Christian Living on Birth

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The Child Born in the Night Among Beasts

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Scripture

Isaiah 7:14, Micah 5:2-4, 1 Kings 19:11-13, Luke 2:6-7, Philippians 2:5-8, Psalm 22:6-8 , Matthew 1:22-25

In this excerpt, Frederick Buechner shares a meditation on the vulnerability of Jesus’ birth: The child born in the night among beasts. The sweet breath and steaming dung of beasts. And nothing is...

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God of Grace and God of Glory – rich in

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

God of Grace and God of Glory – rich in love and mercy, all powerful and everywhere present: We come to You at Your bidding, trusting in Your faithful compassion and not in our fruitless efforts to do...

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God our Father, Savior and Sustainer—

Author

Richard Herman

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God our Father, Savior and Sustainer— You are the God who knows our name, and the God who revealed Your name as “I Am Who I Am” and shows us Your face in the face of Jesus. You are known to us ... and...

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God–our Father, Lord and indwelling

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Philippians 4:6-7, 1 Timothy 2:1-2, Psalm 133:1, 2 Corinthians 9:13-14, Matthew 28:19-20

God–our Father, Lord and indwelling Spirit of grace and power: Thank you for hearing us when we pray whether in songs of rejoicing or through tears of sorrow. Thank you for gifts–for the gifts of musi...

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Lord of Hope and God of all that’s new—Father

Author

Richard Herman

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Scripture

Romans 12:12, Colossians 3:14, 1 Peter 3:8, Ephesians 4:2-3, Psalm 136:1

Lord of Hope and God of all that’s new—Father, Son and Holy Spirit: We’re filled with wonder, gratitude, and joy inspired by the gifts of new life You freely give us. There’s the joy and wonder of eve...

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Jesus, Lord—because you took on flesh,

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Isaiah 53:4-5, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Romans 12:15, 1 Peter 5:7, Psalm 34:18, Hebrews 4:15-16

Jesus, Lord—because you took on flesh, You know what it’s like to be us. You know what keeps us awake at night, or yanks us out of sleep in the early morning. You know what it’s like to have good days...

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Adapted from Psalm 71:1-6

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 71:1-6

Leader: In you, O Lord, we have taken refuge; let us never be ashamed. In your righteousness, deliver us and set us free; incline your ear to us and save us. People: Be our strong rock, a fortress t...

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Author

Frederick Buechner

Keywords

The birth of the child into the darkness of the world made possible not just a new way of understanding life but a new way of living it.

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Author

Cyril of Jerusalem

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[When you were baptized,] you died and were born in one and the same moment. This saving water was both tomb and womb. It is a strange thing, quite out of the ordinary. For indeed, at the moment of Ba...

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Author

John Knox

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It is not birth only, nor propinquity of blood, that makes a king lawfully to reign above a people professing Christ Jesus and his eternal verity; but in his election must the ordinance, which God has...

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The Birth (or Re-Emergence) of Evangelical Social Action

Author

Soong-Chan Rah

Keywords

In 1947, budding theologian Carl F. H. Henry wrote a short book titled The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism. In it he surveys the American fundamentalist movement’s engagement with the most ...

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A Birth Of Hope

Author

Joshua Becker

Keywords

“The reason I am a minimalist today,” Troy began, “is because of the color of my house.” I’d never heard that one before, so I asked Troy to explain what he meant. Troy was a tall man of about forty w...

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A Naming Ceremony

Author

Tim Chester

Keywords

Baptism

Scripture

Matthew 28:19, Romans 6:3-4, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 3:26-27

Your own baptism was a naming ceremony: you were baptized “in[to] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19). That naming ceremony no more changed your heart than did ...

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Author

Samuel Chadwick

Keywords

Scripture

John 3:5-8, Galatians 5:16-26, Romans 8:14, Philippians 1:19, 2 Corinthians 3:18, 1 Corinthians 2:12

The Christian religion begins in a New Birth in the power of the Spirit. It is developed under His guidance, and sustained by His presence; but ignoring the Spirit, it becomes a matter of education an...

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Author

N. T. Wright

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As a newborn baby breathes and cries, so the signs of life in a newborn Christian are faith and repentance, inhaling the love of God and exhaling an initial cry of distress. And at that point what God...

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Author

Frederick Buechner

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 2:10-11, John 1:4-5, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Matthew 5:14-16, Acts 9:1-22, Hebrews 13:8, Revelation 7:9-10

It is impossible to conceive how different things would have turned out if that birth had not happened whenever, wherever, however it did ... for millions of people who have lived since, the birth of ...

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His Tree, My Tree

Author

James Merritt

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 1:1-17

Every year at Christmastime, the world looks back two thousand years to the birth of a baby. But for more than four thousand years, people living on the other side of that birth looked forward to the ...

