The Christian Calendar on Gifts

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Author

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Keywords

Scripture

1 Kings 3:5-14, Genesis 41:39-43, James 1:17

God’s gifts put man’s best dreams to shame.

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As those three magi brought you gifts,

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 51:10, Isaiah 9:6, Hebrews 4:16, Romans 10:9, 1 John 1:9

As those three magi brought you gifts, we are reminded of your majesty, oh Christ. You are the savior of the world who embraced human frailty that we might receive salvation. We ask your forgiveness f...

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The Plane Is Coming

Author

Emily Hunter McGowin

Keywords

Scripture

John 3:16, James 1:17, Matthew 2:11, 2 Corinthians 9:7, Romans 12:10, 2 Corinthians 8:9, Ephesians 5:2

In rural Msinga, a municipality in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa, the highlight of Christmas Day festivities is when men, newly returned home from work in the big cities, gather to sing a...

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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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The Anti-Gift League

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:19-21, Isaiah 9:6, Luke 2:10-11, Matthew 2:1-12, 1 Timothy 6:6-7, Luke 12:16-21

If you ever find yourself sympathizing with Charles Dickens’ character Ebenezer Scrooge regarding the commercialization of Christmas, you’re not alone—this has been a common complaint for quite some t...

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Sacrificial Giving—Stories for Epiphany

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 2:null, Leviticus 12:null

The Strain of Time Time marches forward for all of us, doesn’t it? There are 365 days in the Gregorian calendar. There are 365 days in the Liturgical calendar. While the respective beginnings and en...

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The Twelfth Day of Christmas

Author

Emile Griffin

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 2:1-2, Ephesians 3:6, 1 Kings 10:1-13, John 1:9, Philippians 2:10-11

In many Christian lands Epiphany is the most important feast of Christmas. Especially in Latin countries the arrival of the Wise Men, the Three Kings, looms large in the imagination. My native city, N...

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God of glory, you sent Jesus among us

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 3:12-13, Matthew 5:16, John 8:12, Romans 12:2, James 5:16

God of glory, you sent Jesus among us as the light of the world, to reveal your love for all people. We confess that our sin and pride hide the brightness of your light. We turn away from the poor; we...

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A Gift That Requires Swallowing your Pride

Author

Timothy Keller

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 3:23-24, Ephesians 2:8-9, John 3:16, Isaiah 64:6, Romans 5:8, Titus 3:4-5, Luke 19:1-10

Christmas is about receiving presents, but consider how challenging it is to receive certain kinds of gifts. Some gifts by their very nature make you swallow your pride. Imagine opening a present on C...

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What it Means to Be "Childlike"

Author

Phillip Yancey

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 18:3-4, Hebrews 11:1, Genesis 28:10-17, Proverbs 3:5-6, Isaiah 11:6, Luke 2:8-20, James 1:17

In his book of sermons titled The Magnificent Defeat, Frederick Buechner mentions two qualities of childlikeness. First, children have no fixed preconceptions of reality. If someone tells them that ...

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What Do You Want for Christmas?

Author

Rick Warren

Keywords

Scripture

Mark 13:37, Philippians 4:4-5, James 1:17, Psalm 95:2-3, 2 Corinthians 9:7, Matthew 2:10-11

What do you want for Christmas this year? If you were to ask a typical little boy, he’d probably give you two words: video games. There’s a little boy I know named Brian. For weeks he bugged his paren...

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The Christmas Gift

Author

Andy Cook

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 61:3, John 11:32-35, Romans 8:28, Genesis 37:50, James 1:17, Romans 6:23 , 1 Corinthians 12:28

A preaching professor at Harvard University tells the story of the year his 5-year-old son was working on an art project in his kindergarten class. It was made of plaster, resembled nothing in particu...

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Holy Monday | John 12:1-11 | Giving Lavishly to Jesus

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

John 12:1-11

Reflection In Isak Dinesen’s 1958 short story, “Babette’s Feast,” we see Babette Hersant, a 19th century French chef from Paris, seek political asylum in the Jutland region of Denmark in the home of ...

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Author

Malcom Guite

Keywords

Most of us are under pressure, external and internal, to do everything, be good at everything, be accountable to everyone for everything! It is not so. In the divine economy each of us has a particula...

