Living the Christian Year: Time to Inhabit the Story of God

I don't know why I haven't shared my review of this book sooner. I've owned the book since it was first published in August of 2009 (actually, I bought it from Amazon.com in mid-September 2009), but I bought it almost as soon as it was available. The reason I take the time to write the review now is because of the cumulative effect and influence this book, along with a few others, has had with shaping my Christian spirituality.Although I have espoused Christian ideals most of my life, my church tradition has never practiced the church calendar (Liturgical Year) faithfully; consequently, my first real introduction to the liturgical calendar was back in 2007 when I purchased a copy of Thomas Oden's Ancient Christian Devotional. Following this first elementary introduction and remedial practice year (for me), I started to self-educate and learn more about this ancient discipline of living the Christian year.When 2009 arrived, and I started my search for Liturgical Year devotional material and other resources I could use in my education, Living the Christian Year by Bobby Gross appeared near the top of my Amazon search. I appreciated and respected a number of the voices offering endorsements for this book, so I purchased it. I can report that this has become one of my favorite book purchases from the past three years.Bobby calls this book an introduction and devotional guide and this is an honest and faithful representation of the book. Those words; however, do not share the richness and overflowing experience that Living the Christian Year offers to the person who hungers for a deeper and more meaningful understanding to the Story of God lived out daily in their life throughout the year.There are a total of eight chapters in Living the Christian Year. The first chapter serves as an introduction to the Christian year and an overview of the practices observed throughout the year. Following the introduction chapter, the book is sectioned into three parts which outline the primary movements through the Christian year. Part one is the Cycle of Light and teaches the seasons of observances of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany. Part two is the Cycle of Life and the observances of Lent, The Paschal Triduum, and Easter. Part three concludes the seasons with an explanation on the observance of Ordinary Time. As mentioned earlier, the book is much, much more than knowledge teaching about this discipline. There are 52-wks of devotional reading, exercises, and prayers to assist the reader-observer through the practice of living out the Christian Year. I used the book for both purposes; (1) as a learning tool, (2) as a devotional help. I cannot express enough how blessed I was with this book as my companion through the 2009-2010 Christian Year.The years that have followed my first reading of this most excellent devotional guide, has found me pulling it from my library shelf again and again. Such is the case and the impetus for this review. We are approaching the 2012-2013 Christian New Year and I am preparing for what is now a regular discipline in my life... living, observing, and practicing the Christian Year as a means of staying connected to the Universal Church and the God who reigns over it.This truly is a fabulous and beautiful resource for Living the Christian Year. It has become a staple in the list of growing resources I have for practicing this ancient and rich Christian discipline. I continue to recommend this writing as one of my top resources for learning about the Christian Year.

I bought this book in August 2009 after reading Scot McKnight's "Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read Your Bible," and after spending a year in Phyllis Tickle's Divine Hours boo,ks for praying the seasons. Coming from a Baptist background it was interesting and a little difficult at first, to grasp the beauty of set readings.By the time I bought this book I was two years into my study and, as an artist I decided to sketch my experience with this book. It ended up being a book unto itself. Liturgical Sketches. Now I am trying to figure out what to do with it and how to market it. My strength is not marketing or figuring out how to get a book published. Oh well. Maybe someday it will happen.This is a good book. I enjoyed the prayers, four simple prayers for each week. I read the history of the seasons and found that I know more about the why than a lot of people who grew up in this tradition. I did not read many of the author's explanations of the scripture as I did not want his interpretation to affect my art. I would read the passage, wait and then put it on paper. The final sketch incorporated some aspect of each passage. The drawings are a little raw and that is why I call them sketches. I intended it to be an adult bible study coloring book.If you are new to this traditionnthis is a good book.

I am truly grateful for this book! Thank you for introducing this life long, low-church protestant to the beauty and depth of the liturgical calendar. Since reading this book in 2016, it has become my constant companion. Our whole family began to celebrate the liturgical seasons and it radically transformed our spiritual lives. Since falling in love with living the "Christian Year," I started to hunger for more and fell in love with liturgical services and have now found a world wide community of believers to live out the spiritual church seasons together! THANK YOU!

Well written and carefully documented account of the origins and meaning of the Christian year, significant because numbers of persons who have been raised on contemporary Christian worship are exploring liturgical churches which are based on the Christian year. This book walks you through the year in depth. The author spent years in the evangelical Protestant contemporary movement before discovering the richness inherent in the whole history of the church, not just the church of the "now" which has it's place, but isn't the whole story!

I purchased this book at the beginning of this year (2017) because I wanted to learn more about Epiphany. I was absolutely enthralled by the insights, depth, and clarity of the writing. After I read the section on Epiphany I continued using the book for the various other seasons of the church calendar. I do not come from a liturgical background, so my experience of these seasons has been somewhat limited. This book is written in such a way that an "outsider" can experience and explore the various seasons with new appreciation. I am currently reading the section on the Christmas season, and loving it. I plan to read it again in 2018, and perhaps for several years to come.

As an Anglican of 50 years I am learning new things about the seasons of the church. I used it as a devotional through Lent and found it to be transformational in some ways. I have shared it with others in my church who have not attended the Anglican church for very long. I think it would give them meaningful insight as they worship and connect with God, the Father, God, the Son, and God, the Holy Spirit.

Having decided - just for the heck of it and to challenge myself - to undertake a bible study course online, I bought this book to accompany my studies as the vlogger recommended we do so. It is very useful in explaining in a little more detail (easy to understand) what the lessons of the bible are teaching us and it's really helping not just my understanding but my enjoyment of the study as a whole.

Do It, Just do it. Then you will Experience God's blessings through your simple obedience to His call in Your Life.