A Disgraceful Christmas

Introduction

I want to ask us a question: What words do you associate with Christmas? I did that exercise with myself and this is the list of words that ...

God with Skin

Introduction

I don't know if you saw the story in the CBC News about the data from NASA that was recently published. This data shows that in our galaxy, ...

Oh Christmas Three

Introduction

We have been reflecting on the birth of Jesus, and what we found in this season that we celebrate is that when God chose to enter his own ...

Against the Rules

Introduction

People start thinking and doing strange things as the holidays come around. Have you noticed that? I heard about this group of youngsters ...

The Most Shocking Madonna Song Ever

Introduction

Flipping through the radio dial you hear all kinds of Christmas music right now, and one of the songs that seems to be on the loop for most ...

The Forgotten Man of Christmas

Introduction

There was a family which like many of our families has a Nativity set, and each Christmas season they would set that Nativity set up beneath ...

Preparing for the Gift

Introduction

December is a month that raises all kinds of feelings for us. Some really look forward to this time. For others there are things that we dread ...

What Child Is This?

Introduction

I want to wish you a very blessed and Merry Christmas.

We just finished singing "What Child Is This?" and I think it's an appropriate ...

Zechariah's Song

Introduction

Starting last week, this week, and next week, we are taking some time in our preparation for and anticipation of the holiday season to look ...

Simeon's Song

Introduction

I've been reading a gift somebody got for me. It's a fascinating book called Medieval Views of the Cosmos. When I say it's fascinating, ...

Following Christ in a Material World

Introduction

"Living in a material world
And I am a material girl
You know that we are living in a material world
And I am a material girl"

The princess ...

A God Who Redeems

Introduction

Today, we're not only talking about a God who is with us, but also a God who redeems us. I want to talk to those who feel helpless and hopeless ...

The "Unbelievable" True Story of Christmas

Introduction

One of the ironies of modern history is that the majority of people who celebrate around Christmas have never really heard the real Christmas ...

The Great Polarizer

Introduction

Few events change the lives of a married couple more than the birth of a child. You take a stable relationship of a husband and wife and suddenly ...

Down Lower, Up Higher

Introduction

There was no question he loved her. He was absolutely bedazzled by her. It was surprising, really, because she was quite plain. But ...

The Larger Story of Christmas

Introduction

It's just after ten o'clock on Christmas Eve, which means there are a handful of questions floating around this room: Did I remember ...

The Gloria in Excelsis Deo

Introduction

Today we're going to look at Luke chapter 2. There is a Christmas song tucked within this Christmas story that I want to uncover—a song ...

Christmas in the City of Jerusalem

Introduction

We're going to do something a little different this year in December. We want to focus on a "Hometown Christmas." Typically we tend to think ...

Waiting for the Fullness of Time

Introduction

Last Saturday I wrote these words:

I'm at the airport—waiting. I arrived at 7:15 A.M. It's now 9:40. My 8:38 flight was canceled and ...

What Christmas Love Always Does

From the editor:

Every year at Christmastime, news stations run video segments of crazy shoppers pushing and shoving each other to get their hands on the ...

God in Our Sorrows

The Advent is where God meets us in our sorrow.

The word advent means an arriving or an appearing. It's the arrival of something we hoped for, something ...

The Neglected Joseph Davidson

Introduction

I think I had better introduce myself. My name is Joseph Davidson. Many of you already know me. I've been hanging around Christmas for a long ...

If Christ Had Not Come

Several years ago, a group of historians met and asked a number of intriguing questions. What if the Moors had won in the great historic battle in Spain? ...

The Christmas Plunge

From the editor:

Who doesn't love reflecting on the amazing story of Mary, a teenage girl swept up in something so unexpected, so epic? The Incarnation ...

A Tiny Gift—Strangely Wrapped, Silently Delivered

Text: 2 Corinthians 9:15
Topic: How God wrapped the indescribable gift of Jesus.

From the editor:

It's not yet Thanksgiving, but we suspect you are well ...

