1517 Blogcast

We think that if we are good enough, brave enough, or at least if we try hard enough, we will be someone who can be both fully known and fully loved.

As Christians, we are not cold ascetics, depriving ourselves in the here and hereafter. We are given good things from our heavenly Father in heaven, and even a foretaste of the things to come.

Christmas is, therefore, the beginning of Christ’s earthly ministry, even while he awaits a number of years to gather his disciples and inaugurate his preaching of the kingdom.

It’s not just that he’s born and given, but that he’s born and given for us.

Should we really be surprised that it would happen this way, that the servant would suffer for our salvation and die for our forgiveness?

In some measure, if Luther had any success during his last two decades, it happened because of the woman who’d insisted on him as her bridegroom.

One gloomy, silent night, God stepped into our darkness. The Word had not only spoken but was now made flesh

Isaac Watts thought it was time for the church to have a new song. But he didn’t just come up with one new song; he composed a whole host of them. Known as the “Father of English Hymnody,” he is credited with over 700 hymns, many of which are still in use today. 

At Christmas, we hear the story of our salvation, but it’s not pretty.

How amazing is the scene from the night of Jesus’ birth we all know so well: angels singing lullabies with the sweet mother Mary, poor shepherds gazing upon the manger in wonder and awe, wise men appearing from afar with strange and ominous gifts, and the little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes.