My Favorite Things: The Journey

We did an excellent study for Advent in our Sunday school class this year (I say Advent, but we started it mid-November to be able to get it all in)! It was The Journey by Adam Hamilton. It was a DVD + weekly reading instead of our more normal DVD-driven studies.

There is also an Advent devotional that goes with it, which I'm putting on my list for Christmas 2013! 

Stephen and I both really enjoyed this study. It delves into the traditional Christmas story and tries to help you really understand what was going on and also how that relates to you today. Some of the topics Hamilton tackles include

• How old was Mary? 
• How old was Joseph?
• Why did she have to give birth in a stable?
• Who were the angels that visited Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds?
• When did the Wise Men arrive?

This list really doesn't do the book justice. The Christmas story becomes so much more real when you consider how it really may have played out in all its fullness. The DVD was filmed in the Holy Land as Hamilton takes you on a tour of the places where the story took place.

We enjoyed this study so much that the class is planning to do Hamilton's Easter study: 24 Hours That Changed the World. There's also a Lenten devotional book that I might get to go along with it! Stephen even got a different Adam Hamilton under the Christmas tree this year!