Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus: Experiencing the Peace and Promise of Christmas

by Nancy Guthrie

Book Overview

An anthology of Advent readings collected from the writings and sermons of 22 classic and contemporary theologians and Bible teachers.

Between purchasing presents and planning travel, enjoying holiday pageants and attending parties, it is all too easy for Christmas to silence the sacredness and crowd out a quiet anticipation of the season's truths. So when editor Nancy Guthrie decided she wanted a reflective book of Advent readings that...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1433501805
• ISBN13: 9781433501807
• Release Date: August 2008
• Publisher: Crossway Books
• Length: 142 Pages
• Weight: 0.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.3" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

A Real Blessing

It is now 3 days before Christmas and I have been reading this each day for the past 20 or so days. The chapters are all written by wonderful Christian thinkers. Jesus has been glorified in my heart, mind and soul and I thank Nancy Guthrie for all the work she put into editing this book. I am going to order several more and give them as gifts next year--at Thanksgiving--so people can have them to prepare their hearts for Christmas.

Help in focusing on the real meaning of Christmas

I loved this book and plan on reading it every Christmas season. It really helped me focus on Christ and not get as side-tracked with all the festivities which are wonderful, but can easily pull me away from centering on the birth of Christ. This book would make a great gift for others, too. Kathy Norquist Eagle Creek, OR

satts

This is a wonderful gift book, or just something to get your mind reset on what Christmas is all about. It is nice to have thoughts from the greats of our faith under one cover. I highly recommend this work to anyone who is sensing the loss of the reason Christmas is and is searching for meaning beyond the glitz and glitter of the storefront. You will be challenged to consider the Incarnation in the backdrop of the Crucifixtion and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

A must have - for Christmas or anytime!

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to fully embrace the spirit of Christmas. This is a great anthology featuring insight by many highly esteemed authors and theologians. The variety of perspectives offer insight into the birth of Christ that one may have never considered. This book allowed me the chance to slow down my thoughts a bit, moving away from the commercial aspects of Christmas and really reflecting upon the significance of Christ's birth and the relevance of Christianity.

Christmas Essays from Trusted Authors

Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus is a collection of short essays on Christmas topics from writers that Nancy Guthrie respects--"essays that reflect a high view of Scripture; and that put the incarnation in the context of God's unfolding plan of redemption." Included are pieces from the sermons, essays or books of both historical and contemporary Christians. I've decided that listing the contributors would be more useful than anything else in helping you decided whether these are essays you would enjoy reading, so here you are, from first to last: * George Whitefield * Joseph "Skip" Ryan * Martin Luther * John Piper * Tim Keller * Martyn Lloyd-Jones * J. Ligon Duncan III * Jonathan Edwards * Charles Spurgeon * Saint Augustine * J. I. Packer * John Calvin * Alistair Begg * Randy Alcorn * John MacArthur * Raymond C. Ortland, Jr. * Francis Schaeffer * J. C. Ryle * James Montgomery Boice * R. C. Sproul * R. Kent Hughes * Joni Eareckson Tada Impressive, isn't it? Some of the specific topics of the reflections are Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the wise men, the wisemen's gifts, the Holy Spirit (he did, you remember, have a big role in the incarnation story), Christ's humility, his poverty, and what it means that he became flesh. As you might expect from any collection with pieces from various authors, some are easier to read than others. Some you'll whip through like a summer breeze, and for a few, you'll need your thinking cap. And as you also might expect, some readings are better than others. The selections are mostly (maybe always) excerpted from larger works, so when I used the word essay to describe them, that was not quite right. That they are parts of larger wholes shows more in some readings than others. If you are expecting tight packages with precise beginnings, middles, ends, and all strings knotted, you may be disappointed a few times as you read through this book. As I read, I marked two essays with an X, which is my indication that didn't like it or strongly disagreed with it, and one I marked with a question mark because I am unsure whether its whole premise stands. About half of the rest I enjoyed but didn't love, and I thought nine out of the twenty-two were quite wonderful. I won't be telling you which ones are which, since I read this book over a few weeks and have a hunch I didn't judge consistently over time. I will tell you that my favorite reading was the last one, A Christmas Longing, by Joni Eareckson Tada. Christmas, Joni says, is still a promise, even for those who live on our side of the first Advent. "Every Christmas is still a "turning of the page" until Jesus returns. Every December 25 marks another year that draws us closer to the fulfillment." Ah yes! We don't reflect on this often enough, do we? Christmas calls us to celebrate a glorious event of the past, but it is (and maybe more so) a call to celebrate what is to come. A