Christmas Verses No 11

John 1:1-18

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The same was in the beginning with God.

All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.

And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

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Christmas Verses No 10

Isaiah 7:14-16

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign;

Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son,

and shall call his name Immanuel.

Butter and honey shall he eat,

that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.

For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good,

the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.

Isaiah 9:6-7

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:

and the government shall be upon his shoulder:

and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God,

The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end,

upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom,

to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice

from henceforth even for ever.

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Giving and receiving this Christmas

Giving and receiving this Christmas

Do you appreciate your children and grandchildren? Do the stories of disadvantaged and ill children that you see when the various charitable appeals run pull at your heartstrings? Do you think - ‘that could be me or my child’? Do you wonder how you would cope? We should be truly grateful for how well off we are! It’s another reason why we all need to play our part in giving to charity this festive season. 

Recent political debates are in danger of encouraging a view that says we need to be selfish and look after ourselves. The great tradition in this country has been to be generous and look after the needy, the poor and the disadvantaged.

Have you ever wondered why there is consistently such a need? Why is there cruelty? Why are there disadvantaged children? Why does the problem never go away? What is the cause of the problem? It's one thing to give money to change people's lives it’s another to consider why the situation exists in the first place? That’s just life I hear you say! These things happen!

The Bible tells us why. It is because of sin. Our Forefather, Adam, brought 'sin into the world and death by sin'. If we are honest we are all in the habit of sinning. Sin is dressed up in many guises; pride, selfishness, lust, coveting things and people and so on. Sin rarely only affects me, it affects others as well and sadly it often affects people who have no power to do anything about it i.e. the young, the weak and vulnerable. 

But the good news is things can be different! I do not believe that society can enjoy permanent reform as a result of a political solution. The Bible promises a reformed world when Jesus returns to earth but until then change is made on a ‘case by case’ basis! This is the essence of why Jesus came. He came to bring hope in despair, joy in sorrow and life where there was death. This life is of a different quality. It is the life of God as opposed to human life. It is described in the Bible as ‘eternal life’. Jesus talked about it in terms of knowing God – ‘and this is eternal life that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent’, John 17. 3. It describes the quality of life now and well as the length of existence in the next life. This life is available to everyone because of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus but it only becomes effective in a person’s life when they repent and receive salvation as a gift from God.

Please, don't stop giving to good charities this Christmas but also give some thought to your need of forgiveness and salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

Thanks for reading this.

Stephen