Sadly, when artists record popular versions of carols or when publishers add Christmas songs to hymnals and songbooks, too often they excise the core gospel message in exchange for sentimentalism. As the radio plays Christmas music 24 hours a day, it is not unusual for us to hear altered lyrics or simply the first verse... Continue Reading

“I have written not for those that are experienced but for the common people and those that have the Spirit, who are highly esteemed before God…I hope that I shall do enough if I uncover the purest and simplest sense of the Gospel as well as I can…in order that the Christian people may hear,... Continue Reading

We might get a sentimental feeling when we hear “voices singing ‘Let’s be jolly!’” but nothing will comfort and encourage us more than singing about the Word-made-flesh. It’s a reality we will never fully plumb, not even in a million carols. Words fail us. The mystery is too great.   No Christmas story will ever... Continue Reading

Christians are still familiar with the doctrine of creation. Creation from Nothing. But the question of why God would create is still one that gets raised time and again. John’s gospel, then, also gives an answer to the question of creation and, in so doing, gives the template for man’s glorious destiny.   “In the... Continue Reading

Like many other words in European languages, the French word nöel traces back to Latin and the word natalis, which means “birthday” or “relating to birth.” It’s also the root of English words like neonatal and postnatal.   Virtually every other language has a word for Christmas. Spanish-speakers celebrate Navidad. The Italians have Natale and the Dutch look forward to Kerstmis.... Continue Reading

This strategic relationship between the pastor (shepherd) and the sheep is explicitly stated in Zechariah 13:7: “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” The Gospel writers refer to this very passage in the narrative of Christ’s betrayal and arrest on the Mount of Olives: “Then Jesus said to them: ‘You will all fall away... Continue Reading

“Fear not.” It’s a refrain that echoes over and over again in the pages of Scripture, a command given by God to His people. He said it to Abram when Abram wondered when he would see his promised heir. He said it to His people as they looked at the odds stacked against them in... Continue Reading

God didn’t enter into humanity on Christmas morning as a newborn baby. He entered it nine months earlier inside of Mary’s womb. We learn this in Matthew 1:18, which records that before Mary and Joseph came together, she was “found to be with child through the Holy Spirit” (ESV). Two verses later, God also tells Joseph “that which... Continue Reading

Its foreign to us now, but emperor worship was common in the Ancient Near East. Leaders of empires presented themselves as gods and the people worshiped them as such. Idol worship was accepted, and the concept of an invisible, omnipotent God would have been considered absurd. In contrast with that world-view, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego... Continue Reading

We sing that this world was “in sin and error pining, till he appeared,” and we’re caught up in the wonder that Life itself, in the person of Jesus, entered into this world of sin and death. His coming brought with it the “thrill of hope” that causes this weary world to rejoice. But what... Continue Reading