Posted on 12/14/2013 2:56:27 PM PST by InHisService
You have to make it about Jesus - When I was a teenager a lot of our friends used to come to late night church with us even though they weren’t Christians or they may have been lapsed. Either way it then became about them hearing the story of Our Lord’s birth. I will always remember how awesome those hot Aussie nights were with the Church packed to the rafters - everyone singing real Christmas songs to God. The Holy Spirit almost tangible in the place.
Mel
6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
7 And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.
8 And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course,
9 According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.
10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.
11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
The altar of incense was made of acacia wood with a veneer of gold. Acacia is a beautiful hardwood that is almost indestructible by insects. The altar was thirty-six inches high and eighteen inches in both length and breadth (Exodus 37:25ff). It served as a place for the daily burning of incense, both morning and evening.
The daily exercise consisted of a priest (selected by the casting of lots) taking burning coals from the brazen altar of sacrifice out in the temple court, taking the coals to the altar of incense, and depositing the incense upon coals (Exodus 30:7-8). This was a one-time event in the life of the priest who was selected.
Incense was also utilized on the Day of Atonement Lev 16:29
And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you:
Yup; but are you going to COMMENT on it?
December 25th is the WRONG day!
So let's each celebrate EVERY day but that one and proclaim Christ's birth.
SURELY we'll get it right THAT way at least ONCE a year.
GOD will SURELY then be pleased with us!
And about them pagan's... why everyone of their days will have then been usurped; leaving them with NO power at all!
(Surely THAT has to be some kind of damned pagan thing to do; to plop the sacred Alamo right in the middle of a commercial district!)
Yeah, He was saying that the way the pagans served their god was NOT how He wanted them to serve Him. He also said to observe the feasts and holy days HE set and not to add to them.
Is there NO way to prevent that meddlesome ELSIE from posting???
--Henry II
--Henry II"
Yo, Henry...let's hope not!
Joh_1:3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Can you show me where we make something up apart from God?
What about Festivis? Is that supposed to be canceled too?
>> Can you show me where we make something up apart from God?<<
I think you need to re evaluate you concept of made.
Well, now, you know, if God is sovereign in the ultra Calvinist way, ........
While the author may believe that God "is very angry" and Christmas "is a farce", I don't happen to agree with her assessment. And it's very presumptuous for people to think they know what God is thinking. It was that type of attitude that caused problems for the Pharisees. One thing I have learned is that it is difficult to know what God is thinking.
And i find it especially incongruous for Reformed believers to submit to a annual tradition of a Christianized pagan feast that is not seen in Scripture
I can't speak for other Reformed believers. I can only speak for myself. I just came back from a beautiful CHRISTMAS celebration of wonderful hymn singing. And, yes, we have a CHRISTMAS tree in the sanctuary. It only served to confirmed to me that Christmas is a celebration. It is a time when the angels herald the coming of Christ and shepherd rejoiced.
People can take and make anything they want out of Christmas. They can complain it's not scriptural, there's too much commercialization, it's too fattening, or a host of other things. The thing they can't get rid of is what Christmas is truly about. And I don't believe for one moment that God is offended by us giving gifts to each other in the name of a pretend Santa Claus, that He's angry at us for putting up a Christmas tree in our house, or that we might play cards on December 25th. God expects of us to rejoice in His salvation and I think He is most pleased when we find our pleasure in Him. Regardless of whether we have a Christmas tree or celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25th.
No, Christmas isn't a farce. Christmas is alive and well.
I'd suggest you read his entire sermon. This quote makes its round on the internet but is out of context.
Remember-you're talking to a Reformer. So, yes, God made the gods the pagans served. God gave them up to their lust...
There is nothing that was made that He did not make. That is what John states very clear. It is against God to think that we create things apart from Him and His inspiration.
Can there be any doubt we are in the last days?
With all due respect, that is just bizarre.
Fiji Hill towers over my alma mater Occidental College in Eagle Rock, Calif., which is part of the city of Los Angeles. It’s apparently named after the Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji) fraternity, which once had a chapter on the campus.
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