Posts Tagged ‘Christmas’
The Annunciation in Luke (2)
As one comes to Luke’s second chapter, we hear of the census, but only because it furnishes the reason for Joseph and his family to go south to Bethlehem, the town of David’s birth (Lk 2:4-5), while also giving the location for the extraordinary vision of the shepherds in Luke 2:8-20. That event is also…
Read MoreO Little Town of Bethlehem
For Christmas day, we offer the texts that formed my Christmas series of sermons this year.1 Alas, we were reduced to “on-line only” as our government shutdown all church services through this season. The Word of God nevertheless speaks, pointing to our Redeemer who arrived as a babe in Bethlehem and will return as a…
Read MoreSerendipity for Singing, Not Sinning
Christmas is the only holiday you never want to arrive because that means Christmas is going to end. What makes the Christmas season so enjoyable is the season itself and the anticipation. So we’ll take down the lights. We’ll pack away the decorations. And eventually, we’ll stop listening to Christmas music. No more “O Holy…
Read MoreGod’s Faithfulness
I will sing of the mercies of the LORD forever: with my mouth will I make known Thy FAITHFULNESS to all generations. For I have said, Mercy shall be built up forever: Thy FAITHFULNESS shalt Thou establish in the very heavens (Psalm 89:1-2). The emphasis of Psalm 89 is the “Faithfulness of God.” No…
Read MoreGoing Home
Delivered on Sunday morning, December 21, 1856, by the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon Republished in FrontLine • November/December 1999. Click here to subscribe to the magazine. “Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.”—Mark 5:19 The case of the man…
Read MoreA Very Covid Christmas to You – Part Three (Wales edition)
I have spent this evening as I will spend many evenings this night in front of a video editor on my computer. No, I am not a professional; nor is what I am working on destined for many big screens. However, it is Christmas 2020 and in light of the pandemic, and I am helping…
Read MoreThe Humanity of Christ
The doctrine of the virgin conception of Jesus played a significant role in the Fundamentalist-Modernist controversy because a virgin conception is clearly a supernatural occurrence. But the virgin conception also points to another important theological truth: Jesus is fully human. Why does Christ need to be fully man? Scripture teaches that Christ needed to be…
Read MoreA Very Covid Christmas to You – Part Two
We hear from friends around the world about changes various governments impose in their attempt to mitigate the effect of the corona virus. The widely divergent policies seem to have very little effect on the spread of infection, as the virus ebbs and flows despite our best efforts. The last four weeks (and continuing until…
Read MoreThe Real Black Friday
Immediately following Thanksgiving day, our whole nation is thrust into the “C” word — Christmas. The stores are filled with people trying to buy the most expensive gifts at the cheapest prices of the year. We call it “Black Friday,” and it is a great memorial to materialism. The earliest evidence for Black Friday seems…
Read MoreIf Christ Had Not Come
If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin. John 15:22 The verb had come is aorist tense referring to a definite event. The incarnation was a definite event in the history of our world. Jesus is stating that if he…
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