Let’s look at the historical details surrounding Jesus’s birth
We’re familiar with the characters, settings, and storyline of the birth of Jesus. But is the Christmas story we’ve come to know really how it all happened? The conversation is sure to surprise you!
Moment Of Grace
Every year, I enjoy listening to the BBC’s worldwide live radio broadcast of the Christmas Eve service from King’s College Chapel in Cambridge, England. This Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols combines Scripture readings, prayers, and choral music in a moving service of worship. One year, I was struck by the announcer’s description of the congregation leaving the magnificent chapel, saying they were “stepping out of this moment of grace and back into the real world.”
Last Tree on the Lot
by Haddon W. Robinson Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to be the last tree on the lot on Christmas Eve? People have passed you by because you were the wrong size or had gnarled branches or a poor shape or your needles were falling. Perhaps you feel like a rejected Christmas [...]
Last Tree on the Lot
by Haddon W. Robinson Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to be the last tree on the lot on Christmas Eve? People have passed you by because you were the wrong size or had gnarled branches or a poor shape or your needles were falling. Perhaps you feel like a rejected Christmas [...]
Plowshare Christmas
In his book Christmas 1945, Matthew Litt tells about the first peacetime Christmas celebration in the US after World War II. The New York Daily News alerted readers to expect a fleet of warships in New York Harbor: “Christmas Day will find a mighty armada, consisting of 4 battleships, 6 carriers, 7 cruisers, and 24 destroyers.” But instead of waging war, the military ships hosted 1,000 needy children.
Christmas Nightmare?
A Movie Review By Megan Low Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas is a 1993 American stop motion film. If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to see it, the plot is simple. Jack Skellington, the main character of the movie, lives in Halloween Town but is dissatisfied with his annual role as the Pumpkin King. [...]
Christmas Nightmare?
A Movie Review By Megan Low Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas is a 1993 American stop motion film. If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to see it, the plot is simple. Jack Skellington, the main character of the movie, lives in Halloween Town but is dissatisfied with his annual role as the Pumpkin King. [...]
The Heavens Declare
You don’t have to gaze long at the night sky to marvel at the wonder of God’s awe-inspiring handiwork. The massive stretch of galaxies and the cloudy mass of our own Milky Way remind us of the spectacular creation and the sustaining work of Jesus by whom it is all held together (Col. 1:16-17). It’s as though all of us have front-row seats in the theater of God’s creative power.
Let’s look at God’s unconventional view of how to get ahead
” ‘So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.’ ” Then Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.’ Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him. And He said to her, ‘What do you wish?’ She said to Him, ‘Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom.’ But Jesus answered and said, ‘You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?’ They said to Him, ‘We are able.’ So He said to them, ‘You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father.’ And when the ten heard i
Sweet Words
Scott had always admired the relationship between Ken and Phyllis, his wife’s parents. So he asked them one day what made their marriage work. Ken replied, “You need to keep it sweet!”
Wrapped up in Greed
by David C. Egner As followers of Jesus, we must be careful to guard our hearts from greed during this holiday season. In a society that has secularized Christmas, that’s not easy. USA Today reported the results of three polls signaling the erosion of the meaning of Christmas. In a survey of Americans, only one-third [...]
Wrapped up in Greed
by David C. Egner As followers of Jesus, we must be careful to guard our hearts from greed during this holiday season. In a society that has secularized Christmas, that’s not easy. USA Today reported the results of three polls signaling the erosion of the meaning of Christmas. In a survey of Americans, only one-third [...]
What does it take to be successful in God’s kingdom?
Thursday, December 20, 2012, Part 1
” ‘So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.’ ” Then Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.’ Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him. And He said to her, ‘What do you wish?’ She said to Him, ‘Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom.’ But Jesus answered and said, ‘You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?’ They said to Him, ‘We are able.’ So He said to them, ‘You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father.’ And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brothers. But Jesus called them to Himself and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those w
The Gift
We refer to Christmas as the season of giving. Most of us try hard to find gifts that friends and family will like, but not all gifts are equal. Some gifts come with a subtle hint, like an exercise machine or a book about weight loss. Other gifts are those that the giver really wants for himself. But the best gifts are those that come from someone who loves us and knows what we want.
