Christmas Day Meditation

John 1:1-14
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was
with God in the beginning.
3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him
was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has
not understood it.
6There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify
concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8He himself was not the light; he
came only as a witness to the light. 9The true light that gives light to every man was coming into
the world.
10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize
him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who
received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
13children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of
the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Christmas Eve Meditation

Christmas Eve Meditation

The Cost of Christmas

Matthew 1:18-25

18This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us."
24When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

The Promise of Christmas

Scripture – Isaiah 11: 1-2, 10

1
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
2The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him — the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit
of counsel and of power,the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD
10
In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him,
and his place of rest will be glorious.

A Thinking Hope

Scripture – Isaiah 1:1-9, 18

1
The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham,
Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
2
Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth!
For the LORD has spoken:
"I reared children and brought them up,
but they have rebelled against me.
3
The ox knows his master,
the donkey his owner's manger,
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand."
4 Ah, sinful nation,
a people loaded with guilt,
a brood of evildoers,
children given to corruption!
They have forsaken the LORD;
they have spurned the Holy One of Israel
and turned their backs on him.
5 Why should you be beaten anymore?
Why do you persist in rebellion?
Your whole head is injured,
your whole heart afflicted.
6 From the sole of your foot to the top of your head
there is no soundness—
only wounds and welts
and open sores,
not cleansed or bandaged
or soothed with oil.
7 Your country is desolate,
your cities burned with fire;
your fields are being stripped by foreigners
right before you,
laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.
8 The Daughter of Zion is left
like a shelter in a vineyard,
like a hut in a field of melons,like a city under siege.
9
Unless the LORD Almighty
had left us some survivors,
we would have become like Sodom,
we would have been like Gomorrah.
18
"Come now, let us reason together,"
says the LORD.
"Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.