A Surprising God: Advent Devotions for an Uncertain Time

The world is slowly emerging from the worst global emergency in a century, and the myriad struggles of the contemporary moment―division, isolation, illness, and uncertainty―make living our faith a challenge. For Christians, a number of questions have gained new urgency: Where do we find hope when it seems in such short supply? Where are the signs of God's peace in this divided world? Where do we find a deeper sense of joy?

Thomas G. Long and Donyelle C. McCray remind us that these are the questions of Advent in their new daily devotional, A Surprising God. Mindful of the stresses of life today in a world torn apart by conflict, marked by political division, and in the midst of a global health crisis, these devotions for Advent and Christmas invite readers to honest reflection on the challenges of being people of faith in this moment. Long and McCray explore what it means to wait for our salvation, to be open to the surprising thing that God is about to do, and to find hope in God's choice of the small and the insignificant.

Thomas G. Long is Bandy Professor Emeritus of Preaching at Candler School of Theology, Emory University, and is one of the most popular preachers in the United States today. He is the author of many books, including The Witness of Preaching, Preaching and the Literary Forms of the Bible, and The Good Funeral (cowritten with Thomas Lynch).

Donyelle C. McCray is Associate Professor of Homiletics at Yale University Divinity School. Her scholarship focuses on African American preaching, sermon genre, and modes of authority. She is the author of The Censored Pulpit: Julian of Norwich as Preacher.