Tag: advent (Page 7 of 9)

Why Was Jesus Called The Word?

In the start of the Gospel of John, we read a peculiar little account. But before we dig into the meaning of the first few verses of this book, let’s take a quick glance at why this book exists in the first place. In the New Testament of the Bible there are four letters known as Gospels. These four books account for the life of Jesus from different perspectives. They certainly say the same thing just with different thrusts. Matthew is writing to Jewish people who were expecting a king so he writes mostly about what Jesus said. Mark is writing to Roman people who saw Jesus do some pretty amazing things, so he’ll focus on what Jesus did. Luke writes to a guy named Theophilus, and he’ll spend his account focusing on what Jesus felt. And not to be left out, John writes to anyone and everyone, and he’ll focus on who Jesus was.

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Hark The Herald Angels Sing

It’s that time of year again! We can’t stop it if we try, so we may as well jump on the Christmas preparation train and see where it leads. This week for our Music Monday time we’ll pick up an old familiar hymn. This hymn was first written as a poem and later put into song form about fourteen years later. The poem turned song was intended to help the Christian to understand teh power of the reality of Christmas. It demonstrates one of the core truths of the Christian faith – the incarnation.

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Born On That Day

This has been called the most wonderful time of the year. It’s the season of light and life and all things great! People are more loving and kind. People go out of their way to make others feel more loved. It’s the season of giving. It’s the season of generosity. But before we celebrate all of those thing, give a moment and pause to remind yourself what this day is really all about.

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Hearts Waiting

This week’s Music Monday is coming a bit late. I guess that’s the problem of being a blogger, pastor during the week before Christmas! But this week’s song is a great one! I’ve been searching for powerful Christmas songs that are different, yet speak the same prominent message of grace and peace at Christmastime. Hearts Waiting is a new song with an old spin. The hearts of humanity waited for centuries for a King to rescue them from evil. What they got wasn’t exactly what they were seeking. He was so much more! 

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Glory (Let There Be Peace)

In the days leading up to Christmas it’s a great time to discover the old and the new of this amazing holiday! This season is filled with good old favorites like snickerdoodles and spiral hams and favorite hymns and family times. But it’s also a great time to journey into the new expressions of this beautiful time of year. This week’s Music Monday is all about cherishing the tradition of Christmas past with a new twist. 

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Little Merry Christmas

It’s here! The official start of the pre-Christmas season that we in church world call Advent. The word basically means preparing for something big. It’s the idea of anticipation and excitement. So as we prepare for Christmas throughout this Advent season, we’re going to look at different Christmas songs and talk about our Christmas traditions. In an effort to do this we’ll start this week with a Music Monday titled Little Merry Christmas that shows how our traditions should all point to one important truth.  Continue reading

Little Drummer Boy

This week’s Music Monday is coming a bit early since tomorrow is Christmas morning. I thought of skipping this week but then I heard this rendition of my favorite Christmas song ever. But why? Why is this one my favorite? Well to put it simply, I am the little drummer boyContinue reading

King of Kings

They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them,
for he is Lord of lords and King of kings,
and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”
Revelation 17:14

For those of us living in the United States or other countries without a king, some of the significance of this Name is lost on us. But the King of kings is a ruler who is over all others. There is no one who can overthrow Him. He will always emerge victorious, for the battle, and indeed the war, has already been won. When the devil, the world, and even our own sinfulness seems to press so strongly that we can’t continue to stand, we cling to the promise that He is with us, that He is victorious — and because His victory is on our behalf, we are victorious, too! When He was born a helpless baby, He set aside that royal title for our good, and after He rose victorious from the grave and ascended into heaven, He took it up again, never to set it aside. He is our King, and graciously and lovingly provides for every need.

Contributed by Heidi Goehman and Sarah Baughman.

I Am

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
John 8:58

As soon as the Jews heard Jesus’ reply, they knew He wasn’t playing around. He’d equated Himself with God, and rightly so…but their frame of reference couldn’t allow for a wandering Prophet who had nothing to recommend Him as a king, let alone God Himself. As we add decorations to make our houses look different, brighter during this time of year than they do any other time, and as we wrap gifts with bright, colorful paper, let’s remember that God, too, wrapped Himself in our human frailty and mortality, that He might earn our salvation, because of His great and unfailing love for us. He is the Greatest, the Brightest – the I AM.

Contributed by Heidi Goehman and Sarah Baughman.

Alpha & Omega

I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the first and the last,
the beginning and the end.

Revelation 22:13

Jesus, with the Father and the Spirit, was there before the beginning of time and will be there when time as we know it closes and eternity becomes our absolute reality – forever in the best way we can’t even imagine! But Jesus Christ as Alpha and Omega reminds us that God isn’t just about eternity. He also values the middle. Alpha, is the beginning of the Greek alphabet, and Omega is the end of the Greek alphabet, so it’s also a way of saying He is the A to Z. He is our A’s and our Z’s and every letter in between. Without Him, things lose their purpose, their meaning, because they lack the Writer of each word, each story. In Him, we see the letters of our days come together and Hope springs new!

Blog post contributed by Heidi Goehman and Sarah Baughman

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