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Christmas: A Tradition of Gift-Giving

Author

Emily Hunter McGowin

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 2:11, James 1:17, Matthew 2:1-12, 2 Corinthians 9:7, Proverbs 22:9, 1 Timothy 6:18, John 3:16

While Christmas traditions vary the world over, gift-giving is a central practice just about anywhere Christ's birth is celebrated. Sometimes gifts are exchanged on December 6, the feast day of S...

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Author

Robert Herrick

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 2:13-14, Luke 1:46-49, Luke 2:20, Matthew 2:11, Isaiah 9:6-7, Revelation 5:9-10

What sweeter music can we bring, Then a Caroll, for to sing The birth of this our heavenly king?

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Humble

Author

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:5-8, Luke 2:6-7, Isaiah 53:2-3, John 13:4-5, Hebrews 2:14-17, Luke 22:27, Mark 10:42-45

Humble. Before Jesus, almost no pagan author had used “humble” as a compliment. Yet the events of Christmas point inescapably to what seems like an oxymoron: a humble God. The God who came to earth ca...

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O Simplicitas

Author

Madeleine L'Engle

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 2:19, John 1:14, Matthew 2:9-11, Luke 2:8-12, Matthew 2:1-2, Luke 2:6-7

An angel came to me And I was unprepared To be what God was using. Mother I was to be A moment I despaired, Thought briefly of refusing. The angel knew I heard According to God’s word, ...

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A World Three Times Bigger

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 28:10–17, Isaiah 9:2–7, Micah 5:2–5, John 1:1–14, Luke 2:8–14 , Psalm 96:10–13

Our family started watching our Christmas movies early this year. We love Christmas Vacation , Charlie Brown’s Christmas, Home Alone (one and two), Rudolph, and Frosty the Snowman ...

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Author

Shannon K. Evans

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 12:2-3, Isaiah 49:6 , Micah 6:8, Psalm 133:1, John 17:20-21 , Ephesians 2:14-16

We know the Incarnation mysteriously unites all of humankind to God and one another, but so often the lines of Christianity feel like they do nothing but divide us.

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Nunc Dimittis

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Scripture

Luke 2:29-32, Luke 1:78-79, Isaiah 9:2, John 8:12, Matthew 4:16, Acts 13:47, Psalm 98:2-3, Luke 2:10-11, John 1:9, Revelation 21:23

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people, To be a light to lig...

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Preference for the Christ-Child Over the Cross

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 19:10, Luke 2:7, John 19:18, Philippians 2:8-9, Isaiah 53:5, 2 Corinthians 5:17

In the sixteenth century, Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci journeyed to China, bringing religious art to share the Christian story with those unfamiliar with it. The Chinese readily embraced images of t...

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Adapted from John Francis Wade’s "O Come, Let Us Adore Him"

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 2:10-11, Psalm 100:2, Luke 2:8-20, Micah 5:2, Matthew 2:1-2, Matthew 2:1-12, Luke 2:15-16, Revelation 19:16, Luke 2:8-20, Psalm 95:6, Philippians 2:10-11, Luke 2:25-38, John 1:14, Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 2:11

Leader: O come, all ye faithful, Joyful and triumphant, People: O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem. Leader: Come and behold Him, Born the King of Angels! O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us ador...

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Lord Jesus Christ, you are loving and

Author

Chip Hardwick

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 1:15-16, Luke 9:23-24, Romans 7:18-19, 1 John 1:9, Hebrews 4:16, Psalm 51:10

Lord Jesus Christ, you are loving and merciful. Forgive us for being so captivated by Christmas that we forget that you, the little baby in the manger, grew up as the Lord over all creation. It is som...

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The Song of Simeon

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Scripture

Luke 2:29-32, Luke 1:78-79, John 8:12, Matthew 4:16, Acts 13:47, Psalm 98:2-3, John 1:9, Revelation 21:23, Isaiah 42:6-7, Isaiah 9:2, Luke 2:10-11

Lord, you now have set your servant free to go in peace as you have promised; For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior, whom you have prepared for all the world to see: A Light to enlighten the nat...

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Author

Ambrose of Milan

Keywords

Christ is the flower of Mary, who sprouted forth from a virginal womb to spread the good odor of faith throughout the whole world, as he himself said: “I am the flower of the field, and the lily of th...

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Author

Larry Libby

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 2:8-14, Luke 2:1-7, Isaiah 9:6-7, Isaiah 7:14, Luke 1:46-55, Micah 5:2, John 1:14, Matthew 2:1-12, Luke 2:25-38, John 10:10-11

Late on a sleepy, star-spangled night, those angels peeled back the sky just like you would tear open a sparkling Christmas present. Then, with light and joy pouring out of Heaven like water through a...

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