Articles for tag: Christmas

New Baby, New Life, New Year (27 Daily Devotions)

For many, especially church leaders, Christmas is more chaos than celebration. We need to refocus on what is important, and these 27 short meditations are written to help us do that. Take a few minutes each day to ponder these thoughts designed to help you find the wonder of the incarnation in the midst of your responsibilities. These daily meditations, written by Becky Ahlberg of Anaheim, California, begin on Sunday, December 6, and conclude on January 1, 2016. The four weekly themes center around the concepts of hope, peace, joy, and love. May your holidays be blessed as you celebrate

October 3, 2015

Church Life

The Best Thing We’ve Done for Christmas

By Jennifer Johnson Our building is on the National Registry of Historic Places and is three blocks from the state capitol building. Several other beautiful places of worship are also nearby. Each year the media advertises that from 3-6 p.m. on December 26 these places will be open for tours. We offer live music during that time as well as cookies, hot chocolate, apple cider, and coffee. Our guides give visitors information about the church and a tour of the building that explains what worship, fellowship, and Christian education functions dictated the form of the building. From 400 to 600

June 19, 2015

Christian Living

Ordinary Sacredness

By Mandy Smith We know Jesus instituted the Lord”s Supper during the Passover feast, which Jews have celebrated for generations. Passover is an annual festival remembering God”s salvation of his people from slavery in Egypt. Like all celebrations of annual holidays, it takes much preparation and is a turning point of the calendar. So, as good Jews, Jesus and his disciples prepared and celebrated this feast together. But Jesus knew this Passover would be different from all he”d celebrated before, because he knew his death was imminent. The food is a central part of the Passover feast, but so are

March 31, 2015

Care & Counseling Grief & Suffering

Resurrection Promise, Hope in Our Pain

By Mark A. Taylor Some preachers choose Mary as the subject for a Christmas sermon, but I”m guessing we”ve never heard an Easter sermon about the mother of Jesus. There”s good reason for this, I suppose, because Scripture barely mentions her in one crucifixion account, and omits her by name altogether in the resurrection stories. But the certain fact that she was there when Jesus died (John 19:25-27) is enough for painters and storytellers and moviemakers to include her, watching and weeping, in their crucifixion portrayals. The Scripture doesn”t describe her anguish or her tears, but we have no trouble

March 26, 2015

Adoption & Foster Care Family & Relationships

Foster Care and the Church

By T. R. Robertson Last Christmas our home was filled with the same sort of holiday laughter and sharing that most families experience. We had a houseful of grown sons, now young men in their upper 20s. Along with them came a wife, a girlfriend, and little kids. All of them call us Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa. Not one of them shares a drop of our blood or a strand of our DNA. The only one of our foster sons not there was Jeremy, whom we haven”t seen since he left our custody just before he turned 2,

March 10, 2015

Church Life

Ideas for Easter””or Anytime

By Mark A. Taylor At our annual contributing editor January retreat, someone asked, “Why do churches always make such a big thing of Christmas?” She was reflecting on the fact that Christian Standard almost always puts “Christmas” on a December cover, but sometimes we hardly mention Easter at all. Maybe we”re giving in to the culture on this. For many people, Christmas preparations begin in the summer, and we see Christmas everywhere by the end of October. Christmas concerts, Christmas parties, Christmas gift-buying””they fill the month of December. Indeed, sometimes by Christmas Day, we”re too tired to celebrate. Churches follow

February 1, 2015

Church & Ministry Teaching

Ideas for Easter””or Anytime

By Mark A. Taylor At our annual contributing editor January retreat, someone asked, “Why do churches always make such a big thing of Christmas?” She was reflecting on the fact that CHRISTIAN STANDARD almost always puts “Christmas” on a December cover, but sometimes we hardly mention Easter at all. Maybe we”re giving in to the culture on this.Â For many people, Christmas preparations begin in the summer, and we see Christmas everywhere by the end of October. Christmas concerts, Christmas parties, Christmas gift-buying””they fill the month of December. Indeed, sometimes by Christmas Day, we”re too tired to celebrate. Churches follow

December 30, 2014

Giving & Fundraising Stewardship & Generosity

New Steps and a New Gift

By Mark A. Taylor Every year at Christmastime I look for a way to give something to someone who can”t or won”t give me anything in return. Usually this means an extra offering to a favorite mission, a check written to a local shelter, or gifts purchased for our church”s project to “provide Christmas” for needy children. I do this because it”s always seemed to me that exchanged gifts are trades, not really gifts. They”re fun, and they can be a good part of office or family celebrations. But true generosity doesn”t happen with rules about dollar limits or gift

December 25, 2014

Doctrinal Issues & Debates Theology & Bible

Have You Ever Seen an Angel?

