Wallpaper: Narrow Gate
“For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
Matthew 7:14
Topics: Weekly Wallpaper
More Than a Nativity Scene: Christmas in God’s Story of Redemption
For many, the nativity is an isolated scene in the biblical story, more familiar as holiday décor than as Holy Scripture. It’s like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle bearing the partial image of a baby in a manger: Few seem to know where it fits into the picture of the Bible’s commands and promises, let alone human history. Instead, it has been framed on its own, sentimentalized as a moral lesson about feeding the homeless, putting coins in the red kettle, and just trying to make a difference—“because, after all, isn’t giving and working together what Christmas is all about?”
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Hymn: “See Amid the Winter’s Snow” by Edward Caswall
See amid the winter’s snow,
Born for us on earth below,
See, the tender Lamb appears,
Promised from eternal years.
Topics: Hymns and Worship
Alistair Begg on What Makes Christmas Come Alive
Dear Friend,
I hope this finds you in good heart and in no way overwhelmed by preparations for Christmas.
Continue reading …Topics: Letters From Alistair Begg
The Purpose, Process, and Promise of Salvation
An old story is told about Brooke Foss Westcott, the last bishop of Durham in the nineteenth century. One of his clerical friends was traveling on a train and was asked by a Salvation Army officer, “Are you saved?” Curious to know how Bishop Westcott would have responded, the friend relayed the question. The bishop paused, smiled, and essentially answered, “Do you mean have I been saved, am I being saved, or will I be saved?”1
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Cloud of Witnesses Is a Prayer-Book Treasure!
The book of Hebrews encourages us to learn from the steadfast faith of our Christian forefathers, referred to in Hebrews 12:1 as a “great … cloud of witnesses.” Taking inspiration from that passage of Scripture, Cloud of Witnesses: A Treasury of Prayers and Petitions through the Ages helps you connect in a personal way with dozens of faithful saints from the past by praying the same words they prayed.
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Wallpaper: Good Shepherd
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
John 10:11
Topics: Weekly Wallpaper
“He Shall Reign Forever”: Isaiah 9 and Christ’s Eternal Kingdom
History records the rise and fall of countless principalities and empires. Take Winston Churchill as a somewhat recent example. During the Second World War, the prime minister enjoyed 83 percent approval of the people. By July of 1945, two months after the war ended, he and his Conservative Party experienced a crushing defeat. Swept out of power, their reign was over.
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Hymn: “We Plough the Fields and Scatter” by Matthias Claudius
We plow the fields and scatter
The good seed on the land,
But it is fed and watered
By God’s almighty hand.
God sends the snow in winter,
The warmth to swell the grain,
The breezes and the sunshine
And soft, refreshing rain.
Topics: Hymns and Worship
What God Begins, He Completes
What God begins, He completes. Paul said so in Philippians 1:6: “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” We ought not to look for comfort in ourselves and our ability to remain faithful. Rather, we can look to the preserving power of God, who causes us to persevere.
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