Daily readings for four months from a wide range of contributors within the Iona Community, including: John Bell, Ruth Burgess, Kathy Galloway, Peter Millar & Philip Newell. These prayers, songs, poems, articles and liturgies, which reflect the concerns of the Community, can be used for group or individual reflection and worship. They are intended to inspire positive action and change in our lives. Subjects covered include:

Hospitality and welcome • justice and peace • the environment • healing • social action • church renewal • worship • work • racial justice • women • community • pilgrimage • sexuality • ecumenism • interfaith dialogue • commitment • economic witness • youth.

These eagerly awaited commentaries have just arrived in stock. Wright challenges us to carry on the good news in the service of Jesus. Vivid, accessible writing.

From the life of Moses, Kushner gleans principles that can help us deal with the problems we encounter. We learn how to meet disappointments with faith in ourselves and the future, and how to respond to heartbreak with understanding rather than bitterness and despair. A book of spiritual wisdom. Also by Kushner:

• The Lord is My Shepherd. Random, US. $28.95

Abingdon Children’s Sermon Library Vol. 3. Brant D. Baker ed. 124pp. Abingdon, US. $29.99

A ready resource of children’s sermons that require little or no preparation and help take the panic out of preparing and leading the children’s sermon time. Here are creative and biblical-based sermons that can be adapted for various age group needs. This third volume includes:

• Themed sermons for all seasons

• A summer sermon series on taking a walk or hike

• The clever "Bethlehem Bakery" series for the Sundays of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany.

Also available: Volumes 1 and 2, $29.99 each.

Prayer. Joyce Rupp. 127pp Orbis, US. $20.50

Joyce Rupp visits Auckland and Dunedin in early March 2008. In this book, she opens up the scriptures that teach us how to pray and applies them to our daily lives. Spiritual reading at its best for Christians of all denominations.

Also available: Out of the Ordinary: book $27.50 & chants CD $35.00.

Choosing the Kingdom: Missional Preaching for the Household of God. John Addison Dally. 131pp. Alban Institute, US. $32.99

As a post-Christendom church re-orients itself toward the mission of God, what might preaching look like? If we’re truly living through one of the great sea changes in the history of the Christian faith, can preaching remain the same? Choosing the Kingdom is both a work of theology and a how-to guide for preachers who want to rethink both the form and the content of their preaching to move a congregation from maintenance to mission.

This book provides a hands-on approach to supervision, addressing key areas such as identifying a learning focus, covenanting, managing conflict, understanding and using power and authority, offering and receiving feedback and evaluation, and celebrating and ending the supervisory relationship.

Drawing on extensive experience, Johnson expands the practices of supervision to turn the whole congregation into a lifelong learning community.

How to Write a Good Sermon: A Working Model. Mark Tanner. 28pp Grove, UK. $12.95.

At its best, charismatic preaching grips us, challenges and inspires us and offers a message of transformation. But at its worst it is awful! How can we get it right? This exciting and practical study offers reflections from the author’s own experience, and sets out the key elements in preparing a prophetic message, rooted in God’s word and animated by the Spirit.

How to Worship with Data Projection. Ian Tarrant. 32pp. Grove, UK. $12.95

A clear introduction to the issues and practicalities of using PowerPoint and other software during worship. Covers font, colour and size of text, and using images, sound and video clips. Includes examples of how to use projection for different types of services, and how to replace printed service sheets with slides. A great starting point for ministers and worship leaders.

The Blogging Church: Sharing the Story of Your Church Through Blogs. Brian Bailey. 199pp. Jossey-Bass, US. $36.00

Bailey provides church leaders with a field manual to the why, what, and how of blogging in the local church. Filled with examples and practical advice, the author answers the key questions, that will inspire and equip your church to join the conversation.

Avoiding shellfish was easy. The stoning of adulterers proved a little more difficult…

Raised in a secular family but increasingly interested in the relevance of faith in our modern world, Jacobs decides to dive in head first and attempt to obey the Ten Commandments, as well as hundreds of less-publicised rules. The resulting spiritual journey is at once funny and profound, reverent and irreverent, personal and universal, and will make you see history's most influential book with new eyes.

Connect Bible Studies Series — Scripture Union, UK.

The New Zealand Hymnbook Trust has just published the sheet music for this important new hymn. The sheet music includes settings of both melody line and SATB with piano accompaniment. The text is in both English and Te Reo Maori - translated by Rangi McGarvey and adapted by Whirimako Black.Order your copies now.