
-
ArticleWhen Plans Get Interrupted Advent Week Three from Meditations on the Birth of Jesus God radically rearranged Joseph's planned future with Mary. Rather than resist, Joseph believed and obeyed. Miriam Dixon and Margaret Campbell help us gain a…
