Tag Archives: scott gunn

Forward Today: Getting our armor ready

Dear friends in Christ,

In a few weeks, we will begin our annual walk through the season of Advent. On the first Sunday of the season, we pray a lovely collect in which we ask God to give us grace to “put on the armor of light.” This phrase comes from Romans 13, which sets out the meaning as putting on Jesus Christ and not the ways of the world.

Every year I think I say the same thing: I’ve never needed Advent more than this year. With the world seemingly tearing itself apart at the seams, I need the anchor of Jesus Christ in my life. Maybe you do, too. Advent invites us to turn away from the evil and distraction of the world and toward the most important things: a life transformed by God’s grace and mercy.

Of course, you can observe Advent on your own and with your church. But you may want some support for yourself, and your church may want to provide some resources for groups and individuals. With Advent coming, now is the time to make a plan and get ready.

Forward Movement offers several ways to enrich your Advent experience. Families may especially enjoy the Advent calendar poster with cartoons by Jay Sidebotham, ready for you to add color and your personal touch. (They’re sold in bundles of 25.) Individuals or book groups may find this year’s new Advent devotional, Preparing the Way: Christian Practices for Advent, helping in navigating the seasons of Advent and Christmas with daily reflections and invitations to go deeper in Christian practice. We have plenty of other Advent resources, too. Order soon to make sure your Advent help arrives in time!

You don’t need to spend a penny to savor Advent. You can enjoy our free podcasts of Forward Day by Day or the Daily Office. But sometimes printed resources really hit the spot.

Part of my point today is to encourage the sale of the materials Forward Movement has printed. But my bigger point is to invite you to think about how you’ll enjoy the gift of Advent and to be ready to dive in to this season.

Jesus is our light. And I’m so grateful for this time to remember that and give thanks.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn's signature

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

P.S. With the arrival of Advent, we enter a new liturgical year. Year B draws extensively from the Gospel of Mark, so you might like to read A Journey with Mark to hear this gospel afresh.


More from our ministry:

Try our online Advent devotional: AdventWord

Get your calendars for Christmas as well: Christmas. It’s a Season

Pray beautiful collects from the Book of Common Prayer, Gift Edition

New on our blog: A review of Devotions for People Who Don’t Do Devotions

Forward Today: Discipleship made accessible

Dear friends in Christ,

Over the last few years, Forward Movement has been working with hundreds of congregations and tens of thousands of Episcopalians to understand spiritual growth. What works? What nurtures growth?

What we have learned is clear and unsurprising. If you want to grow spiritually and stay renewed as a follower of Jesus, there are three key practices:

  • Go to church every week and hear the Word proclaimed and receive Jesus Christ in the sacrament if possible.
  • Pray every day. Talk to God, and listen for God.
  • Read the Bible regularly. This reminds us of the great, cosmic story of God’s love for us and helps us find our place in it.

It’s not always easy, but it’s not complicated. For almost 90 years, Forward Movement has offered an accessible, inviting, affordable way to sustain daily discipleship. Forward Day by Day isn’t just a book of meditations. Rather, it’s an encouraging way to be nurtured in daily prayer and supported in reading scripture.

If you are a regular reader of Forward Day by Day, I hope you’ll urge someone else to give it a try. It’s available in print, as a podcast, as an app, and on our website. You can read in English or Adelante dìa a dìa in Spanish. And plenty more ways!

If you’ve never given it a try, please do. It might just be the thing that helps you in a habit of daily prayer and regular scripture.

Blessings on the way.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn's signature

Scott Gunn
Executive Director


More from our ministry:

Now shipping: Devotions for People who Don’t Do Devotions

Dive deeper into research on spiritual growth: Signs of Life

From Grow Christians:

Take common prayer with you with our lightweight BCP Gift Edition

Forward Today: We too have seen the Lord

Ted, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Dear friends in Christ,

This Saturday, the church keeps the major feast of Mary Magdalene. She is rightly commemorated with the same importance as the other apostles who knew Jesus. Mary Magdalene is, after all, the apostle to the apostles.

It was Mary Magdalene who proclaimed the glad news of Jesus’ resurrection to the disciples. She is the first person to share the most important news in the entire history of the world. Her message must have been startling: “I have seen the Lord.”

