What Joseph Can Teach Us About Biblical Manhood – The Gospel Coalition Blog

Like many other pastors, I recently began our annual "journey toward Bethlehem" by preaching from Matthew 1:18-25. During my study I began to notice some exciting—and somewhat unexpected—landmarks in the life of Joseph, each relating to the subject of biblical manhood.

As the heading in any of our Bibles will tell us, this story is clearly about the birth of Christ, not biblical manhood. However, just because the birth of Jesus is the "main point" doesn't mean it's the only point. I don't believe we should shy away from making the other points so long as we're faithful to expound the main one.
In this article I want to share five lessons we can learn from Joseph's life about what it means to be a godly man.

1. Godly men care about God's Word.

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What Joseph Can Teach Us About Biblical Manhood – The Gospel Coalition Blog

The Star of Bethlehem from a Christian View - Probe Ministries

Dr. Bohlin looks at the familiar story of the star of Bethlehem and provides several possible ways that God created this sign announcing the birth of the Christ. From a Christian worldview perspective, we know a bright light in the sky was able to lead the magi to the Christ child. Dr. Bohlin considers several ways God may have chosen to announce the coming of the Christ.

The Magi and the Star of Bethlehem

O, Star of wonder, star of night
Star of royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to thy perfect light.
This familiar and haunting chorus from the Christmas carol, "We Three Kings of Orient Are," introduces us to what seems to be the only ubiquitous biblical symbol during the Christmas season, the star of Bethlehem.

MORE: The Star of Bethlehem from a Christian View - Probe Ministries

The Gospel According to Christmas Carols | the Cripplegate

It’s that time of year. Turn on the radio, take a trip to the mall, or simply stroll down the aisles of the local grocery store, and you’re likely to hear songs about Jesus’ birth playing in the background. Though we call them “Christmas carols,” they are really just Christian hymns celebrating the incarnation of our Lord and Savior. For a few weeks each December, these profound songs of worship become a ubiquitous part of the holiday atmosphere. And our society’s pervasive interest in them provides us with a unique opportunity to share the gospel. After all, it’s the perfect time to explain the meaning of these songs to those who don’t know Christ.
MORE: The Gospel According to Christmas Carols | the Cripplegate

Christmas Bible Quiz: 20 Good Questions

How well do you think you know the Christmas story? Here are some Christmas Bible quiz questions for you to think about. Many of these are basic knowledge questions, but some of them will make you dig to see if my answer really is right.

Are you ready?Questions:

Joseph and Mary

1 Who told Mary and Joseph to go to Bethlehem?

MORE:  Christmas Bible Quiz: 20 Good Questions

Pyromaniacs: The Christmas Story

The Christmas story doesn't really start with wise men nor shepherds. It does not begin with Gabriel's announcement to the young virgin, nor his earlier word to old Zechariah.

Its real origins lie far back in the days of eternity. Infinitely intelligent, wise and powerful beyond all imagining, the triune God conceived the entire plan that hinges on Christmas before He had lit a single star or spun a single planet. Never caught by surprise, God's masterful and intricate plan repeatedly surfaces throughout the pages documenting the thousands of years of Old Testament history and prophecy.
Pyromaniacs: The Christmas Story

Rescuing the Rupps: A Christmas Parable | the Cripplegate

One balmy Summer day in 1997 Rita Rupp (57) from Tulsa Oklahoma, was on a lengthy road trip with her husband Floyd (67). For no reason in particular, she began to sense that they may be in danger. She started thinking, ‘What if someone hijacks our car and kidnaps us? No one even realize we’re missing for days, and no one would come looking for us.’ So she hatched a plan.
Rita wrote a note, just in case she got kidnapped. She scrawled the note in appropriately distressed handwriting, “Help I’ve been kidnapped. Call the Highway Patrol.” She also supplied her name and a helpful description of the van they were driving.
Rescuing the Rupps: A Christmas Parable | the Cripplegate

Sentimentalizing, Sanitizing, and Spiritualizing Christmas | Worship Matters

It’s difficult, if not impossible, to overstate the significance of the Incarnation.
Writers, philosophers, poets, and composers through the centuries have searched in vain for words that adequately capture the wonder, mystery, beauty, and power of Jesus as Emmanuel, God with us.
The miracle and meaning of the Incarnation can be so difficult to grasp that we can give up and start to view Christmas in ways that leave us impoverished and unimpressed with the real story. Even in the church our songs and reflections about about Christmas can fail to leave people gasping in amazement or humbled in awe that God would come to dwell among us.
MORE: Sentimentalizing, Sanitizing, and Spiritualizing Christmas | Worship Matters

Amazon.com: The Promise: A Celebration of Christ's Birth: Music

Amazon.com: The Promise: A Celebration of Christ's Birth: Music

Michael Card
Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s

Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or view the MP3 Album.

Good News of Great Joy by John Piper Daily Readings for Advent - Desiring God

Excerpt

“What I want most for Christmas this year is to join you (and many others) in seeing Christ in all his fullness and that we together be able to love what we see with a love far beyond our own half-hearted human capacities.”
(Download a free Advent Reading booklet. Readings begin on Dec. 1)
Good News of Great Joy by John Piper Daily Readings for Advent - Desiring God

Must We Believe The Virgin Birth

Albert Mohler.
In one of his columns for The New York Times, Nicholas Kristof once pointed to belief in the Virgin Birth as evidence that conservative Christians are “less intellectual.” Are we saddled with an untenable doctrine? Is belief in the Virgin Birth really necessary?

