This innkeeper made a special place for Baby Jesus. The story of the birth of Jesus took an unexpected twist during a pageant at a community church in Argentina one Christmas. Doug Ruffle, Associate Executive Director of New Church Starts (Path 1) was serving as a missionary there. He recounts the story which captures the true meaning of Christmas in his book, A Missionary Mindset Missionary Mindset: What Church Leaders Need to Know to Reach Their Community, published by Discipleship Resources. Read how the innkeeper made room for the Christ child in this excerpt at http://bit.ly/2kaS6nF. Order the book from Upper Room Books at http://bit.ly/1rgelK6.

Help young people learn about their faith and sexuality. Our sexuality is a good gift from God, a part of who we are and a challenge our church is currently struggling with. Implement a sexuality ministry with your young people using veteran youth minister Nate Juvinall’s Guide to Implementing a Sexuality Program for Youth. Download a copy at http://bit.ly/2B2FJnY. Find other resources about faith and sex from Young People’s Ministries at http://bit.ly/2nIegma. 

Follow a daily guide for prayer and scripture reading. A perennial favorite for individuals or small groups, A Disciple’s Journal 2018 by Steven Manskar provides a pattern of daily prayer and scripture reading for disciples who want to grow in holiness of heart and life. The journal invites readers into a Wesleyan way of following Jesus Christ with inspirational quotes from John Wesley, excerpts from Wesley's sermons, hymns from Charles Wesley, orders for prayer in the morning and evening, prayers for each day of the week and more. Group discounts are available at http://bit.ly/2BhfzOY.  

Get your church stewardship and finance ready for 2018. Start the new year with the webinar, “Stewardship and Finance: Getting It Right at the Starting Line” on Jan.4 at 6:30 pm CST. The webinar will focus on helping new members of the stewardship team, finance committee, church council and staff leadership get started on the right foot as they deal with people’s giving. Register on the Discipleship Ministries website at http://bit.ly/2AJoMi5.

Do you hunger for a deep spiritual experience? The Academy for Spiritual Formation will launch two separate Two-Year Academy communities starting in 2018. One in Danville, California, will begin July 29, and the other near Birmingham, Alabama, will begin Aug. 27. Sustain your ministry by giving yourself the gift of renewal, a place where you will find time to pray, reflect, worship and learn. To learn more about all of The Academy events and to register, go to http://academy.upperroom.org.