By Jack Graham He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. -- Colossians 1:15 I want you to try to imagine what the world would be like without the birth of Jesus Christ. It’s beyond our imagination, but just try to picture it. We certainly wouldn’t know God as we know Him. In fact, we’d be fortunate to have even heard about the God revealed in the Old Testament. So what changed on that first Christmas so long ago? Well, when Jesus Christ came, the Bible says He was Immanuel… “God with us.” God was no longer a distant deity. He was no longer an unfathomable, unapproachable image. But God became flesh and blood; God was with us! That’s why Jesus would later say, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). When Jesus was born into the world, He was God! He wasn’t a man acting like God; not even God acting like a man; but God who was fully man and a man who was fully God! When Christ was seeing, that was God seeing. And when Christ was walking, that was God walking! If Jesus hadn’t come, and if He weren’t God, we’d never have the knowledge of God we have today. So thank God today for sending Jesus to Bethlehem all those years ago so that you might have a clear picture of a God who … [Read more...]

Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. —Isaiah 7:14 What would the world be like if Christ had not come? As we began to see yesterday, if Christ had not come, many prophecies in the Bible would be unfulfilled. Consider that Jesus’ place of birth was prophesied 700 years before He was born, and, that when we sing “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” there is a reason we say “little.” Micah 5:2 says, “Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.” Of all of the cities in the world, God pinpointed a tiny town with fewer than 1,000 people, and, 700 years before it happened, God said Bethlehem would be the birthplace of the Savior. The manner of Jesus’ birth was also prophesied hundreds of years earlier. Isaiah 7:14 says, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” Think about that -- God prophesied the Messiah would be born of a virgin. The Hebrew word used in this verse means one and only one thing: it means a virgin, someone who has never had a sexual relationship with a man. God prophesied the … [Read more...]

By Joyce Smith Christmas parties, goodie bags, and gift exchanges. This time of year gives us opportunities to give little treats to our preschoolers we teach in Mission Friends. What do you do if you have a preschooler with allergies? This can make all the difference in what we give and serve to preschoolers. This year I have a preschooler who has severe allergies to food items, and we have to be very careful about what we offer to our Mission Friends. We do not want to single him out, so we serve all the preschoolers in our class the same snacks that he can have. The nature of his allergies is so severe that we always get prior approval from his mom for anything we serve. So for Christmas when we want to give our preschoolers a special treat, what can we give? I started searching and making a list of non-food items for preschool teachers to give as treats. What other items can you add to the list? Nativity ornament stampers fun drinking straws small packages of play dough silly sunglasses finger puppets shoelace charms Originally published on www.WMU.com. … [Read more...]

By Waylon Bailey I often hear people say they can’t understand why people reject Jesus. It often comes in the context of their having gone through great personal trials. It sounds something like this: “How do people deal with their hurts and troubles without Christ?” While we can’t give every reason, there certainly are some biblical reasons to help us understand why people don’t follow Christ. First, people do not accept Christ because they are caught up in the cares of the world. In the Parable of the Soils, Jesus told about the word of God being scattered over various soils. Some of the soils were receptive to the word and others were not. Jesus said that these people had the word taken from them by “the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of money, and the desires of there things enter in and choke the word” (Mark 4:19). We all understand this picture. We have all been overwhelmed by “the cares of the world.” Life in itself creates many obstacles to knowing Christ and receiving Him as Lord and master. It is simply the truth that many things get in the way and keep us from making an honest assessment of the truth. Second, some people actually love life as they have it and don’t want to change. The Bible … [Read more...]

By Franklin Graham Have you ever heard the old saying “Misery loves company?” That’s what this atheist billboard made me think of. These people are anti-God, and they want others to miss out on the joy of Christmas as well. They are blind to the truth of Christmas—which is God showing His great love for us by sending a Savior, His Son Jesus Christ. Christmas isn’t about Santa Claus or Jingle Bells. So let’s make Christmas great again this year—by attending church and by keeping Christ at the center. Are you in? … [Read more...]