I could write thousands of words on what we can learn as individuals and as a church from the commemoration of Mary Magdalene and the assigned readings. Here are a few quick lessons:

  • The scriptures clearly affirm the effectiveness, the giftedness, and the importance of women leaders in the church.
  • Sometimes we will have to look outside the “official channels” for Good News. God didn’t choose one of the members of the inner circle—Peter, James, and John—for the task of proclaiming the resurrection. Sometimes the inner circle needs to be told what’s what!
  • Mary has her quite understandable doubts and confusion, but she’s ready to believe when she sees Jesus. We too may have our doubts and confusion, but let us never delay in proclaiming the Good News when we see Jesus. And, let’s be clear, we do see Jesus. He has promised that he is present when the church gathers, and he has promised that he is present in the sacraments he gave us. He is here. We have seen the Lord.

Sometimes we overthink it. We do well to emulate the apostle to the apostles. When we are unsure, let us rush to where to we might find Jesus and then be eager to run to others and say that we have seen him.

And let us be ready to look at how our church is organized and realize that the inner circle is often going to need a surprising herald of grace to speak the truth. And we can all urge our church leaders, especially our bishops, to see themselves as apostles with Good News to proclaim, not as middle managers with assets to keep.

There is Good News that we must urgently share! Sin is defeated. Death is put to flight. Jesus lives.

Can we all say it now with Mary Magdalene? “I have seen the Lord!”

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn's signature

Scott Gunn
Executive Director


More from our ministry:

Pray with Mary Magdalene and other women of scripture: Bible Women

From the Grow Christians archive: Mary Magdalene’s bold hope in the resurrection

Pre-order today: A Journey through Genesis

Meet Jesus in the sacraments: Gifts of God for the People of God

Forward Today: A year of growth

Dear friends in Christ,

Day-to-day life can be overwhelming. There’s too much to do. Keeping up with the news sometimes seems impossible. It might be tough to find inspiration amidst the noise and chaos.

At Forward Movement, we’ve spent lots of time pondering this. I’m delighted to say that we’ve just put thousands of copies of “Inspiration Throughout The Year” into the mail. You might receive one soon! If you want to check out our year-round guidebook of inspiration now, it’s online for you.

The idea is simple. If you’re not sure where to start, we’ve organized things so that you can find inspiration, whether it’s a Bible study or a prayer resource or something else, for every season. Are you a church leader? We have you covered.

Our little guide includes plenty of free online resources and courses, as well as books of all kinds. I hope it’s helpful. In just a few minutes, you can make a plan for inspiration through the fall, for Advent and Christmas, for the Epiphany season, for Lent, for Easter, and that gets you through a year in your journey with Jesus.

While our little guide might look like a catalog at first, our hope is that it’s much more: we hope you find ways to stay renewed in God’s love for you and to share that love with our world.

Blessings to you – today, this whole year, and forever.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn's signature

Scott Gunn
Executive Director


More from our ministry:

365 days of inspiration: Subscribe to Forward Day by Day

From Grow Christians: Summer at the Pool – Remembering Our Baptisms

Pre-order today: Devotions for People who Don’t Do Devotions

Forward Today: The gift of hospitality

Image by Oscar from Pixabay

Dear friends in Christ,

As you read this, I have gone on a bit of summer holiday. I love seeing new places, so we’ve gone to explore a couple of countries that we’ve never seen. Perhaps you will have some holiday time, too, as summer continues.

One of my favorite things to do when I’m away is visit churches on Sunday mornings. Usually I try to find Episcopal or Anglican churches, but I’ve visited many other denominations over the years. Of course, it’s always a joy to offer thanks and praise to Almighty God for his grace and mercy. And I enjoy seeing what feels familiar and what feels strange when worshiping away from home.

Some of my most memorable experiences in life are connected to receiving the gift of hospitality from churches when I was a first-time guest. People have been welcoming in all sorts of ways.

If you are traveling, I encourage you to visit churches. For one thing, setting aside the Lord’s Day for worship is the duty and delight of all Christians. But beyond that, in our seemingly divided world, it never fails to bring joy when people offer hospitality to me, a stranger, in the name of Jesus Christ. I always leave inspired to offer hospitality myself, when I have the opportunity to welcome strangers.

