The Story of Christmas - 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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The Story of Christmas - 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.

Sir James Simpson - Discovering meaning in life

In  Bathgate, a town in Scotland, a boy was born in 1811.  His family were not wealthy, and his mother died when he was nine years old, but he went on to become one of the most famous doctors that has ever lived.  His name was James Simpson, and he was educated at the University of Edinburgh and trained as a doctor.

He attended the operating room soon after starting his medical training and the place was not as clean as it might be, and there were no gowns, masks or gloves worn by those doing the operation. The patient was terrified and had to be held down firmly on the table as the operation took place.  As the surgical knife was used, the screams of the patient echoed around the building as there were no anaesthetics in those days.  The sound of that distressed patient stayed with James Simpson, and he determined to see an end to such suffering and conscious surgery. 

Loving Christmas

I love Christmas time!

From boyhood days right through to the present, I have always looked forward to the Christmas season – and I love it all.  As the lights start to go up and Christmas songs begin to be included in the radio selection, I begin to have that sense of anticipation.

Having said that, there are, of course, a number of Christmas traditions which have absolutely no place in the true Christmas story.  Whether it be Christmas trees, Santa Claus or fairy lights, we would all admit that these are just traditions that have crept in from different sources that have intrinsically become part of our December customs.

But even when we look at the Christmas story itself, if we look very carefully, some things that we often take to be true are actually traditions which were not there in the original record; many of them appearing in our much loved carols.