A Radiant Birth : Advent Readings for a Bright Season

"At the birth of Jesus, an event of cosmic significance by which we humans still mark our calendars, the invisible and visible worlds come together." --Philip Yancey

Rediscover the Wonder of Christ's Birth with 42 Days of Reflection

Prepare your heart and spirit for the Advent season with A Radiant Birth, an inspiring anthology written by the members of the Chrysostom Society. This collection offers six weeks of deeply reflective readings, guiding you through the seasons from the first Sunday of Advent through the twelfth day of Christmas.

Readings in this volume include:

• In a Mad Mad World, God Welcomes our Merrymaking by Philip Yancey
• Star by Eugene Peterson
• Into the Darkest Hour by Madeleine L'Engle
• Sermon on the Nativity by St. John Chrysostom
• A Blessing for the New Baby by Luci Shaw
• A Welcome-Unwelcome Traveler in Narnia by Matthew Dickerson, and many more

This volume draws its heart from the words of St. John Chrysostom, who preached the earliest preserved Christmas sermon, "Behold a new and wonderful mystery!" Through these pages, the Christian literary voices of the Chrysostom Society prepare readers in Advent and Christmastide as seasons radiant with anticipation and divine glory.

In A Radiant Birth, you'll find

• Forty-Two Days of Readings - Immerse yourself in forty-two moving reflections, thoughtfully curated to guide you daily from Advent to Epiphany.
• Deeply Rooted Inspiration - Journey through history as contributors both ancient and modern explore the timeless essence of Christ's birth.
• A Call to Renewed Wonder - Enter this sacred season slowly and deliberately, allowing familiar stories to astonish you and become wondrous once again.
• Transformative Purpose - Discover how Christ's birth in Bethlehem mirrors His birth within us, empowering Christians to bear His presence into the world.

A Radiant Birth is beautifully crafted for Christians seeking to deepen their spiritual lives during Advent and Christmas. It is particularly meaningful for those wishing to connect with the rhythm of the church calendar, center their hearts on Christ, and reflect on the profound mystery of His incarnation.

Jesus is born in Bethlehem, but He is also born in us, that ⁠we might bear his presence and impart his goodness to the world. Through A Radiant Birth, experience Advent as a time of joy, waiting, and wonder, as you are drawn once more into the story of His light entering into your life and into the world.

Leslie Leyland Fields is the award-winning author of twelve books, the founder of Your Story Matters Ministry, and an international teacher and speaker on matters of faith and culture. When not traveling, she lives on two islands in Alaska, where she has worked in commercial fishing with her family and where she leads the Harvester Island Writers' Workshop.

Paul J. Willis, now retired, served for many years as professor of English at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California. He has published seven collections of poetry, the most recent of which is Somewhere to Follow. He is also the author of an eco-fantasy novel The Alpine Tales, the young-adult novel All in a Garden Green, and the essay collections Bright Shoots of Everlastingness and To Build a Trail. He serves as president of the Chrysostom Society.

Richard J. Foster (DThP, Fuller Theological Seminary) is founder of Renovaré in Denver, Colorado. He is the author of many books, including Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth, which has sold over two million copies worldwide, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home, Freedom of Simplicity: Finding Harmony in a Complex World, and coauthor (with Gayle Beebe) of Longing for God: Seven Paths of Christian Devotion.

Luci Shaw is a poet, an editor, a retreat leader, a lecturer, and the author of forty books, including Thumbprint in the Clay, The Adventure of Ascent, and The Genesis of It All. Luci and her husband live in Bellingham, Washington, where she enjoys sailing, tent camping, knitting, gardening, and wilderness photography.

Philip Yancey has written twenty-five books. Early on he crafted best-selling books such as Disappointment with God and Where Is God When It Hurts? while also editing The Student Bible. More recently, he has explored central issues of the Christian faith, penning award-winning titles such as The Jesus I Never Knew, What's So Amazing About Grace?, and Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? Yancey's books have garnered thirteen Gold Medallion Awards from Christian publishers and booksellers. He currently has more than fifteen million books in print, published in over forty languages worldwide. Yancey worked as a journalist in Chicago for some twenty years, editing the youth magazine Campus Life while also writing for a wide variety of magazines including Reader's Digest, Saturday Evening Post, National Wildlife, and Christianity Today. He recently released his memoir, Where the Light Fell.