Carried by Hands He Formed
He was created of a mother whom He created. He was carried by hands that He formed. He cried in the manger in wordless infancy. He, the Word, without whom all human eloquence is mute.
When the Fulness of Time Came
But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
Galatians 4.4-5
The Christmas Psalms
O Sing a Song of Bethlehem
Jesus Christ Was Conceived by the Holy Spirit, and Born of the Virgin Mary
[Commenting on Mt. 1:18-25]
These verses begin by telling us two great truths. They tell us how the Lord Jesus Christ took our nature upon Him, and became man. They tell us also that His birth was miraculous. His mother Mary was a virgin.
These are very mysterious subjects. They are depths, which we have no line to fathom. They are truths, which we have not mind enough to comprehend. Let us not attempt to explain things which are above our feeble reason. Let us be content to believe with reverence, and not speculate about matters which we cannot understand. Enough for us to know, that with Him who made the world nothing is impossible. Let us rest in the words of the Apostles’ Creed:
“Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary.”
J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew
HT: Reformed Quotes
A Festival of Nine Carols & Lessons — Free Stuff Friday on Monday
I didn’t have the time to post this on Friday last week (for Free Stuff Fridays), so I will post it today for all those pastors and music/worship leaders frantically trying to come up with a service for Christmas Eve because they have also been extremely busy in the Christmas season. This will also be great for a family looking to do something special on Christmas Eve or during the Advent season.
This is a Festival of Nine Carols and Lessons, all ready-made and ready to go, complete with a narration manuscript and Gospel invitation at the end. The numbers are for our Christmas song book, but the hymns and carols are easily found on the internet or in most hymnals.
CLICK HERE FOR PDF
If you use this, please make a comment to let me and others know how, where, and when you used it to encourage us all.
The Christmas Psalms
The Poverty of the Manger
The joy of God has gone through the poverty of the manger and the agony of the cross; that is why it is invincible, irrefutable.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) in a letter to suffering friends in Christmas, 1942 as WWII raged
The Christmas Psalms
Sing We Now of Christmas
Are Your Prayers Confused?
God can pick sense out of a confused prayer.
Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2011), 50.
The Christmas Psalms
Moral Insanity
Pride, conceit, vanity are forms of moral insanity.
W. Graham Scroggie, Psalms (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1973), 274.
Life Is Worship 