If you have a story to tell of receiving or giving hospitality in Christ’s name, please share it with us on social media. You can find and tag Forward Movement on Twitter or Facebook.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn's signature

Scott Gunn
Executive Director


More from our ministry:

From Grow Christians: Experiencing Thin Places as a Family

Pocket-sized inspiration for travel: Forward Day by Day

Create a spirit of hospitality at your church: Invite Welcome Connect

Welcome newcomers to the Prayer Book tradition: Inwardly Digest

 

Forward Today: Evangelism for everyone

Photo by Benjamin Davies on Unsplash

Dear friends in Christ,

Last weekend I was in Vancouver, BC to preach at Christ Church Cathedral. While I was there, I also offered a workshop on Saturday called Anglican Evangelism for Everyone. We had much lively conversation together.

I meant the title in two meanings. Evangelism is for everyone in that Jesus told us to make disciples of all nations. That is, there is no one with whom we should fail to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. But there’s the other angle, too. All of us Christians are meant to be evangelists.

To be a disciple of Jesus, we must choose to follow him. Evangelism must never be coercive or manipulative. While it’s true that there are some “bad” evangelists out there, that’s no reason for us to try to hoard our faith but fail to commend the hope that is within us.

The greatest gift we can give someone is to invite them to know Jesus, to know they are loved by him, and to love him back. I hope we’ll all proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ when we are able to do so.

Sometimes I hear people lament that fewer people find their way into our churches. Other times I observe people wishing for a more just, more compassionate world. The solution to both challenges is the same: we can invite others to know God’s gracious love for us and for the whole creation.

If we experience God’s grace and mercy, we simply won’t be able to contain ourselves from sharing that same grace and mercy with those around us. As Jesus commanded us, let us hasten to love others as he first loved us.

Evangelism is for everyone. Let’s get to it.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn's signature

Scott Gunn
Executive Director


More from our ministry:

Share the gift of Forward Day By Day: Order a Share It Forward pack

Foster evangelism in your church community: Invite Welcome Connect

Spiritual growth in individuals and churches: Signs of Life

Forward Today: Summer reading

Dear friends in Christ,

The summer solstice may not be here yet to make summer official, but to my reckoning, the arrival of June brings the beginning of unofficial summer.

For many folks, summer brings a different rhythm. We may have some vacation time, and many of us enjoy a slightly slower pace of life. If that sounds familiar, you may be wondering what to do as life gives you bit more breathing room.

In our go-go-go culture, there’s nothing wrong with slowing down and resting! Sleep more! Take naps! Goof off! Do nothing!

As for me, I hope to do more reading this summer. I’m always looking for summer reading suggestions, and maybe you are, too. There are loads of great books out there. As you might expect, I want to suggest a few books from Forward Movement that might make some good reading this summer.

If you’re spending more time reading the Bible (which is a great idea!), you might enjoy having a copy of Bible Women handy. We’ve recently updated this book, which includes every word spoken by women in the Bible. You’ll also get the back story on what she said and why.

Looking to refresh your spiritual disciplines? I wrote The Way of Love: A Practical Guide to Following Jesus as an encouraging companion for increased discipleship. Seek and You Will Find will help you find new prayer practices.

A Generous Beckoning may be helpful in your devotional life. Thinking of revitalizing your congregation? Check out Signs of Life: Nurturing Spiritual Growth in Your Church. Finally, if you want a challenging read about the church and its relationship to money, check out The Unjust Steward: Poverty, Wealth, and the Church Today.

However you choose to use the gift of this time, God bless you.

Yours faithfully,
Scott Gunn's signature
Scott Gunn
Executive Director

P.S. If you’re ordering books published by Forward Movement, it supports our ministry if you order directly from us. But if Amazon is how you need to get them, that works too.


More from our ministry:

From Grow Christians: Endings and New Beginnings

New from ChurchNext: Keeping Your Daily Devotions Fresh

Pray through the new season with us: prayer.forwardmovement.org

Forward Today: Fulfillment of the Lord’s promises

Dear friends in Christ,

By Deror avi – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Today we celebrate the feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We remember the time that St. Mary visited her cousin St. Elizabeth and St. John the Baptist leaped in St. Elizabeth’s womb. You can read the account in Luke 1:39-57.

The scene with these two strong women coming together after God had given each of them a miraculous pregnancy must have been something to behold. And Mary’s very presence was a blessing to the child Elizabeth was bearing. Such grace!

In light of their very palpable awareness of God’s power to act in the world, it’s inspiring to contemplate what it might have been like when Mary proclaimed her song, the Magnificat. It’s a song that extols God’s deeds in the past as a way of celebrating God’s promises for the future. Unlike the advice given by financial planners, when it comes to God’s power to act in the world, past performance is a guarantee of future returns!