By Jack Graham And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”  Luke 1:41-43 Mary, the mother of Jesus, is one of the most misunderstood persons in all of the Word of God. She is adored by some, even worshiped by many, and often ignored by others. There is a great deal of confusion about this amazing woman. But as we look into the story of Jesus’ birth, we find a woman who loved God and faced an uncertain future with full faith. She worshiped and sang to God for many of the reasons you and I do, even calling Jesus her “Savior” (Luke 1:47). Yes, Mary was a faithful servant of God. But she was born in the same sin and is saved by the same grace that saves you and me. She is not a mediator to Jesus, and she has no special power in heaven. She is what she is by the grace of God – no more and no less. As we look to Mary and her crucial role in the life of Jesus, let’s be quick to thank God for the love that was shown through her. Pray that God would make you a conduit … [Read more...]

By Rebecca Holloway As a child, one of my favorite days of the year was my mom's annual Sunday school Christmas party. I grew up in a very small church. I'm talking a good day was 50 people. However, when I was a small child, the party was just her class of older ladies that she taught. The older I got, more and more of those ladies went on to heaven, and the party started being all the ladies of the church plus some of our family. Now lest you think this was your ordinary Sunday school event, it so was not. It was the biggest happening of my mom's entire year. She spent days and days cleaning and decorating the house. She spent all day the day of the party making cornbread dressing. There were dishes to be brought out that we never used except at Christmas. There were pickles to be placed on just the right slotted tray. There were bottle Cokes to be chilled. There was coffee to be made by my cousin Bobbie. And what to wear? Oh goodness, the right Christmas sweater must be chosen. The candles had to be lit. Everything must be just so. The ladies would arrive, and I would be waiting on them at the back door. Usually, I had been waiting for a while, because, as I mentioned, I was so excited! I would take their coats and … [Read more...]

By Martha Bailey I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoyed lots of quality time with your family and friends. While many people will have a “holly jolly Christmas,” the holidays for many are something to be dreaded. They are hurting and lonely and can’t wait for January 2 when things return to normal–whatever that is. Waylon and I had a very quiet day Thursday because it worked out best for our family to celebrate Thanksgiving on Friday. Our parents made us miserable on holidays because of their unrealistic expectations so I vowed not to do that to my children.  So, Thursday was a football day and an extra prep day. (What woman can’t use an extra day to get ready, right?) All throughout the day a friend kept popping into my mind. Finally, around 9 Thursday evening I decided to email her.  (I’ve learned through the years to recognize that repetitive thoughts like these are Holy Spirit-driven.  Far too many times I have dismissed these thoughts, but this time I didn’t).  This is what I sent: Shea, You have come to my mind at least four times today. Each time I thought about how tough the holidays are for you. Just wanted you to know I’ve prayed for you. The next day I received this reply: Thank you … [Read more...]

By Waylon Bailey This year Christmas will be celebrated on a Sunday. That’s always a challenge for family activities and Christian worship Actually, genuine worship and preparation for it are always a challenge. How can you get ready for Christmas? Here’s how I plan to do so. I hope you will follow me or find a definite plan to prepare for a great time of worship as we celebrate God’s coming to our world. As with almost everything in life, I want to center my worship and celebration around the Word of God. God gave us His Word to reveal Himself. When we read God’s Word, we see how God has worked in the past and how God has made Himself known. Christmas is a great time to see God’s handiwork of making Himself known. As I prepare for Christmas, I want to read three kinds of Scripture. First, I want to read passages that prepare me for God’s revelation in Christ. These include a number of passages from the Old Testament, particularly of the prophets. I also want to read those passages that tell the events of Christ’s birth, what you and I call the birth narrative. These are found primarily in Matthew and Luke. Finally, I want to read New Testament passages that tell me what the coming of Christ means. I begin … [Read more...]