Merry Christmas!
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Merry Christmas!
By: Jim Daly
Christmas traditions vary by family and organization, but I wanted to share a new one from the Focus campus here in Colorado Springs.
For the first time ever, we planted and lit a 30-foot evergreen tree here at the front of our property. We also dedicated and lit a beautiful new creche beside it.
Just a week after the lighting, a massive windstorm of 100 mph gusts blew through the town, toppling ten other trees on our property.
The Focus Christmas tree survived!
I hope you’ll enjoy this short video. Please come see us in Colorado Springs some time. From our home to yours — Merry Christmas!
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A Thrill of Hope for a Weary World
By: Nicole Hunt
It’s the end of yet another year, another year that, for most of us, probably felt more like two years in one. Between state and federal health mandates, government growth and overreach, legal battles over important moral issues of the day, secular attempts to redefine truth, and a growing sense that we share less and less in common with our fellow Americans, there is an ever-present feeling of weariness. The cultural battles of the day seem to loom on every side, tempting us to despair — but Jesus.
In one of the most well-known and beloved of Christmas carols, we are reminded of the biblical story of hope, a promise of redemption, and the triumph of good over evil.
The Christmas hymn “O Holy Night” was written in 1847 by the French poet Placide Cappea. The poem was set to music by composer Adolphe Adam. It was first sung at a small midnight mass on Christmas Eve in 1847, just three weeks after it was composed.
John Sullivan Dwight, an American clergyman and musician, translated the French hymn into English in 1855. As a passionate abolitionist, Dwight especially connected with the third verse of the hymn because it addressed one of the most pressing cultural evils of his day — slavery.
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George Bailey, I’ll love you til the day I die: Reflections on loving the hardest around us to love
By: Ashley Brannon
My cousin recently commented that “It’s a Wonderful Life” was about 15 minutes too long, but we never settled on which 15 minutes we thought should be cut.
Despite those who fall asleep on their couches by the time (spoiler alert) Clarence gets his wings, there are just too many crucial scenes that sum up George Bailey’s life and show the audience the events that led him to the lowest point of his life. If someone ever figures out which exact 15 minutes get the axe, my one request to them would be that any scene including Mary Hatch Bailey stay firmly in place.
After watching this classic movie no less than a million times, I’ve witnessed a type of selfless love and dedication to a person that is rarely seen anymore. I would even venture to say that Mary is the true heroine and miracle of the poor George Bailey and maybe not entirely Clarence’s gift of a new perspective. In many ways, while Clarence was showing George what life would be like without him, Mary was showing him how wonderful life was WITH him. Rather than abandon George in his time of need, Mary and the rest of the community drew closer when George truly needed it.
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5 Christmas Song Lyrics that are Theological Masterpieces
By: Paul Batura
The songs of Christmas are quite literally in the air this time of year, serenading us on radio, in our homes or in restaurants and stores. Like it or not, many may even be trapped in your head.
Music means many things to many people, and especially at Christmas. It’s a refuge for some and a respite for others. For me, Christmas music tends to elicit memories of moments long ago. When I hear Mitch Miller, Bing Crosby, Perry Como or Andy Williams singing of the season, I’m a boy again — listening to scratchy records on my parent’s brown cabinet “hi-fi” in our Long Island home living room.
Festive and melodic tunes grab us, but I’m especially captured by the lyrics of certain Christmas songs that preach an entire sermon in a single sentence or phrase. The theological depth of hymns is often overlooked today. They can provide sound doctrine in the form of easy-to-sing songs. As believers we must hold onto them tightly.
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Where was the Gospel First Revealed? In the Hidden Parts of a Mother
By: The Daily Citizen
If you were asked, “Where was the world-shaking gospel first revealed?” what would you say?
It is not a simple answer, but it is a very important one for all who take God’s story seriously.
Yes, the gospel was revealed long ago in the words of the Old Testament prophets. Yet not clearly, because too many Jews still miss it. But neither was it first spoken by Jesus, his cousin John the Baptist out at the Jordan, or by the Apostles on their missionary travels.
It was technically spoken by the angel Gabriel to a young middle-eastern girl who learned she was impossibly going to be with child even though a virgin. The scriptures tell us young Mary “was greatly troubled at the saying.”
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