Check out this sermon https://www.gty.org/sermons/80-7/the-ugliness-of-christmas For many years now, here at Grace church, it’s been my challenge and joy to preach Christmas messages. In fact, some years I’ve preached two or three Christmas messages, and so there have been many different ways that we have looked at the birth of Christ. This year, for whatever purposes in the mind and heart of God, I’ve felt strongly the need to preach on what I have chosen to call the ugliness of Christmas. I don’t intend by that to be negative in total. I don’t intend by that to depreciate your joy at this time of year but to enhance your joy, to create within you a true joy by understanding another one of the marvelous facets of the birth of the Savior. I suppose the most famous popular song about Christmas is “White Christmas” - “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas” - but if we may, I’d like us to talk about the blackness of Christmas, the other side. And I suppose that most people, when they think of this time of year, think only of the beauty of it. And we’re surrounded by that beauty, lovely trees with bright lights and decorations, colorful ornaments, beautiful candles, wreaths, snow scenes, warm fireplaces in the hearth in a family home, beautifully wrapped presents. Everything is bright and light and cheery and happy. And I guess that all of that symbolism is conveyed to us most significantly in the Christmas cards that we receive, which present to us almost a world of fantasy, beauty, wonder, loveliness - and that is one side of Christmas, without question. But there’s also another side. There’s a very ugly side. And there are a lot of ways we could approach that. I mean we could talk about a dark, cold night in a small, nondescript village in Palestine, where a lovely young woman gave birth to a baby in the most unsanitary, wretched conditions imaginable, standing in the filth and manure of a stable. We could talk about the ugliness of a man named Herod who, because he feared the loss of his control and power, massacred all the babies in that region. Christmas does have some ugly aspects. We could talk about an indifferent population in Jerusalem. But there’s something even beyond those things. There is lurking behind every beautiful scene on every Christmas card, every lovely sentiment of Christmas, somewhere behind all of that is something very vile and very ugly. The most wretched, heinous, hideous reality in all the universe.

How many of "wise men" (Magi) came to Jesus when he was a baby?

1 Timothy 2:1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

Best Christmas Song O Holy Night David Phelps Live

🌸FIRST, I KNOW ABRAHAM IS THE FATHER OF FAITH I AM NOT SAYING I DOUBT THE BIBLE I JUST WANT TO ASK WHY. 🌸 Why was Abraham the ‘father of faith’? Why wasn’t Enoch the ‘father of faith’? Enoch walked with God for 300 years and was taken to heaven by God, and he never experienced death. And Noah too. He made the ark because of his faith in God and saved him and his whole family and from the three sons of Noah came all the people who populate the earth. Abraham can be called ‘father of many nations(this “title “is from God and God’s promise)’, but father of faith… like the part about him calling his wife ‘sister’ because he feared the Egyptians would kill him to take Sarah, he didn’t have faith that God’d keep him and Sarah safe. (👉🏼Of course, I do not deny that Abraham listened to God’s call and left his native country.👈🏼 ) Gracias 🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