Devotional

Jody Neufeld shares from her heart “ordinary moments with an extraordinary God.” Upon her retirement from nursing and then beginning into ministry with her husband Henry, a Biblical teacher, Jody felt the Lord urging her to share a daily devotion with people she knew still in an outside workplace. “I know that when I was working in a hospital or a doctor’s office or in homes delivering hospice care, I wish someone had sent me an email devotion each morning that would give me a focus and a lesson for the day.” This ministry went from 12 people to hundreds and continues today. This weekly devotion book is made up of 52 devotions with questions or suggestions for discussion that will work well with small groups. Used in conjunction with the forthcoming Energion Publications book, When 3 to 8 Gather, this is an excellent way to ‘jump start’ a small group with diverse members or given an established group a new perspective.

How to use this book:

• Devotional study for prayer groups–economical for group purchase
• Occasional devotions for committee or social meetings

Small Group Resource

Energion Publications recommends this book as a small group resource.

Along Bible Paths: Summer Devotions grew out of the daily devotional e-mail list that Jody Neufeld began in 1999 to encourage others to begin their day with the Lord. Many continue to enjoy these thoughts in their e-mail every weekday morning, or via the Jody’s Devotionals blog. This book is a collection organized for the summer. We hope many more will enjoy these in printed form.

Jody Neufeld, now in a “new season” of her life as she is retired from nursing and is working in publishing full-time in partnership with her husband, Henry. “I’m not sure God agrees with the concept of retirement. He seems to be more about ‘seasons’ and giving us opportunities to serve in His Kingdom all the days of our lives.” She is the author of Daily Devotions of Ordinary People-Extraordinary God and

Grief: Finding the Candle of Light. Jody and Henry have three children: Janet and her husband, Chris Lister, who are in ministry in Ft. Worth,Texas, twin brother, John Webb, a former MLB pitcher, lives with his family in Phoenix, AZ, and James Webb, who loved to lead praise and worship and his work in marching band, is now home with Jesus after battling cancer for five years. They also have five grandchildren: Alex, Anna, Jaxon, Jamie, and Ashton.

Owner of Energion Publications, Henry Neufeld is also the editor of the Participatory Study Series. He can be followed on deepbiblestudy.net, henrysthreads.com, and jevlir.com. Henry has BA and MA degrees in Biblical Languages, and uses his skills in Biblical studies to help lay people learn to better understand the Bible . He is also the author of What’s in a Version?,When People Speak for God, and eight other books. He and Jody live near Pensacola, Florida.

ISBN10: 1-893729-83-4

ISBN13: 978-1-893729-83-4

Pages: 164

…but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. — Hebrews 10:25 (NIV)

O LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble;
You will strengthen [encourage] their heart, You will incline Your ear
To vindicate the orphan and the oppressed,
So that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror. — Psalm 10:17 (NIV)

It has been said that we need at least ten times as many encouragers as any other gifting in the Body of Jesus Christ. In a world that sets usually unatainable and even inappropriate standards and tells us we can “have it all,” we need encouragers who remind us of the true standards of God. We need to remember His promises for our lives. We need to remember His extravagant love.

Diane Milnes is such an encourager. She speaks from her heart and her experience as she has traveled the globe encouraging God’s people with her infectious laugh, hugs, and tears. A few minutes in her “circle of love” will have you walking away with a skip in your step and a leap in your spirit.

Milnes, Diane

Diane Milnes is a caregiver. Literally. She is a hands-on giver of care to those who are ill and infirmed. She has volunteered for many mission trips in the Haiti, Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, the United States, Hungary, and the Ukraine. She is a long time volunteer with Teen Missions International. Diane currently lives in Florida. She has two children and two beautiful grand-children.

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What goes on in the back of clergy folks’ heads that we wish we could talk about? And what do we talk about with no holds barred? In each chapter of this book, Groff offers a spiritual spin on an issue in ministry normally viewed as a distraction. He shows real life ways that a barrier can become a bridge to deepening spiritual life and vocation. A paragraph ends with a question, inviting the reader to pause . . . and ponder. Each chapter ends with a spiritual practice and questions for reflection. Here is ideal grist for intergenerational study groups for ministers, members, and seekers.

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“Not Your Everyday Devotional for Every Day” says author, Greg May. A self-proclaimed fisherman and forgiven sinner, Greg has spent many years leading and discipling through his real and unpretentious example.

Greg May’s love for fishing, family, and gatherings of people has led him to create The Fishin’ Hole in his garage where Bible study, big-screen sports events, and celebrations welcome Christian believers and non-believers alike. And now in Crewed Awakening, Greg shares what he is learning in his own personal time with the Jesus. “I love family. I like fishing. I try to follow Jesus. I mess up some. But He has enough grace, mercy and love to cover my mess. Now that’s my kind of God!”

