December 21, 2025
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Luke 2:1-14
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christmas
The INFINITE became an INFANT. The ETERNAL ONE entered human history. At Christmas, we celebrate the staggering truth that the One who CREATED all things stepped into His own CREATION. God did not send a MESSAGE from heaven, He sent the MESSIAH, His one and only Son, Jesus Christ––God in the flesh!
But here’s the question: Why does the incarnation matter to us today? Why should it move our hearts and change the way we live? Because too often the true meaning of Christmas gets buried under shopping lists, wrapping paper, and holiday festivities. We enjoy the celebration, but miss the meaning. If we’re not careful, we can celebrate Christmas and overlook Christ.
In the second chapter of Luke’s gospel, he gave a historical account of the incarnation, describing the humble birth of God’s Son and the angelic announcement to shepherds watching their flocks nearby. In this birth announcement, we can see the true meaning of Christmas revealed.
December 14, 2025
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Luke 1:39-56
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christmas
Does the message of Christmas, of Christ’s coming, cause you to make much of the Lord? To esteem Him highly? To call Him great! Or do you struggle during the Christmas season? You’re tired of all the “Jingle Bells” and Santa songs on the radio? You’re overwhelmed by the crazy busyness and expense of the gift buying and present wrapping, home decorating…and it’s giving you a “Bah! Humbug!” attitude this Christmas? Or maybe it’s that present you won’t be buying, the stocking you won’t be hanging, the empty seat at the table that won’t be setting… that’s got you feeling a lack of joy this Christmas?
But what if we’re focusing on the wrong things at Christmas? What if there’s a more faithful way to respond to the true and good news of Christmas?
In the gospel according to Luke, he recorded that when Mary visited her relative Elizabeth, she was immediately filled with the Holy Spirit, and her unborn baby leaped for joy in her womb, leading both women to faithfully respond to the Good News of the coming Messiah.
December 7, 2025
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Luke 1:26-38
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christmas
Like Mary, many of us struggle to understand that God wants to do something significant in our lives. We look at our resumes, our past mistakes, or our current limitations, and we think, “God couldn’t possibly use me. I’m nothing special.” We tend to think God’s favor is something we have to earn, achieve, or qualify for. We need to know today that God’s activity in our lives isn’t based on our performance, but on His unmerited favor. If we miss this, we miss the heart of the Gospel.
Luke’s account shows us a different way. It shows us that God breaks into ordinary history to reveal His extraordinary, unmerited grace to ordinary people.
In the gospel according to Luke, he recorded how the angel Gabriel announced God’s gracious favor to Mary, revealing the miraculous conception of God’s Son and assuring her through God’s Word and power so that she might respond in faithful submission.
December 22, 2024
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Luke 2:1-20
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christmas
The gift of gold points to Christ as King. The gift of frankincense points to His divinity and priestly work. So what does the gift of myrrh point to? It points to the cross. The gift of myrrh points to Christ as Savior!
In the Gospel of Luke, he recorded the shepherd’s faithful response to the good news that Christ the Savior had been born. We too can faithfully respond to the good news about Christ the Savior has come.
December 15, 2024
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John 1:1-18
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christmas
In John 1:1-18, the apostle John bore witness of Jesus as the Son of God who came into the world that we might believe in Him and become children of God. The Magi’s gift of frankincense points to Christ’s divinity. We can believe John’s witness that Jesus is the Son of God.
December 8, 2024
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Matthew 2:1-12
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christmas
Have you finished your Christmas shopping? Don’t you feel the tension? Don’t you feel the pressure to spend more money than you have in order to give your kids (spouse, grandkids…) everything on their list? You want everyone to be happy and you want to be happy, so you spend, spend, spend… And the more you spend, the less it feels like Christmas. Or what it’s supposed to mean.
How can we pull our affection off of the crazy, chaotic spending spree that comes every December and instead focus on worshiping Christ as King? How can we spend less and worship more?
In the gospel of Matthew, the story of the birth of Jesus is told within the political backdrop of the times. From the beginning there was a battle between worshiping the true King and the false king Herod. The challenge for us is to remove our worship from the false king and to put our worship on the true King, Jesus Christ.
December 24, 2023
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John 3:16
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christmas
Above all else Advent, which means arrival or coming, is about God’s love coming to us! You see, that’s what motivated the greatest gift ever given. It was God’s love. Yes, Jesus was wrapped in swaddling cloths, but more than that, He was wrapped in God’s love. As the Bible says, “For God so loved the world that He gave.” What did He give? He gave us Jesus.
As the prophet Isaiah proclaimed, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given” (Isa. 9:6). And as the angels proclaimed, “Unto you is born this day” (Luke 2:11). Jesus is God’s gift of love to us… to you!
So, God has given us this gift. It’s for you. It’s got your name on it. But it’s not really yours until you open it and receive it for yourself.
December 17, 2023
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1 Peter 1:3-9
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christmas
Isn’t “joy” supposed to be what the Christmas season is about? Isn’t it why we say, “Merry Christmas?” The Advent season is an invitation for us to consider the promise of joy found only in Christ. In Peter’s first epistle, he encouraged the dispersed believers throughout Asia Minor to find their true joy in Christ. We can find our true joy in Christ.
December 10, 2023
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John 14:27-28
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christmas
Where is the peace we are promised in the Christmas story? Today’s news is filled with stories of war. As the prophet Jeremiah said, “People are saying, ‘Peace, peace’ when there is no peace.”
Are you at peace today? Do you have a deep, abiding, quiet sense of peace? Or are you struggling with anxiety and a sense of disquiet and disorder? The Advent season is an invitation for us to consider the promise of peace found only in Christ. God’s peace is more than the absence of hostility. It is a divine state of tranquility and well-being, with God, self, and others. In the gospel of John, he reported how Jesus gave His disciples a promise of peace in Him at the last supper the night before His crucifixion. We can have this peace that Christ alone can give.
December 3, 2023
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Titus 2:11-14
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christmas
At Jesus’ first advent, He was proclaimed as “Savior.” As the angels announced to the Shepherds, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11). In His second advent, He will return as King and will gather all those as Paul says who “have longed for His appearing.” We live now between the two advents, the two comings… waiting… in anticipation of Christ’s return.
Do you remember the sense of anticipation you felt when you were a child at the approach of Christmas Day? Many today live lives of hopelessness. They don’t really have anything to look forward to. The Advent season is an invitation for us to step back from the busyness of our daily lives and to slow down and remember that Jesus has come and that Jesus is coming again. God has given us reason to hope, but our hope is not dependent on a wishful feeling. Our hope is in the person of Jesus! In the book of Titus chapter 2, the apostle Paul reminded his disciple Titus that the hope he had in Christ was a blessed hope. We can be reminded that the hope we have in Christ is a blessed hope.