Posts Tagged ‘Christmas’
Only Three Words By R. Scott Rodin
The Words That Change Everything Many words and phrases carry Christmas messages. Whether sacred or secular, they conjure memories from the whimsical to the holy. The Christmas season is filled with them. These Christmas themes are nostalgic and heartwarming, a welcome relief from the relentless words and images depicting the increasing madness of the world…
Read MoreClear the Way by Ed McDowell
Clear the Way from Christmas to the Cross There is a call to clear the way. It echoes through time. “Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, “Clear the way through the wilderness for the Lord! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God!” Isaiah 40:3, NLT The people of God have gone…
Read MoreThe Speed of Darkness – A Christmas Blog By R. Scott Rodin
A Christmas blog about darkness? Really? Let me explain: Jesus was born in the physical darkness of a stable. He came into a social darkness of poverty, oppression, and fear. He entered a politically dark culture under cruel Roman rule. His first cries rang out in a spiritual darkness where the spirit of the law…
Read MoreIt’s Possible to See Clearly Now By Dr. Bob Snyder
What are you using to see life more clearly? There are many different ways we can begin to see things in life, like Christmas, more clearly. In elementary school, my teacher scraped the surface of a table onto a slide and placed the slide under the microscope. Creatures and debris invisible to my eye were…
Read MoreDespair During the Season of Christmas By Ed McDowell
When Despair Finds You at Christmas From the depths of despair, O Lord, I call for your help. Hear my cry, O Lord. Pay attention to my prayer. Lord, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive? But you offer forgiveness, that we might learn to fear you. I…
Read MoreGod’s Gift to Us
The Gift of God with Us During these days, we turn our thoughts and affections on God’s greatest gift to this world. We celebrate the gift of God with us. And we remember His birth and its place in God’s ultimate plan of redemption. John 1:11-14, KJV He was in the world, and the world…
Read MoreLet’s Rescue Christmas By Kenneth G. Hodder
Here’s how we’re saving Christmas from COVID! As COVID-19 began to dominate headlines early this year, I knew requests for help would grow exponentially higher. But I confess that I underestimated the unprecedented impact it would have on every single aspect of our mission. We exist to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to…
Read MoreHow Did You Celebrate Christmas? By Wes Willmer and Micah Hogan
Does God care how you celebrated Christmas? Christmas is almost all over now— except for the January blues of paying the bills. How did you do? How did you survive all the rushed shopping, social events, delayed shipping, and gift returns? For most of us, our Christmas celebrations end up being dominated by stuff, you…
Read MoreSong of Simeon By W. Scott Brown
Insights from Simeon, his song and unshakable faith. A biblical character who has captured my attention this Christmas season is Simeon. I find his faith remarkable, his obedience inspiring and his joy contagious. We learn of Simeon’s expectant devotion to God in the Gospel of Luke. Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon,…
Read MoreMy Grown-Up Christmas List By Dr. Gary Hoag
What is on your grown-up Christmas list this year? One of my favorite contemporary Christmas songs is “My Grown-up Christmas List” made famous by Amy Grant. Hopefully it is familiar to you. Two sections of the lyrics always grip me: the chorus and the climax. Consider the Chorus She leads into it with this statement:…
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