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Life is hard. This is one reason God created us for community. Relationships with Him and with others are essential to living a good life, and it is His presence in our lives that makes the difficult times not only bearable but joyful. Gordon Fee reminds us that “Nothing else can take the place of presence.” [1] It is the abiding presence of the Spirit in His people that enables us to endure the losses that we experience in our everyday lives.               For instance, thi

It is Christmas Day, and since Christ to redeem all of humanity, I thought it fitting to have the hymn Ye Nations All, On You I Call. Unlike many of our previous hymns, this song was written in America in the early nineteenth century. This reflects early American belief that we, as a nation, were to bring the light of the Gospel to the world. It is believed to have been written by William Walker of New Haven in 1835. As we gather to celebrate Christ’s birth, I hope you take a

Christmas Eve holds many precious memories for me. One of them being Christmas Eve service at the churches my father pastored, always unique due to the congregation participating in the service to honor Christ. On Christmas Night All Christians Sing  is also known as The Sussex Carol, written in the 17 th  century by an Irish Catholic bishop and poet, Luke Wadding. It details the reasons we must rejoice because Christ has come to redeem us and set us free. In Him alone is tru

O Holy Night is another personal favorite of mine. Interestingly, it was written as a poem Minuit   Chrétiens (Midnight Christians)  in 1847, by a French wine merchant, Placide Cappeau, who was also an atheist. It was set to music by a Jewish composer, Adolphe Adam in the same year. It was controversial when it first came out due to its strong abolitionist stance. Over the years, it has proven to be a source of hope to those on the battlefield. With an emphasis on hope, holin