Amy Grant is a Grammy Award- and Dove Award-winning singer-songwriter who is considered one of the most influential figures in contemporary Christian music. She was the first Christian music artist…
How many gifts have you received over a lifetime? Hundreds? Some are easily forgotten—stored in your attic of faded memories. But others you remember and cherish in your heart all…
Christmas comes at a descending time. The old year is coming to an end, the new year is not yet here. It is too late to accomplish goals set on…
Once upon a time, several guys, perhaps early astronomers who frequently gazed at the night sky, embarked upon a long journey. They were data-gatherers, probing beyond the obvious for signs…
Lectionary blog for Dec. 31 First Sunday After Christmas Isaiah 61:10-62:3; Psalm 148; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:22-40 We have been given a great gift, a gift from the heart of…
One of my favorite moments at my parish is the hush right before Christmas Eve services begin. The lights are lowered just a bit as everyone settles in, and eventually…
“There’s no place like home for the holidays,” claims the popular Christmas song. For many ELCA missionaries, however, celebrating Christmas away from home is an opportunity to bear witness to…
Culturally it’s easy to treat Advent as a countdown to Christmas—a swirl of parties, sparkle and lights. But liturgically it’s a season of anguished waiting. For many years, it seemed…
Christmas pageants rank high among iconic traditions of the holy season of Jesus’ birth—Advent candles, Moravian stars, crèche (nativity) scenes and Chrismons on the tree. But unlike those other symbols…
Lectionary blog for Dec. 17 Third Sunday of Advent Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11; Psalm 126 or Luke 1:46b-55; 1 Thessalonians 5:6-14; John 1:6-8, 19-28 All of us can get so caught…
Editor’s note: The following collection of stories is a response to a reader call for funny Christmas pageant bloopers. This is a companion to the article “Pillow fights, wild hogs and…
On Dec. 25, Western Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus. Christmas is a festival of the incarnation, a theological word that means “becoming flesh.” John 1:14 proclaims: “The Word became…
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