Jody Neufeld shares from her heart “ordinary moments with an Extraordinary God”. Upon her retirement from nursing and into ministry with her husband Henry, a Bible teacher, Jody felt the Lord urging her to share a daily devotion with people she knew still in an outside workplace. “I know that when I was working in a hospital or a doctor’s office or in homes delivering hospice care, I wish someone had sent me an email devotion each morning that would give me a focus and a lesson for the day.” This ministry went from 12 people to hundreds and continues today. This book is collected from over two years of her devotions.

How to use this book:

• Daily personal devotions
• Sermon ideas
• Prayer group devotions

Package of three books for devotional study and prayer:

• Daily Devotions of Ordinary People – Extraordinary God
• Directed Paths
• I Want to Pray!

Discount over individual purchase is 30%!

Directed Paths will challenge your faith and your Determination to serve God while giving you new strength and encouragement. Each story reflects a Biblical principle or promise. Mrs. Neufeld openly shares her prayers and God’s answers.

We at Energion Publications offer this book to you in the hope that as God directs your paths you will hear and be open to His direction.

Use this book for:

• Encouraging stories to build your faith
• Devotions, with each story headed by a relevant scripture
• Sermon or lesson illustrations, for topics on missions, faith, or prayer

Soup Kitchen for the Soul – Renee Crosby ($12.99) “While serving in the soup kitchen, God revealed himself to me in a profound and miraculous way. It was in restudying the scriptures with this new heart knowledge of God that allowed me to see a message of a mission for His people that we lack a connection with today.” – Renee Crosby

Directed Paths – Myrtle Neufeld ($7.99) Giving you new strength and encouragement, each story reflects a Biblical principle or promise. Mrs. Neufeld openly shares her prayers and God’s answers.

Prayer Trilogy – Kimberly Gordon ($9.99) Set in the late 1800′s Colorado, this is the story of the Jenkins and Davidson families, one nearly starving on their farm and the other a prosperous business family in the city of Denver. Neither family is perfect but both rely on the power and comfort of prayer to pull them through times of struggle and heartache. The three related stories in this book follow the history of the two families until the surprising and encouraging conclusion.

Victim No More! – Shauna Hyde ($12.99) A Colorado native, Shauna Hyde grew up with three brothers, no sisters, and a father who was a pastor of a local community church. She was taught that women married for life and no woman she knew was a pastor. This ‘normal’ crashed around her when her first husband left her with a newborn baby to raise alone. Her second husband confessed his unfaithfulness; again her world hit a bruising reality wall despite her efforts to be the ‘best little wife’. Shauna started studying karate and began to see a correlation between the two disciplines that opened her soul to be empowered by the grace of God. God, in turn, taught her and used her to empower others.

Disciples: Jesus with Us – Rev. Riley Richardson & Henry E. Neufeld ($7.99) A basic book on discipleship, with the emphasis on “basic.” It is for every pastor (or anyone who has witnessed to someone for Jesus) who has wondered just what he/she can give a new Christian, a new member, or someone who is struggling with the Christian walk that will help guide them through those first steps of discipleship.

I Want to Pray – Rev. Perry Dalton & Henry E. Neufeld ($7.99) Each chapter includes questions for thought and discussion and exercises to help you get personally involved in prayer. Ideal for group study and church based classes, clear and practical.

52 Weeks of Ordinary People – Extraordinary God – Jody Neufeld ($7.99) This weekly devotion book is made up of 52 devotions with questions or suggestions for discussion that will work well with small groups.

We carry our purses everywhere. We don’t leave home without them. They are as diverse and unique as we are. A purse can truly reflect who we are. Is it smooth, black leather or bold pink flowers? Does it hang from our arm or is slung over our back or strapped around our waist?

What if we were given a purse by Jesus Himself full of whatever we would need for the day and season of life? How much would it cost? Who could afford it? It’s free because it is given to us, the Bride, by our Groom, Jesus Christ. Let’s see what Jesus has given – It’s in the Bag!

Soup Kitchen for the Soul combines testimony with a challenging scriptural foundation and follows it with specific guidance on how you can get out of your church and make a difference in your community. Each chapter builds on a Bible story and the author’s personal experience, and ends with thought questions, and then action questions. References include specific ways in which you can take action on what you have been studying in the book.

This book is suitable for personal or small group study, or could be used effectively by an entire church to transform their ministry.

In the introduction Crosby says: “Upon entering Seminary, I was required to serve in the community and begrudgingly accepted my assignment, choosing to serve in a soup kitchen. While serving in the soup kitchen, God revealed himself to me in a profound and miraculous way. It was in restudying the scriptures with this new heart knowledge of God that allowed me to see a message of a mission for His people that we lack a connection with today. I began asking, ‘What if … What if I’m not the only one who doesn’t understand the whole mission God has planned for us? What exactly are we supposed to be doing? Where in the Bible can we find directives on our missions for God? What if I wrote a book about radically new old ways of doing the gospel?’”