Kristof is absolutely aghast that so many Americans believe in the Virgin Birth. “The faith in the Virgin Birth reflects the way American Christianity is becoming less intellectual and more mystical over time,” he explains, and the percentage of Americans who believe in the Virgin Birth “actually rose five points in the latest poll.” Yikes! Is this evidence of secular backsliding?
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The Gospel According to Christmas Carols

It’s that time of year. Turn on the radio, take a trip to the mall, or simply stroll down the aisles of the local grocery store, and you’re likely to hear songs about Jesus’ birth playing in the background. Though we call them “Christmas carols,” they are really just Christian hymns celebrating the incarnation of our Lord and Savior. For a few weeks each December, these profound songs of worship become a ubiquitous part of the holiday atmosphere. And our society’s pervasive interest in them provides us with a unique opportunity to share the gospel. After all, it’s the perfect time to explain the meaning of these songs to those who don’t know Christ.

Today’s blog post is just one example of how the content of Christmas carols can be used to share the good news of the gospel. It is adapted from an evangelistic message I put together a couple holiday seasons ago. Whether you follow a format like this or not, be sure to make the most of this Christmas season — sharing the truth of God’s grace with unbelieving friends and family.  MORE

The Complexities of Christmas

By Tim Brister
Last Sunday, in my disciple-making training, we did a little excursion from our normal schedule to think about Christmas. As disciples of Jesus, we should seek to leverage every opportunity to make much of Him, including (or especially) the season of Advent. However, not everything is as “wonderful” this time of the year as we think. For many, it is the most stressful, demanding, and overwhelming time of the year, with challenges awaiting from all facets of life.

On a cultural front, we are constantly hearing news about the culture war, in particular how the tide of our culture is washing away any remnants of Christianity. Whether it be nativity scenes in the square, “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”, or the marginalization of Christmas carols that have anything to do with Jesus, each Christmas is another incoming tide of secularism in our country.    MORE

Should Christmas Celebrate Christmas?

(John MacArthur)
Scripture doesn't specifically command believers to celebrate Christmas--there are no prescribed "Holy Days" the church must observe. In fact, Christmas was not observed as a holiday until well after the biblical era. It wasn't until the mid-fifth century that Christmas received any official recognition.
We believe celebrating Christmas is not a question of right or wrong since Romans 14:5-6 provides us with the liberty to decide whether or not to observe special days:

One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks (Rom. 14: 5-6).    MORE

The X in Christmas

(RC Sproul)
Why is X Used when it Replaces Christ in Christmas?
The simple answer to your question is that the X in Christmas is used like the R in R.C. My given name at birth was Robert Charles, although before I was even taken home from the hospital my parents called me by my initials, R.C., and nobody seems to be too scandalized by that.
X can mean so many things. For example, when we want to denote an unknown quantity, we use the symbol X. It can refer to an obscene level of films, something that is X-rated. People seem to express chagrin about seeing Christ’s name dropped and replaced by this symbol for an unknown quantity X. Every year you see the signs and the bumper stickers saying, “Put Christ back into Christmas” as a response to this substitution of the letter X for the name of Christ.

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A Christmas Quiz

(Probe Ministries):
Written by Dr. Dale Taliaferro

1. Can you name the parents of Jesus?
a. Mary (Matt. 1:16; Luke 1:31, 2:6-7).
b. God (Luke 1:32, 35).
c. Joseph (by adoption) (Matt 1:16, 19-20, 24-25).

 2. Where did Joseph and Mary live before they were married?
a. Mary--In Nazareth (Luke 1:26-27).
b. Joseph--In Nazareth, presumably (Luke 2:4).

3. What was the name of the angel who appeared to Mary?
Gabriel (Luke 1:26).   MORE

A Brief History of Christmas

 (Doug Wilson)

A Brief History of Christmas

Liturgy and Worship - Church Year

Written by Douglas Wilson

Saturday, December 10, 2011 8:13 am

INTRODUCTION: We celebrate the birth of Christ, and we are able to do this because we have seen what His rule has accomplished in the world. Jesus told Thomas once that there was a blessing for those who would believe without having seen the risen Christ, as Thomas had (John 20:29). On this principle, our place in history gives us access to a greater blessing because we have not seen Christ with our eyes. But it goes the other way also. Those at the time of Christ had not yet seen what His rule would do in history (as we have). And so they are more greatly blessed looking toward the future—the same way that we will be blessed by looking forward to what Christ has yet to do (1 Cor. 2:9).

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The Naughty or Nice Retailers List

Naughty or Nice? AFA's 2011 listing of top retailers and how they recognize Christmas - check it out!  (AFA) MORE

Ten Things About the Christmas Story You May Have Missed (Joe Carter)

They were not "kings" from the east and there wasn't three of them. And when they arrived in Bethlehem, Joseph and Mary and Baby Jesus were not still in the stable, but in a house, contrary to half the Christmas cards that will be arriving at your house.  And there's no indication there were cattle in that stable or anywhere nearby. In fact, the only thing that leads us to believe Jesus was born in a stable is that Luke 2:7 tells us Mary laid the Baby in a manger, a feeding trough. But you knew all this...

The Theology of Christmas Carols (Probe Ministries)

Most radio stations play some type of Christmas music during the holiday season, but many of the songs have become so familiar to us that we no longer consider their content. In between the secular songs like "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Up on a Housetop," you may hear the strains of an old hymn by Charles Wesley called "Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus." It was written in 1744, and it reads...

Why X is Used to Replace Christ in Christmas (R.C. Sproul)

The simple answer to your question is that the X in Christmas is used like the R in R.C. My given name at birth was Robert Charles, although before I was even taken home from the hospital my parents called me by my initials, R.C., and nobody seems to be too scandalized by that.
X can mean so many things. For example, when we want to denote an unknown quantity, we use the symbol X. It can refer to an obscene level of films, something that is X-rated.