This is a rich festival with many facets on which we might focus our devotion. Maybe you’ll ponder these strong women stepping forward in faith. Perhaps it’s Mary’s beautiful proclamation of God’s deeds of old. Or you might like to step back, imagine the scene, and give thanks for an almost incomprehensible abundance of God’s grace.

I invite you to join me in praying the collect for today:

Father in heaven, by your grace the virgin mother of your incarnate Son was blessed in bearing him, but still more blessed in keeping your word: Grant us who honor the exaltation of her lowliness to follow the example of her devotion to your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn's signature

Scott Gunn
Executive Director


More from our ministry:

Pray with Mary and Elizabeth in the new edition of Bible Women

Delve deeper into this Gospel narrative: A Journey with Luke

Reflect on God’s promises and invitations: A Generous Beckoning

From Grow Christians: Love your enemy. Love your neighbor.

Forward Today: Let’s not tame the Holy Spirit!

Photo by Adam Wilson on Unsplash

Dear friends in Christ,

We’re coming up on our annual celebration of the Day of Pentecost, when we give thanks for the gift of the Holy Spirit in the church.

My sense is that we have domesticated the Holy Spirit. When something happens in the church that we like, we may say, “The Holy Spirit was here.” And that may well be true! But if we read the scriptural accounts of the Spirit’s arrival, people are almost always pushed into places that might not have otherwise gone.

The Holy Spirit does not bless the status quo, but rather leads us to the places beyond our imagining to which God calls us.

So, by all means, let’s celebrate the gifts of the Spirit! And then let us open our hearts and our lives to be led to places we might fear to tread. Lord knows the church needs some shaking up!

Jesus has promised that the Spirit will lead us in all truth, but that requires us to get our own agendas out of the way. Let us pray:

Come, Holy Spirit, come. Take our minds and think through them. Take our lips and speak through them. Take our hearts and set them on fire with love for you.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn's signature

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

P.S. Forward Movement is looking for feedback so we can improve our ministry. If you haven’t already shared your thoughts with us, you can help us by filling out this questionnaire with your honest responses. Many thanks to all who have filled it out already!

As a thanks for your time and consideration, we’ll provide everyone who completes the questionnaire with a discount code for 15% off your next Forward Movement order. Thanks for your support!


More from our ministry:

Consider contemporary challenges of the church: Signs of Life

From Grow Christians: When the stakes seem high

Wealth and poverty through a surprising lens: The Unjust Steward

Where is the Spirit leading you? Discern with My Way of Love

Forward Today: We are not comfortless

Dear friends in Christ,

“Christ Ascension”, icon from Michurin, Bulgaria, 16th century (Wikimedia Commons)

Tomorrow we celebrate Ascension Day. Rather than getting hung up on the logistics of how Jesus returned to his Father in heaven, I hope we can focus on the truth that this day celebrates. In returning to heaven, Jesus has blessed his followers to carry on his ministry of reconciliation. He has also promised to intercede for us to his Father in heaven. We have an advocate!

I am especially heartened by Jesus’ promise that he will never abandon us. The NRSV translation we usually read in Episcopal churches says that Jesus will not leave us orphaned. Personally, I prefer the language of the Authorized Version (King James): “I will not leave you comfortless.”

Jesus says we’re never alone. He promised he would send the gift of the Holy Spirit, and he delivered on that promise on the Day of Pentecost. He has promised to abide with us always. You can read that promise in the very last verse of Matthew 28.

Isn’t that good news? We are not left on our own to face the challenges in our lives. Jesus hasn’t promised to make things easy for us—quite the opposite!—but he does tell us he’s with us in our triumphs and in our struggles.

That’s a beautiful truth to celebrate, and that’s part of what we celebrate tomorrow. Whatever else might happen in this earthly life, know that Jesus is for you. Always.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn's signature

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

P.S. Forward Movement is looking for feedback so we can improve our ministry. You can help us by filling out this survey with your honest responses: forwardmovement.org/survey.

As a thanks for your time and consideration, we’ll provide everyone who completes the questionnaire with a discount code for 15% off your next Forward Movement order. Thanks for your support!


More from our ministry:

Invitations from Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: A Generous Beckoning

Take prayer with you wherever you go with the portable BCP Gift Edition

Reflect on living a Jesus-centered life: The Way of Love Practical Guide

From the Grow Christians archive: Superman Jesus and the Ascension