By Mark A. Taylor Many of us witness costumed actors portraying angels in this month”s Christmas plays and pageants. But I”m pretty sure our versions don”t look much like the real angels of Luke 1 and 2. Years ago I attended the “Glory of Christmas” production at Southern California”s Crystal Cathedral, where the angels stole the show. There must have been a dozen of them, suspended through the vast expanse between the auditorium”s ceiling and the crowd below. Flowing gowns and ballet poses made these performers look ethereal and attractive, but that”s not how Luke describes the angels in his

December 24, 2014

Starting at the Bottom

By Jim TuneÂ Most religions begin “at the top,” but Christianity begins “at the bottom.” The mystery of the incarnation should stir our hearts every day. Much of what we learn about the incarnation we learn as children and revisit annually during the Christmas season. I wonder if we are ever guilty of treating the incarnation as a beginner”s doctrine: a nice opportunity to do something for the children and invite our friends to church. The remarkable union of God and man in the incarnation is no minor point of theology. God the Son took on flesh and dwelt among

December 23, 2014

A Promise for More Than the Shepherds

By Mark A. Taylor It was a golden moment. We were touring the magnificent Christmas displays at Longwood Gardens, a 1,000-plus-acre delight not far from Philadelphia in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Tucked in one corner of the Gardens” many-roomed, 4.5-acre conservatory is a majestic 10,010 pipe organ, a centerpiece for hourly Christmas carol sing-alongs throughout the day we were there. In spite of the instrument”s ability to fill the room with its own volume (and rumbling bass notes we could feel as well as hear), voices soared and surrounded us as we sang the carols together. And one of them””certainly not

December 22, 2014

Christian Living

What to Give the Person Who Has Everything

By Daniel Schantz The stubborn conundrum of Christmas is, “What will I get for everyone on my list?” Males, for example, are oblivious of female needs. That explains why your husband got you a new chain saw and some radial tires for Christmas last year. Some people just give everyone the same thing, like a homemade fruitcake, but one has to wonder if there is not some symbolic meaning behind all those fruits and nuts. Without a doubt, the hardest person to buy for is the one who has everything, like your boss, who drives a Lamborghini and gave Super

December 21, 2014

Overwhelmed by Christmas, Again!

By Alan Ahlgrim A few unsuspecting shepherds were minding their own business when they were suddenly overwhelmed by Christmas. According to the classic Christmas text in Luke 2, the message and how it was delivered terrified them. An angel appeared. The radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were told in unmistakable fashion that the Savior had been born! The news was stunningly and extraordinarily good. It’s no wonder the angels were overwhelmed when they heard it. Overwhelmed is a great way to describe how many of us feel much of the time—especially at Christmastime. In fact, I suspect

December 15, 2014

Bible Study Theology & Bible

Lesson for December 21, 2014: Give Glory to God (Luke 2:1-20)

This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. It is published in the December 14 issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Sam E. StoneÂ Of the four Gospel writers, Luke is the one who gave the historical details and setting of Jesus” birth. With careful research and guided by the Holy Spirit”s inspiration, he recorded the wonderful news of Christ”s birth and how those who first heard about it were encouraged to give glory to God. Joseph and Mary had gone from Nazareth in

December 5, 2014

Church & Ministry Small Groups

The Cross of Christmas

By Diane Stortz Have you ever noticed how the presence of a baby or a young child changes the dynamics of a sad situation? The crotchety great-uncle you haven”t spoken to in years just might turn up at a reunion if the newest member of the family will be there. At a funeral home, between their tears, mourners manage happy smiles at the unself-conscious laughter of a toddler. And if you”re wondering how a war-torn, despairing world can go on, just ask any grandparent what”s new with the grandchildren! Babies and young children bring us together. They give us hope.

December 4, 2014

Michael C. Mack

Christmas Icebreakers for Your Group or Class

By Michael C. Mack 1. Describe a time in your childhood when you were chosen for something (i.e., a team, an award or distinction, or an important task). How did it feel to be chosen? 2. What nativity-set traditions, if any, did your family have? 3. With which character in the Christmas story do you most identify? Why? 4. As a child, what were some of your family”s traditions leading up to Christmas Day? (For examples, an Advent wreath, candles, a calendar.) Do you have any traditions today? 5. As a young child, how did you anticipate the coming of

December 3, 2014

Jim Tune

Mary, Most Perplexed

Jim Tune, Mary, Luke 1, MMPI, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, perplexity, doubt, authenticity, Abraham and Sarah, Elijah, Jezebel,

December 2, 2014