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New every morning is your love, great God of light, and all day long you are working for good in the world. Stir up in us desire to serve you, to live peacefully with our neighbors and all your creation, and to devote each day to your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

"A Liturgy for Morning Prayer," Upper Room Worshipbook

Used by permission from the Book of Common Worship, © 2018 Westminster John Knox Press. All rights reserved. This prayer appears in “A Liturgy for Morning Prayer” in Upper Room Worshipbook.

Blue Christmas

Devotions of Light in a Season of Darkness

Todd Outcalt • September 2018

BUY Print $14.99

BUY eBook (Available in ePub or Kindle) $9.99

The Advent and Christmas season is often associated with joy, love, generosity, and unity. But for many people, this time of year magnifies loneliness, anxiety, grief, and despair. While others are enjoying celebrations with their friends and families, those who are hurting often feel even more lost, abandoned, and alone than ever.

"Not all Christmases are white; some are blue," Todd Outcalt writes. Blue Christmas is a devotional book for the 28 days of Advent and Christmas Day. Each devotion includes a scripture selection, meditation, prayer, and suggested Advent action. The book also features additional prayers, a "Blue Christmas" worship service, and reflection questions.

In these honest devotions, readers will find their fears and realities named and brought into the light of God's love. They will be led to sit with their experiences, acknowledge their losses, and remember Jesus' promise "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."

Blue Christmas reminds us that all of our Christmases, even the darkest ones, can be filled with honesty and hope if we are first willing to sit in silence and bring our deepest fears to God.


Categories: Advent, Grief
Todd Outcalt is senior pastor of Calvary United Methodist Church in Brownsburg, Indiana. He is the author of more than 30 books.

ISBN: 978-0-8358-1787-5

Kindle ISBN: 978-0-8358-1788-2

EPub ISBN: 978-0-8358-1789-9

Imprint: Upper Room

Pub Date: September 2018

Trim Size: 5.5 in (w) x 8.5 in (h) x 0.234 in (d)

Page Count: 112

BISAC Categories: RELIGION / Holidays / Christmas & Advent

BISAC1: REL034020

BISAC2: REL012020

BISAC3: REL012120