The Sunday Refill – 7 Links for Your Weekend (11/12/16)

Seven up…

1) Hand-in-Hand to Bethlehem – An inspiring and practical reflection on ‘doing Christmas’ in such a way that the focus isn’t ‘all about the kids’, but rather is about kids and adults alike gazing together at Jesus Christ.

2) Renew: 5 Days in Romans chapter 8 with Timothy Keller – To whet your appetite for the release of one of their new volumes of personal Bible-reading notes, the Good Book Company are offering this five day email sampler on Romans chapter 8. Never really given Bible-reading notes a go? Check this out.

3) Don’t Settle for the Gospel of Self-Fulfillment – Helpful introductory article examining how self-fulfilment thinking can shape and distort Christianity.

4) Six Ways To Speed Clean to Clean-Enough for the Holidays [& The 1 Habit That Changes Your Morning & The Whole Day] – Because everyone needs some Ann Voskamp in their life.

5) Where Next for the Church of England on Same-sex Marriage? – It’s an important few days coming up for the CoE, with the College and House of Bishops meeting on Monday and Tuesday to discuss how to take the findings of the Bishops’ Reflection Group forward to General Synod. This is a helpful piece from Lee Gatiss exploring the options.

6) The “Right” to Be Spared from Guilt – Fascinating piece from The Washington Post reflecting on why France has banned a TV advert that celebrates children with Downs Syndrome.

7) The One True Light – free Advent song from The Crowded House’s new album – I love the idea of churches writing their own songs to give voice to what God is doing and teaching them. The Crowded House church have just released a set of songs that were born out of their own journey, but seek to serve the wider Church. This track, inspired by Tim Chester’s Advent book, can be downloaded for free at the moment. Lucy Mitchell, who penned the lyrics, describes the story behind the song here.

And on the Blog this Week:

19 Fantastic Christmas & Advent Videos for 2016