If the Magi had come in search of an earthly King, they would have been disconcerted at finding that they had taken the trouble to come such a long way for nothing. Consequently they would have neithe...
Thus the incomparable George Herbert writes of our glorification in his poem “The Star”: Bright spark, shot from a brighter place, Where beams surround my Saviour’s face, Canst thou be any where ...
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, ...
Luke 1:18-25, Galatians 4:4-6, Luke 2:1-20, Philippians 4:7, Romans 5:1, Micah 5:2, John 1:14
Pastor: Gracious God, with joy and thanksgiving we gather as Your people to ponder anew the timeless story of Christ’s birth. For at just the right time, You worked in the most unlikely ways to fulf...
Pastor: Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born; People: He is Christ the Lord! Luke 2:11 Pastor: Let us go from this place proclaiming that we have seen the glory of G...
Lord God of Heaven and Earth, You revealed Your only-begotten Son to every nation by the light of a star. Bless this house and all who inhabit it. Allow us to find it a shelter of peace and health. Ma...
Luke 2:11, Isaiah 9:6, Revelation 19:11-16, Matthew 24:44, Titus 2:13
The immense step from the Babe at Bethlehem to the living, reigning triumphant Lord Jesus, returning to earth for his own people--that is the glorious truth proclaimed throughout Scripture. As the bel...
These star, comet, planet, supernova, special miraculous light — whatever — are not doing the stuff of their own accord. God is doing this. And the reason he is doing it is to get pagans to their Savi...
The Lord called the Magi by a star; He called the fishermen by fish; He called the tax collector at the money table. He lowered Himself to each, that He might raise all to salvation.
Yet for all that, God, for the salvation of them that were in error, endured to be served by these things, whereby those without were used to serve devils; only He slightly altered them; that He might...
Matthew 2:1-12, Titus 3:5-6, 2 Corinthians 5:17, John 8:12, Matthew 5:3-10, Romans 12:2, Galatians 5:1, Genesis 12:1-4, Ephesians 4:22-24, Isaiah 1:18
Moonless darkness stands between. Past, the Past, no more be seen! But the Bethlehem-star may lead me To the sight of Him Who freed me From the self that I have been. Make me pure, Lord: Thou art holy...
Psalm 19:1-2, John 1:9, Luke 2:13-14, Revelation 22:16, Matthew 17:1-8
We have been having epiphanies like suns, all this year long. And now, at its close when the planets are shining through frost, light runs like music in the bones, and the heart ke...
Micah 5:2, Luke 1:46-48, Matthew 2:1-12, Exodus 3:11, Judges 6:15
The small size of Bethlehem reminds one of a common biblical theme: When God is about to do something great, human estimates of status, size, power, and influence are completely irrelevant. In fact, G...
Numbers 24:17, Isaiah 9:2, Psalm 119:105, John 8:12, Malachi 4:2, Luke 2:25-32
I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not nigh:a star shall come out of jacob. Numbers 24:17 KSV No star is visible except at night, Until the sun goes down, no accurate north. Da...
The wise men were experts in the movement of the stars and signs in the heavens. Their inquiry thrusts the provincial village into a cosmic concern. It is not the scientific data they are searching ou...
Luke 2:8-12, Luke 2:16-18, Isaiah 1:3, Matthew 2:4-6, 1 Corinthians 1:27-29, Psalm 148:10-13
There were only a few shepherds at the first Bethlehem. The ox and the donkey understood more of the first Christmas than the high priests in Jerusalem. And it is the same today.
John 1:14, Isaiah 53:3-5, Luke 2:7, Psalm 22:9-10, Revelation 12:4-5, Genesis 35:16-20
I don’t have the nerve to stand up on Christmas Eve and preach about the choreography of childbirth, but I wish I did. I wish I had the nerve to preach about Mary’s increased estrogen production, a...
Micah 5:2, Luke 2:4-7, Matthew 2:16-18, John 1:46, Isaiah 61:3, Matthew 5:1-20, Isaiah 5:20
It is remarkable that a word like ‘Bethlehem’, forever connected to the birth of our savior, could be transformed into a symbol of confusion and chaos. Yet, this is precisely what happened. St. Mary o...
For outlandish creatures like us, on our way to a heart, a brain, and courage, Bethlehem is not the end of our journey but only the beginning - not home but the place through which we must pass if eve...
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...
As early as AD 248, Origen suggested that the star of Bethlehem was a comet—and there continue to be astronomers who think that he was right. Comets are icy objects that orbit the sun. When seen fro...
What was the star of Bethlehem? Maybe it was Jupiter. Celestial conjunctions were very important to ancient astrologers. Three significant conjunctions occurred around the time Christ was born: two...