I’m delighted to announce that BRF have chosen my book, Treasures in Straw: Exploring the griefs and gifts of the Christmas story, to be their Advent book of the year.
I wrote Treasures in Straw to be a resource for the whole church.
Resources
For pastors:
Treasures in Straw offers a way to include both those who love Christmas and those who dread it when preaching in Advent. There are also five themes to explore within the Advent story that lend themselves to sermon series.
For more on this, please watch this 20 minute video I made with Preach Magazine: How to preach Christmas to those who dread it.
For small group leaders:
There is an accompanying full small group guide for 5 small group sessions, with discussion questions, a passage to explore, and music to play. On the Big Church Read, you can also find 5-8 minute videos to play in your small group to introduce the topic for that week, making it a full package for small group delivery.
Click here for the videos on The Big Church Read – Treasures in Straw.
For individuals:
Treasures in Straw is the perfect devotional to take you from Advent right through to epiphany, combining biblical insight and fresh perspective with contemporary stories of Christians who’ve found God in hard times. Each day has a Bible passage, a thought-provoking reflection, questions to think about, and a prayer or action to take. Whether you dread Christmas or love it, this is the book for you.
Here’s a 2 minute video from the Big Church Read in which I introduce the book.
The book
For some, Christmas is a magical time. For others, it can be painful, and the usual tinselled tellings of the Christmas story feel unbearably saccharine.
Yet in that first Christmas, all of life is there – disgrace and honour, danger and protection, uncertainty and hope, temptation and tyranny, sorrow and celebration.
With thoughtful research, pastoral insight, and honest stories, Treasures in Straw explores the themes of loss and blessing throughout the nativity. Against a darker backdrop, we see with greater clarity God’s unexpected generosity and our unshakeable blessings. However you feel about Christmas, this book will leave you with fresh hope, deeper understanding, and genuine joy in living with Christ.
Praise for Treasures in Straw:
‘Finally, an Advent book for all of us…’ – Amy Boucher Pye
‘Tanya Marlow has written a rare and beautiful book…’ – Rev Dr Timothy Goode
‘I look forward to returning to this book each Advent…’ – Naomi Hutchison
‘This is the Christmas devotional that was waiting to be written…’ – Rev Dr Trystan Owain Hughes
‘What a gift this book is…’ – Cathy Madavan
‘Treasures in Straw is a kind and wise friend…’ – Rachael Newham
‘A truly stunning and thought-provoking read…’ – Rev Dr Emma Pennington
‘The perfect way to enter the Advent Season…’ – Rev Will Van der Hart
‘This is the kind of devotional writing I need…’ – Sheridan Voysey
‘Treasures in Straw is a beautiful book to read and share with others…’ – April Yamasaki
‘A genuinely valuable devotional book for Advent and Christmas-tide…’ – Rev Dr Jenni Williams
Buy the book
Treasures in Straw is available in paperback from BRF themselves and all good Christian bookshops (including St Andrews and Eden) in the UK. (Eden offers discounts on bulk buys).
It’s also available as an ebook from BRF through their own link, and on Kindle from Amazon UK.
In the US, it’s available from Christianbook.com.
Both paperback and ebook are available in the US, UK and worldwide from Amazon.
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