Soup Kitchen for the Soul is that book.

The Character of Our Discontent grew out of the author’s conviction that pastors do not preach enough about the Old Testament. The result is 19 chapters, each of which represents a sermon on an Old Testament character. These sermons are lively, fast paced, and practical yet are rooted in sound scholarship and are examples of the homiletical art.

Christians who would like to learn how the Old Testament can enlighten and guide their Christian walk, and pastors who would like to learn how to preach more effectively from the Old Testament will both find these sermons an invaluable aid.

While Dr. Bevere specializes in the New Testament and theology, he believes that pastors (and academics as well) can preach and teach effectively outside their areas of specialty. Indeed, they must, and this teaching can enrich their own learning and the fields of study into which they venture.

The Character of Our Discontent is an adventure in preaching and it invites us into the adventure of living in relationship with God, an adventure that has similar characteristics whether we are learning about God’s call to Abraham or how a call to mission in Africa came to a contemporary English teacher nearing retirement.

The cross has always been a scandal and sometimes a source of ridicule. At the same time, it is the central symbol of Christianity. Author William Powell Tuck believes that the cross has never been more relevant than it is today. It may be difficult to preach the cross, but it is the duty of Christians to do so. “As long as the church lifts up a hollow, aluminum foil cross instead of a heavy wooden cross, we will always be guilty of heresy in the message we present to the world,” he says.

In the pages of this book you will start by looking the cross as the central symbol of the gospel, a symbol that you cannot forget if you want to preach and live an authentic gospel. From there you will look at how the cross illuminates our understanding of God, and then to the way it guides the way we will teach and serve.

The cross is truly a difficult subject to preach, both because we stand amazed at what it represents and because of what it calls for each of us to do. But however difficult it is, we must not avoid it. Only if we become the church under the cross will we be the genuine body of Christ.

The Cross. The central symbol of the Christian faith. “Can a church be an authentic Church and not focus on the cross?” William Powell Tuck began answering that question in his book, The Church Under the Cross, and now he leads us into the second part of his answer in his new book, The Last Words from the Cross.

“The words of our Lord on the cross have become very memorable. These words of Jesus have been designated as the seven last words. They are, of course, more than individual words. They are really sentences or fragments of sentences. One of these seven words is found in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. Three of them are found in the Gospel of Luke, and three are recorded in John. No one gospel contains all of them. But, to me, that is a way of authenticating the gospels. Each writer drew on what he remembered or considered most important in those moments or what he had heard from others who shared their experiences.” says Tuck.

A study of these words gives us, His disciples, a deeper insight into Jesus’ thoughts through suffering, facing death, and what His death meant to Him as He met our need for salvation. Rev Tuck further says, “These words reveal his personal agony, his concern for others, his forgiving spirit, his physical suffering, his ultimate trust and faithfulness in the One he had proclaimed. Even in his moments of forsakenness he still resisted the temptation to turn away ultimately from God’s will or deny the One who led him to this shameful death as he identifies with sinners.”

The Sacred Journey is a collection of insights, thoughts, and personal experiences centered on and emanating from the Beatitudes of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount.

Within its pages we are invited to consider the radical love with which God pursues His creation. God in Jesus Christ was determined to make a way for sinners to be forgiven at the Cross. While man had sinned and caused a divide between himself and His creator, God has insisted that those who receive the grace and mercy offered in His Son shall be forgiven of sin and reconciled unto God in eternally secure love.

God in salvation is singly focused on reconciling all who will place their trust, their faith, and their hope in that sacrifice. It is not we who make our way to God through good works, right belief, perfectly ordered creedal statements, or any other edifice of human composition. It is God who pursues us heatedly to receive the radical beauty of the violence of the Cross.

God has pursued, forgiven, and reconciled us unto Himself. Through the wrath which was poured out upon Jesus, mercy was poured out on us. Salvation is purely the work of God’s mercy and grace. We who have received Him have done so by faith when we have responded to the pull of God on our hearts. Grace rests upon us because God has loved us. What, in response to such a violent grace, should our reply to God be?

Surber, Christopher D

Chris Surber is pastor of the First Congregational Church in Peru, IL. With a B. S. degree in Religion from Liberty University and Master of Divinity from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary (Cum Laude), Rev. Surber has a passion for preaching and teaching the Bible with a focus on discipleship, evangelism, and outreach. The Sacred Journey is Rev. Surber’s second publication, following Sweet Potatoes in my Coffee (2008). Rev. Surber and his wife, Christina, have three sons and a daughter.

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This little book is a compilation of Bible verses and other quotations that will encourage and edify you. Scriptures are divided into headings on topics such as “God is Seeking for Us,” “The Power of His Love,” “The Creative Word,” “Self on the Cross” and many more.

The compiler suggests you follow up on the scriptures found here by using a Bible and concordance to search out these topics more deeply.

Color pictures highlight the topics through the book.