Faithlife StaffWhat is Advent? The Advent season includes the four Sundays leading up to Christmas and began this year on Sunday, November 27. It’s a time of expectancy and preparation for the celebration of Jesus’ birth. Each year as December draws near, many of...
Ryan PembertonRyan J. Pemberton—author of Called: My Journey to C. S. Lewis’s House and Back Again and coauthor of Walking with C. S. Lewis—explores Advent ideas for your worship community. For Pemberton, Advent is a beautiful, counter-cultural...
Lexham PressOften when reading the birth narrative of the Christmas story, we filter what the Bible says through our twenty-first-century Western mindset. Combined with images from church nativity plays, holiday cards, and Christmas movies, we’re left with a...
Too often meaning can be lost in the busyness of the Christmas season. That’s why Mark Yarbrough wrote the advent devotional Tidings of Comfort and Joy: 25 Devotions Leading to Christmas—to remind us what Christmas is all about and why we celebrate...
Mark WardIf I thought I was a pretty scintillating Bible teacher, the kind that makes people sit on the edge of their seats, the kind that is also able to put the cookies on the lower shelf and interest even kids, that thought was shattered when my own kids...
Guest AuthorThis post is adapted from the January 6 entry in A Light Has Dawned: Meditations about Advent and Christmas, available now from Lexham Press.
Tavis Bohlinger"Think of your life on the other side of the pandemic. How will you retroactively judge the decisions you made during lockdown?"
Karen EngleThis Christmas, contemplate the mystery of the incarnation through the eyes of 10 fellow believers throughout the ages.
Mary Jahnke“And there was no room for them at the inn.” It’s difficult to read that without thinking of the countless Christmas plays featuring a brave, costumed young soul stepping onto the platform to play the role of innkeeper. Similarly brave, costumed...
Pacing crowded aisles and scrolling through page after page looking for just the right gift can be fun at first . . . and then not so much. You can skip the stress—and still give a thoughtful gift to those on your list. Here’s why a Logos gift card...
In our busyness leading up to December 25, the date set aside to remember when God entered time and space to dwell or “tabernacle” with humanity, have we missed the beauty of anticipating Christmas and what it means? In this excerpt from A Light Has...
This post is the seventh and last in a series adapted from Anticipating His Arrival, a family Advent devotional by Rick Brannan. 2 Samuel 7:1–16 It happened that the king settled in his house. (Now Yahweh had given rest to him from all his enemies...
This post is the sixth in a series adapted from Anticipating His Arrival, a family Advent devotional by Rick Brannan. We will be posting one devotional a day through Christmas. John 1:6–8, 19–28 (Part 1) A man came, sent from God, whose name...
This post is the fifth in a series adapted from Anticipating His Arrival, a family Advent devotional by Rick Brannan. We will be posting one devotional a day through Christmas. 1 Thessalonians 5:16–24 Rejoice always, pray constantly, give...
Take a stroll through your local shopping mall this time of year, and you’ll see the word at least a few times. Wonder. It’s on advertisements, in Christmas songs, and on coffee cup sleeves. Of course, the “wonder” of Christmas has become detached...
This post is the fourth in a series adapted from Anticipating His Arrival, a family Advent devotional by Rick Brannan. We will be posting one devotional a day through Christmas. Luke 1:46–55 And Mary said, “My soul exalts the Lord, and my...
You might want to save a little room in the Christmas budget for yourself. Right now you can get 50% off select Bible study and theology resources. Not sure where to start? Here are seven resources loved by folks who love theology. A Theology of...
This post is the third in a series adapted from Anticipating His Arrival, a family Advent devotional by Rick Brannan. We will be posting one devotional a day through Christmas. Psalm 126 When Yahweh restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like...
This post is the second in a series adapted from Anticipating His Arrival, a family Advent devotional by Rick Brannan. We will be posting one devotional a day through Christmas. Isaiah 64:1–4, 8–11 Would that you would tear the heavens and come...
In the book 300 Christmas Quotations and Prayers, editor Elliot Ritzema pulls from centuries of Christian writing to offer timeless yet fresh reflections on Advent and Christmas. Here are just three quotes. *** “Unless He were true God, He would not...
As Christ’s arrival draws closer, a natural consequence is joy. When the thing we have been waiting for gets closer and closer, joy increases. When I was a boy, my dad was in the Navy. There were times he was away from home for months. We wrote...
If you buy or upgrade to Logos 8 by December 31, you stack multiple offers on top of each other for a truly great deal: Get 5 free workflows Get a free copy of Logos 7 Fundamentals to give away Take an extra $100 off Logos 8 (first-time base package...
It’s easy to imagine what Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, or the Magi were thinking and feeling when they encountered the baby Jesus for the first time. I can imagine the mix of excitement, nerves, and expectation as they wondered when God would...
One of the most fascinating developments to follow through the Bible’s storyline is the concept of God dwelling with his people. God, the creator of all that exists, gradually reveals his desire to be present and active with those who belong to him...
The rear seating in our 2004 Yukon must have some kind of magnetic field that provokes good questions from kids. This week it was, “Why do we decorate trees at Christmas? What does that have to do with Jesus being born?” I don’t remember asking such...
What Flannery O’Connor said of the South is true of all America—but it seems truest at Christmas: While the South is hardly Christ-centered, it is most certainly Christ-haunted. The Southerner, who isn’t convinced of it, is very much afraid that he...
What do we really know about the “magi,” the three “wise men” who brought gifts to Jesus? I get questions like this from my kids all the time, questions about Bible and theology stuff. I love their curiosity. And I often find myself answering them...
Chuck McKnightNow it happened that in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus to register all the empire. (This first registration took place when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to be registered, each one to his own town. So Joseph...
What do you think is the most “Christmasy” book in the New Testament? The obvious frontrunners are Matthew and Luke, especially their opening portions. One of the reasons these books will show up so often in Christmas-time sermons and Bible studies...
Morris ProctorThis post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris, who has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos seminars, provides many training materials. Shortly after His birth, Jesus was...