“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to theContinue Reading
Merry Christmas! Today is a day to celebrate! We’ve traveled through Matthew 1 and much of Luke 1-2 and, although the Christmas Story isn’t over yet, it’s still a fabulous day to celebrate Emmanuel who is with us!! Today I want to focus on three songs which help us celebrateContinue Reading
(We have been working our way through the Christmas Story in Luke 1-2 and Matthew 1. Mary and Joseph have been visited by angels, endured very challenging circumstances, and finally watched the birth of the God of the Universe in a shelter for animals, before being sent to Egypt toContinue Reading
(We have been working our way through the Christmas Story in Luke 1-2 and Matthew 1. Mary and Joseph have been visited by angels, endured very challenging circumstances, and finally watched the birth of the God of the Universe in a shelter for animals, before being visited by local shepherdsContinue Reading
(We have been working our way through the Christmas Story in Luke 1-2 and Matthew 1. Mary and Joseph have been visited by angels, endured very challenging circumstances, and finally watched the birth of the God of the Universe in a shelter for animals, before being visited by local shepherdsContinue Reading
[Side note: Happy Winter Solstice! Today the northern hemisphere is tilted away from our sun the farthest of any point of the year – resulting in short days and long nights. Tomorrow we begin the slow journey toward the long days of summer as we gradually tilt back towards theContinue Reading
(We continue our look at the Christmas Story in Luke 2. Yesterday, we focused on Joseph’s response to Gabriel’s announcement that he was supposed to take Mary for his wife, even though she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit.) Let’s go back to Joseph. Joseph could have chosen to doubtContinue Reading
(We continue our look at the Christmas Story in Luke 2. Yesterday, we focused on the angel Gabriel’s messages to Zechariah and to Mary and their responses.) Even after Mary’s answer, Gabriel wasn’t done speaking yet. Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she became pregnant withContinue Reading
(Today I begin a series of posts that examines the Christmas Story found in Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2. My prayer is that this helps us all understand more deeply that Story and keep it as our focus over these last days of Advent.) Let’s take a few minutes toContinue Reading
I don’t remember exactly how we came to the book Silver Packages: An Appalachian Christmas Story – probably it was in a list of recommended books for reading aloud to children. After repeatedly checking it out of the local library year after year, I finally purchased my own copy. TheContinue Reading