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Author

Emily Hunter McGowin

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 9:6-7, Micah 5:2-4 , Jeremiah 23:5-6, Luke 2:8-14 , Matthew 2:1-12 , Psalm 96:1-3

We know instinctively that Christmas is more than shopping mall Santas, silver bells, and snow-flocked trees, but such things are so entangled with our impressions of Christmas that it’s hard to kn...

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God, our heavenly Father–from whom all

God, our heavenly Father–from whom all families gain purpose, direction and life: When we need bread, you don’t give a stone; and when we ask for fish, you don’t give a snake; for you are good, you ar...

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Author

Brian O’Connell

Keywords

The season of Epiphany is an invitation to follow Jesus into the ways of gratitude and joy,. We are no longer bound by the dissatisfaction of our consumer culture that tells us to keep striving for mo...

liturgy

Good morning, Father

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 4:6-7, Luke 15:11-32, Matthew 6:19-21, Psalm 51:10-12, James 4:8, 1 John 1:9

Prayer of Adoration Good morning, Father. While we slept last night – You were awake, sustaining our world, protecting us and readying a new day. Jesus – You hold us in the palms of Your hands: str...

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Author

O. Henry

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The magi, as you know, were wise men—wonderfully wise men—who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents.”

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Dear Lord, We come to you this evening

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 9:2, John 1:4-5, Luke 2:8-14, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 1 Corinthians 13:13, Luke 19:1-10, Philippians 1:6, Matthew 6:33, Luke 10:38-42, Luke 2:11, Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 2:1-12

Dear Lord, We come to you this evening with great expectations. Expectations that your Son Jesus has been born, and that his life is a light for us and all people. We come with expectations that He c...

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Author

Rainer Maria Rilke

Keywords

Christmas

Scripture

Luke 2:6-7, Isaiah 53:2, Matthew 2:1-2, Philippians 2:6-8, 1 Corinthians 1:27-29

If you lacked simplicity, how then should this fall to you that midnight skies are a shine with? God, who stoked at men mild in you now comes to mortal eyes. That he’s not more great—does this surpris...

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7 Christmas Sermon Quotes to Inspire Your Last-Minute Prep

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

'Twas just two days before Christmas and the reverend was stressing. There's a sermon to write and prayers of confessing... If that's you—we see you. You're definitely not alone, and...

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Bigger and Bigger Christmas

Author

Kristen Welch

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 12:15, Ecclesiastes 5:10, 2 Corinthians 9:8, Matthew 2:11, Hebrews 13:5

Kristen Welch, in her book Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World , described the growing discontent their family experienced after pursuing more and more stuff. She describes it this way with ...

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The Dicey Side of Christmas

Author

Emily Hunter McGowin

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 2:10-11, Romans 12:2, Luke 2:8-20, Colossians 2:8, Matthew 5:16

Christmas (a shortened form of "Christ’s mass”) has been an embattled holiday for much of its history— and not just because talking heads on TV like to argue about the “war on Christmas” every ye...

liturgy

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

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

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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Making Room in Advent: A Guest post by Bette Dickinson

Author

Bette Dickinson

Keywords

Advent

Scripture

Isaiah 43:null, Luke 1:null, Luke 1:38

“God is doing a new thing.” —Isaiah 43 I have heard this scripture passage quoted multiple times in the last three years and it still stirs something within me. Do you feel it too? God is doing ...

liturgy

Lord—we’re so anxious we can’t

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 40:31, Psalm 27:14, Romans 12:2, Matthew 1:23, John 11:25-26, Hebrews 13:3

Lord—we’re so anxious we can’t wait! Some of us can’t wait for Christmas to come, while (honestly) some others of us can’t wait for it to be over. We’re not proud of it—but that’s just the way it is ...

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The Legend of La Befana

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 10:41-42, Ecclesiastes 3:1, Matthew 2:1-2, Isaiah 60:3, Matthew 6:33, Jeremiah 29:13, Luke 2:8-20

If we’re ever concerned with being wrapped up in Christmas busyness, it may be worth considering the Italian legend of La Befana. The elderly Befana was in her home when suddenly she was visited by th...

liturgy

Pastor: Let us pray for the whole Church of God

Author

Trinity Lutheran Church, Lisle, Illinois

Keywords

Pastor: Let us pray for the whole Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs. Lord God, eternal Father and Giver of every good gift, we commit to Your mercy and for...

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The Feast of Light

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 2:1-12

Epiphany is sometimes called the “Feast of Light.” Epiphany remembers the revelation of Jesus as king and Messiah to the gentiles when the Magi visited the young Jesus. The Wise Men are the first ge...

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