O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

With Be Thou My Vision, Jonny Gibson has given us one of the richest resources of Christian devotion for individuals, families, and churches in decades. Now, in O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, he has given us a second timeless treasure that can be revisited each Advent season and help us finish the devotional year in a spirit of exultation rather than exhaustion. He inspires our minds and hearts by telling the gospel story at Christmas with simplicity and clarity through beautiful liturgy. By leaning on the finest Christian thinkers and poets in history, Gibson helps to fire the imagination of our souls to repeat the sounding joy like it was the first time. Buy this book and read it to yourself, your spouse, your family, or your friends! Then buy one for your pastor so that it may refresh your corporate celebrations as well. It will make the beauty of Christ’s peace the overriding narrative during Advent this year—and every year.

With the flurry of activity, sometimes it’s hard even for us as believers to ‘put Christ back into Christmas.’ Expertly selected from our creedal, catechetical, and liturgical heritage, this treasure chest of focused meditation and praise helps us to revel in ‘the reason for the season.’ I plan on using it and giving it away, especially as a timely opportunity for evangelizing friends and family.

Rich liturgy offers us structure and words to stir our hearts and channel our worship of God. It orients us by the Scriptures and the riches of the Christian tradition so that our minds and hearts begin to run in biblical paths. My prayer is that God will use this book to help many hearts to prepare him room.

In this handsomely produced volume, Gibson has drawn upon the rich heritage of prayers and meditations from Christian leaders of the past, as well as biblical authors, to enhance our daily worship of God. While many Christians may be unaware of this legacy, the judicious choice of Christian creeds, collects, and meditations across twenty centuries, together with selected biblical texts, provides readers with a wealth of resources for their daily devotions from Advent to Epiphany. A rich array of wisdom and insight from our forebears provides a new landmark for Christians as they reflect, meditate, and offer praise to God for the gift of his incarnate Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Here is a daily liturgy for all who desire to grow in their enjoyment and worship of Christ. The prayers are robust, the meditations thoughtful, the confessions sincere, and the praise stirring. Any Christian would benefit from using it as a help in their private and family devotions.

This is a wonderful resource! It gives focus and articulation to the watchful waiting of Advent and, through its thoughtful selection of passages, a sense of the companionship of countless fellow travelers and faithful guides drawn from the entire history of the people of God in our journey through the season.