It is getting harder and harder to openly live our faith in this country that was founded on Godly principles. It makes my heart sad to see Jesus’ name being trampled, prayers being squashed, and God being chased from all public places. WE, dear Christian brothers and sisters, may well…
What better message is there than the announcement that a Savior is born? Jesus lived, died, and rose again. Because He lives, and because I’ve asked Him to be my personal Lord and Savior, my soul is secure for all eternity. No more darkness abides within me; I’ve been flooded…
Jesus, although weary and overwhelmed, chastised His disciples when they tried to hold back the children from “bothering” Him. In Matthew 18, He says unless people become like little children, they cannot enter the kingdom of Heaven. You see, children innately trust. If Daddy holds out his arms and says,…
HYMN DAY! I’m not done with Christmas yet, so…”O Little Town of Bethlehem” by Phillips Brooks. O little town of Bethlehem How still we see thee lie Above thy deep and dreamless sleep The silent stars go by Yet in thy dark streets shineth The everlasting Light The hopes and…
Word of the Father appeared in flesh in the form of a tiny, helpless, humble baby. Often artists paint a halo around the infant Jesus in the manger, a reference to His holiness. Did you know that you, as a believer, are also holy? The Bible calls us to holiness–being…
You’ll see a lot of evergreens this week. Evergreens always remind me of eternal life, and the thought of eternal life always brings to mind this very familiar verse. God’s gift of Jesus was beyond priceless. His precious Son, sent to be our sin sacrifice, entered this world so that…
Merry CHRISTmas to you and yours! One final hymn… William Harold Neidinger wrote both the words and music for “The Birthday of a King.” ’Twas a humble birthplace, but oh! how much God gave to us that day! 1 In the little village of Bethlehem, There lay a Child one…
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE! In 1739, Charles Wesley’s poem beginning “Hark! how all the welkin rings/Glory to the King of Kings” appeared in Hymns and Sacred Poems. Initially the words were paired with a slow, solemn tune. A co-worker changed the opening to “Hark! the herald angels sing…” A hundred years…
Perhaps the most familiar CHRISTmas carol of all time was a collaboration between parish priest Joseph Mohr, who wrote the words, and one of his parishioners, a guitarist named Franz Gruber. It was sung on Christmas Eve of 1818 in the little German village of Oberndorf. I remember singing it…
Originally written in Latin as Adeste Fideles, this CHRISTmas carol has been attributed to various authors, including John Francis Wade (with the earliest copies of the hymn all bearing his signature), John Reading, and King John IV of Portugal. The original four verses of the hymn were extended to a…
