Christmas gatherings are a wonderful time to deepen our relationships with family and friends. They can also be a time of tension and division. Recently someone forwarded me an article written by Ron Hutchcraft. He writes, “Do not allow yourself to be dragged into the issues that are dividing and polarizing people. Many of them are…

Many years ago, our church started a Christmas emphasis called “Spend Less, Give More.” We encouraged everyone to spend less on themselves in order to be more generous during Christmas. We were able to bless others in need, both locally and globally. It also changed our family’s perspective of Christmas.  To this day Linda and…

Christmas is the most widely observed holiday in the world. Nine out of ten people in America will celebrate Christmas (Pew Research). However, if you were to ask people why they are celebrating Christmas, you’d get all kinds of answers. “I’m just glad to be back together despite COVID.”“We just celebrate life!”“The lights are so…

Have you ever thought of the people who missed the first Christmas? The Bible shares how some people who were alive when Jesus was born didn’t experience it. I’ve heard a number of sermons on the topic and thought I’d share some of my observations. LET’S TALK Theirs is a cautionary tale about our Christmas….

THE SHEPHERDS (Part 4 of 4) “The angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.’” Luke 2:10-11 (NIV) Merry Christmas! In two…

JOSEPH (Part 3 of 4) Think of the crisis that Joseph faced that first Christmas: Mary was pregnant, and he knew he wasn’t the father! The Bible records that “…Joseph her husband, was a righteous man and was unwilling to disgrace her publicly, he resolved to divorce her quietly. But after he had pondered these…

Often in our fear, we forget the power of God in our lives.

(Part 1 of 4) Maybe you’ve read that the Oxford English Dictionary couldn’t pick just one Word of the Year for 2020. Based on usage, words like Covid-19, lockdown, social distancing, and BLM were all possibilities. It seems that too many significant events happened this year to pick just one word.  Well, I have it…

The First Noel MERRY CHRISTMAS DAY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESUS! Today is the day we remember the birthday of Jesus, the first noel. Did you know that one definition of Noel is “birthday” originating from a French/Latin word?  So when we sing The First Noel we are singing “The First Birthday” of Jesus. LET’S TALK This…

Silent Night “Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht. Alles schläft einsam wacht… “ These are the first lines of the original Silent Night, written and sung in the German language. Believe it or not, I remember this carol being sung in German at my grandparent’s home church in New Sarepta, Alberta. LET’S TALK This carol was first…

Joy to the World One of my fondest memories of Christmas growing up is singing carols. As much as I like contemporary Christian music, I still cling to the songs of Advent. To me, they are timeless. So leading up to Christmas, I’ll be blogging about some of the backstories of these Yuletide hymns. LET’S…

Somehow the “happiest time of year” has become the most “stressful time of year.” With all the demands and expectations just mentioning the word “Christmas” can tense us up. It shouldn’t be that way! Honestly, when we attempt to redecorate the entire house, send meaningful hand-written correspondence to our full contact list, make fiddly cookies…