68 results for tag: christmas

Shame and Scandal

Jesus' birth, as well as his life and death, were surrounded by shame and scandal, yet the real shame and scandal was not then easily observed nor is it easily believed now. https://ptmorg.dreamsites.io/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR461.mp3

The Little Stranger in the Manger – by Greg Albrecht

Friend and Partner Letter from December 2016 Come down to the manger, see the little stranger  Wrapped in swaddling clothes, the prince of peace. – “Christmas Must be Tonight,” The Band The invitation come down to the manger, see the little stranger announces the arrival of the God who cares, the God who comes near and the God who becomes one of us.  The invitation come down to the manger, see the little stranger proclaims God’s love being born into our story.  Come down to the manger, see the little stranger bids us to come receive the unconditional love of God who holds us near and dear.  When ...

The Crib and the Cross

The crib and the cross of Jesus Christ are the bookends of his human earthly life - the bookends of the greatest love story ever told. https://ptmorg.dreamsites.io/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR459.mp3    

When Did God Become a Christian? Connecting Covenants – Greg Albrecht

Massacre of the Infants - Rubens They arrived in Jerusalem with their camel caravan after spending more than a month on the road. These wealthy and wise men called the Magi were clearly men of means—their style of travel was the first-century equivalent to a sleek, sophisticated Motorhome more than it was an ancient VW bus. On-the-street speculation about the purpose of this visit quickly ended when these dignitaries started to inquire about a newly born king of the Jews to whom they had come to pay homage. Herod (the Great) was more than a little interested when he heard what had brought these esteemed men all the way to his kingdom. ...

The Visitor

Christmas is a time when we became a "visited planet." God in the person of Jesus personally delivered a message for each one of us. The message? God is for you. He's your friend. He's on your side. God's favor rests on you. https://ptmorg.dreamsites.io/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR096.mp3    

Let It Be

Mary's pregnancy was different from that of many other women in the Bible - Mary was not desperately hoping to become pregnant. The most momentous birth in all of history is a departure from other biblical birth stories. https://ptmorg.dreamsites.io/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR095.mp3

He Made Himself Nothing

The great American dream involves becoming someone and amounting to something. Parents hope their children will “make something” of themselves. But there was someone whose sole purpose was the precise opposite. Jesus was born so that he could become nothing.

Jesus — Our Servant

Why did God in the person of Jesus come into our world? To die for our sins, to set us free, to win the victory over sin and death. True -- those answers dominate our lists, but one of the most important reasons is that Jesus came to serve us.

Arrival of Joy – by Laura Urista

From a young age, we are taught that Christmas time is always filled with happiness, joy and fun. We are assured, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” We are inundated with advertisements about products, foods and experiences guaranteed to fill us with joy. We rush around, busy with extra activities meant to brighten the holidays for ourselves and others—addressing and mailing greeting cards, purchasing gifts, wrapping and hiding them. We search for the perfect tree, haul it into our house and spend hours decorating it. We purchase all the ingredients to prepare our favorite holiday recipes. Amid bright, sparkling lights and ...

God With Us

There are two realities about Jesus that are extremely difficult for us to grasp because they lay outside of our human experience, yet they are absolute bedrock elements of our Christian faith.

The Visitor – by Greg Albrecht

The Visitor - Greg Albrecht       KEYNOTE SCRIPTURE: John 1:1-18   There are two biblical stories about the birth of Jesus. One is the factual story of who did what, when and where, given to us by Matthew and Luke. The other story occurs in our keynote passage.   The "other story" concerns itself with the profound significance of what happened at the intersection of time and eternity, when God in the person of Jesus came into our world to be one of us. The first 18 verses of the first chapter of the Gospel of John is powerful, majestic, and in some ways mysterious. As literature, this passage ranks among the most profoundly ...

The Season of Lights – by Ed Dunn

I remember Christmastime as a child. I remember riding together with my brothers and sisters in the backseat of our old family station-wagon. As the days were short on sunlight during the wintery months in our particular part of Western Pennsylvania, many of our rides together took place after dark. We thought of ourselves as “country bumpkins” who grew up “in the sticks,” and as such, we knew if we could catch a glimpse of the Christmas lights from “town” on one of our rides, it would make for a real seasonal treat.    As children, we were quite lucky. Our family station-wagon was the only one of its kind, ...

Great Exchanges

by Greg Albrecht Your first thought at this time of the year might be those frenzied crowds in shopping malls and department stores on the days immediately following Christmas. People exchanging and returning gifts they received that were the wrong size, wrong color—or just plain wrong! But there's another exchange we need to keep in mind. This great exchange is the reality of the cross of Christ. Jesus Christ took our sin and died for it, paying the debt that we could not pay. In exchange, God, because of his grace, gives us eternal life. Our sin for eternal life! The great spiritual exchange. Great exchanges characterize the month of ...

The Visitor

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, ...

Fiat Lux – The Light of All People – by Greg Albrecht

Friend and Partner Letter from December 2022 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. – John 1:1-4 When we think of the birth of Jesus, and then of his subsequent life and teaching here on earth, we often forget the many things that happened at night. We don’t know for certain, but Jesus may have been born at night – if so his first meal at the breast of Mary was at night. He had his last meal at night. A man named ...