Christmas

Hallmark rival Great American Family on Thursday unveiled a lineup of Christmas movies that includes 18 original holiday films featuring such talent as Candace Cameron Bure, Daniel Lissing, Jen Lilley, Danica McKellar and Cameron Mathison.

This year, Hobby Lobby ran a gospel-centric, Christmas-themed ad in newspapers across the country showing a painting of a toddler boy – representing a young Jesus – picking up nails on the shop floor as his earthly father, Joseph, tends to his works a few feet away. The sunshine through the adjacent window casts a shadow off Jesus in the shape of a cross.

A new Satanic holiday display inside the state capitol building of Illinois has sparked protests from a Catholic group, who argues that such installations should not be allowed in the capitol building or any public space.

This year, as we recognize the need for a savior for our world that is rife with hardship, let us raise our voices in faith. Jesus, the son of God and born to Mary, now lives in the hearts of hundreds of millions of people. Let us pray for the sufferings of our brothers and sisters in Christ, and for the poor and needy in our world. And let us rejoice that Jesus has come for them. Our Deliverer, our “God with us,” will also be with them.

Each year, many of the most popular Christmas Carols remind us that God did not leave us in our broken state, but came and lived among us so that He might die for us. We have in these songs the whole gospel of God.

We can reach upward and inward to the God who reached downward to us. We can find in Immanuel the help and hope we need to face an ongoing pandemic and uncertain future. But as with all other Christmas gifts, this one must be opened. Not to put on the shelf, but to place in our hearts. Not as a holiday, but as a holy day. Not for a day of the year, but for every day of the year.

On the heels of a record-breaking run in theaters, Christmas with the Chosen: The Messengers will air on TBN Dec. 22 and then again Christmas Day – giving families another opportunity to watch a film that has garnered rave reviews from moviegoers.

This Christmas, let God speak to you out of His Word with a promise. When he does, believe it. Then trust God's timing. Remember the Holy Spirit is always at work.

Because of the birth of Christ, his sacrifice on the cross and his bodily resurrection, we can seek the Lord under the guidance of the Holy Spirit: thinking, praying and meditating on his Word- The Bible to us. Wise men and women still seek Jesus every day. This Christmas, allow your life to be transformed by encountering and worshiping the Savior who came and changed the world.

Grammy-award-winning pop megastar Mariah Carey is rejecting the moniker “Queen of Christmas,” saying that it belongs to Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ.