Repeat the Sounding Joy
I received this book halfway through Advent. While we have been enjoying our first winter with our son, Linus, this season was not one that let us slow down. This book helped me refocus my gaze on Christ and bring it back to where it belongs.
Daily Advent
Repeat the Sounding Joy is a daily Advent devotional on Luke 1-2. The 24 readings are short and fill this 160-page paperback with Christmas truth.
Christopher Ash, who recently authored “Remaking a Broken World”, wants us to see the double-edged sword in the season of Advent: While Jesus first came as a humble baby, he will return as a King in glory.
Ash is an author and Writer-in-residence at Tyndale House, Cambridge. He helps explain the Biblical text and gives us clear points to understand. I found the chapters to be insightful and poignant.
Devotional Advent
Ash, with his with Carolyn, have four children and five grandchildren. I found this fact to be interesting because he writes as one who feels the emotional weight that Mary and Joseph must have felt as parents. Since I become a father this year, his words really hit home.
What surprised me the most about this devotional was the emphasis placed on the sad realities that often feel deeper while accompanying the Christmas season. For instance, Chapter 2, A Poignant Hope, looks at Luke 1:5-7 and brings us in close contact with the childlessness of Elizabeth.
Each section ends with a short hymn excerpt, a quick prayer, and space to journal. If you, like me, found yourself wanting more from this season, I highly recommend this book to get ready for the next.
Repeat the Sounding Joy
I must also mention that the book has a beautiful forest green cover, with the art and title embossed in brilliant gold. It’s the perfect book to bring out every Christmas and has the look of one that must be read.
But of course, an Advent devotional cannot end without a word of hope. The book ends looking at the young Jesus and how he will grow up, living a perfect life of obedience for us. Our eyes are drawn to Ash’s emphasis on Christ.
And while we celebrate Christ’s first coming, we wait with eager expectation and serious hope for his second coming. Which is how Christmas should be.
This book review was first published in December 2019. I received a media copy of Repeat the Sounding Joy and this is my honest review. Find more of my book reviews and follow Dive In, Dig Deep on Instagram - my account dedicated to Bibles and books to see the beauty of the Bible and the role of reading in the Christian life. To read all of my book reviews and to receive all of the free eBooks I find on the web, subscribe to my free newsletter.