God's Protection and Delight

The Refining Love of God

Introduction

In this Advent season, we are looking at the theme of God's promise of better days for our lives. That is the hope of Advent and Christmas, ...

The Power of Hope

Introduction

In this Advent season, we are looking at the theme of God's promise of better days for our lives. That is the hope of Advent and Christmas: ...

The Peace Jesus Brings

Introduction

In this Advent season, we are looking at the theme of God's promise of better days for our lives. That is the hope of Advent and Christmas, ...

What Child Is This Who Came Not to Bring Peace?

From the editor

One of the more popular texts in the Advent and Christmas season is Isaiah 9:1–7. Preachers love to explore the beauty of our having ...

The Virgin Birth

From the editor:

In the conversations I've had with seekers, Paul's assertion in 1 Corinthians 1:23 is spot on: the mysterious death of Christ is quite ...

God in Our Sorrow

Text: Isaiah 53; John 11
Topic: How God meets us even in our sorrow

From the editor:

You can be so enraptured by the sights, sounds, and smells of the Christmas ...

Redneck Christmas

Editor's note: The following monologue is delivered in character by a shepherd named Larry. There was a live nativity scene on stage for the Children's ...

Prepare for God's Visitation

Introduction

I have a friend named John who is a medical doctor. He was once making a commercial flight across the Atlantic Ocean, when a teenage boy who ...

Expect God's Visitation

Introduction

In Charles Dickens' novel A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge lies down on Christmas Eve hoping to enjoy a good night's rest. In the course ...

The Miracle of Christmas

Introduction

In Luke 11:33–35, Jesus says, "Your eye is a lamp, lighting up your whole body. If you live in wide-eyed wonder and belief, your body ...

The Promise of Better Days

Introduction

As a 5th grader at Cornelia Elementary School in Edina, Minnesota, I always felt sorry for a fellow student named Gary. With his high squeaky ...

If Jesus Had Never Been Born ...

Text: John 1:14–18
Topic: What the world would be like if Jesus had not been born

Introduction

Several years ago, a group of historians met and asked ...

Be Prepared

Introduction

Most of us have heard of Billy Graham. Since the 1950s, Dr. Graham has conducted hundreds of evangelistic crusades throughout the world. Most ...

The True Spirit of Christmas

Introduction

In one Peanuts comic strip, Lucy was saying that Christmas is a time for kindness and a time to forgive one another. Charlie Brown says: "Why ...

A Christmas To-Do List

Introduction

Most of us have heard the Christmas story so many times that we think we know what it's all about, but the fact is we might have passed over ...

The Bad News About Jesus ...

Introduction

Charles Swindoll has written a rather telling poem about what many feel on the day after Christmas:

'Twas the day after Christmas, When all ...

The Love That Brought Him

Introduction

One of the greatest Georgians who ever lived was Bishop Arthur Moore, the beloved Methodist bishop of our state. Bishop Moore once said that ...

Christ's Birth and Your Birth

Introduction

On the wall in my church study, I have a precious photograph that was taken in a hospital room a couple of years ago. It's a picture of a ...

Christmas Through Heaven's Eyes

Introduction

Jesus did not deserve to be hung on a wooden cross to suffer for the sins of the human race. While that's exactly what the Christmas story ...

Dream Child

Introduction

A man shared with me that for years he went to church and watched as the advent candle was lit by these beautiful families, so well-dressed ...

Long Past Prime

Introduction

One of the happiest memories I have from this past Easter was the chance to see Judy and Ralph's daughter, Katie, coming into her prime. I ...

The Neglected Joseph Davidson

Text: Matthew 1:18–25
Topic: The Christmas story from Joseph's perspective

Who was Joseph?

I think I had better introduce myself. My name is Joseph ...

And Let It Begin With Me

Introduction:

Listening to newscasts these days can make your heart grow heavy. There seem to be more problems than there are solutions. Personal relationships, ...

Great Expectations

Introduction

There is a lot of hype to the holidays. We buy presents; we attend countless parties and holiday events. We travel to see relatives. We ...