Merry Christmas! May your day be blessed with an awareness of God’s blessings and meaningful reflections about God’s plans for your future. I share two quotations: gifts that you can give to others and to yourself today, and every day. Christmas gift suggestions:To your enemy, forgiveness.To an opponent, tolerance.To a friend, your heart.To a customer, …
Category Archives: Christmas
P.S. — Post-Christmas Thoughts
Christmas has come and gone. Christmas 2021 is in the history books. This year, our family assembled a day early to enjoy sweet conversation, exchange gifts, and celebrate Mom’s enchiladas. Soon the decorations will be stored for another year and the house will return to normal. The Christmas mantel décor will be replaced with the …
Christmas Hymns-6
Today on Christmas Eve, I wish you a Merry Christmas! While it is almost certain that Jesus was not born on December 25, this is the day of the year when much of the world is thinking about the events surrounding the coming of the Savior of the world. I take only a moment of …
Christmas Hymns-5
The four songs which are presented today include lyrics by Timothy Dudley-Smith, an Anglican bishop who writes one new Christmas carol a year. These lyrics are of particularly high quality. Dudley-Smith is a biographer and former associate of John Stott. All of these are copyright in the US by Hope Publishing Company.] Secret Birth Child …
Christmas Hymns-4
This New Christmas Carrol [Source: William Sandys, Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern (London: Richard Beckley, 1833)] 1. This new Christmas carrol Let us chearfully sing, To the honor and glory Of our Heavenly King, Who was born of a Virgin, Blessed Mary by name, For poor sinners’ redemption To the world here he came. 2. …
Christmas Hymns-3
Today’s hymn, “A Child This Day Is Born”, may win a prize for the largest number of verses. [Source: William Sandys, Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern (London: Richard Beckley, 1833)] 1. A Child this day is born, A Child of high renown. Most worthy of a scepter, A scepter and a crown. Refrain Novels, Novels, …
Christmas Hymns-2
Penned by James Montgomery, this Christmas song “Angels from the Realms of Glory” was first published in his Sheffield newspaper on the Christmas Eve of 1816. Later, it was republished in the Christian Psalmist, 1825 with some additions. Isaac Gregory Smith wrote another version of this Christmas carol in 1855. Henry Smart gave the music …
Christmas Hymns-1
I am part of a religious tradition which has been known historically for its tendency to avoid celebrating December 25 as the birthday of Christ. That preference, often rising to the level of a doctrinal stance, has brought at least two results. First, we are not familiar with the wonderful variety of Nativity hymnody which …
Immanuel: God with us
Although the Bible never says exactly what time of the year Jesus was born, the time is near when the majority of the Christian world remembers and celebrates. Matthew’s nativity narrative mentions the name Immanuel; in Jesus’ coming, “God is with us.” What does that mean? How and why does this truth change our lives? …
Christmas Trees?
During my years in full-time ministry, few Christmas seasons went by without someone raising the question of Christmas trees. What does the Bible say about Christmas trees? First, the short answer is that the Bible never mentions Christmas trees. The phrase does not appear in any version of the Bible. Second, does the text of …