Gloria in Excelsis Deo
When the King of the universe stepped onto the human stage, choirs of angels sang the news of His birth. Prepare your heart for Christmas as you hear this special edition of Insight for Living.
The problem with an often-told story is trying to hear it the way it originally unfolded and affected people. The Christmas story is a prime example…familiar and predictable. But the events surrounding the birth of Jesus were anything but expected! So much so that most of the Jewish people who were eagerly waiting for their Messiah totally missed His arrival!
Insight for Living offers a number of helpful resources that can help you see the Christmas story from a fresh, new angle. See this wondrous event through the eyes of the ordinary, everyday people whom God chose to involve. You’ll come away with a better understanding of the original meaning behind it all and with a heart bursting with gratitude for the incarnation of the Son of God.
When the King of the universe stepped onto the human stage, choirs of angels sang the news of His birth. Prepare your heart for Christmas as you hear this special edition of Insight for Living.
You will be irresistibly moved to worship and wonder as you listen to Fullness of Grace, featuring the incredible choir and orchestra of Stonebriar Community Church with guest soloists and Chuck Swindoll’s message, “It’s Christmas…So?” Sing along with the Christ-centred hymns. Reflect on the humble beginnings of our Saviour. And rejoice that the Son of God is also Immanuel—the greatest gift we could hope for.
Every Christmas we all receive two amazing gifts from the Creator. First, we receive a reminder of God’s astonishing, unconditional love. Second, we receive a reminder of Jesus Christ’s audacious grace. In this message, let’s focus on the grace Christ demonstrated on the first Christmas day so long ago.
Yes, a baby boy was born to a virgin in a dirty stable. But this baby boy was not just any baby. He is God in the flesh—Immanuel, God with us. This message will explore the reason for Christ’s coming: God’s astonishing love.
At just the right moment, precisely as God had arranged it, and in keeping with a plan that He formed before the foundation of the world, the Messiah entered the scene of humanity.
While much of the time our odd traditions don’t cause conflict, sometimes they do collide—especially when these traditions involve family or holidays. It’s in these times I’m learning we must fuse our traditions.
Christmas is a very stressful time. All the things we do leading up to, during, and following Christmas stress us. And as with most times of high stress there follows a time of backlash we refer to as the blues.
Probing Deeper into the Incarnation will remind you that before Mary placed baby Jesus in the manger, He existed in heaven with God the Father and God the Spirit. The Son of God became a man and gave up His own life out of His love for you—and to make it possible for you to love Him in return.
Just beneath the soft, newborn skin of this beautiful story is the flesh and bone of a theological truth that is older than creation: God planned to send a Saviour long before time began.
It's during Advent I’m reminded of the duality of waiting—remembering the Hebrews who waited eagerly for the birth of their Messiah, but also the waiting we endure for the second coming of Christ.