by Brad Caldwell | Dec 25, 2024 | 12 Days of Christmas Devotionals (2024), Devotionals
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 Merry Christmas! I hope the songs of Christmas and the story of the...
by Brad Caldwell | Dec 24, 2024 | 12 Days of Christmas Devotionals (2024), Devotionals
Away in a Manger is a popular Christmas Carol. Throughout history, many people believed that it was written by Martin Luther, the German religious reformer. Because of this, James R. Murray titled the tune “Luther’s Cradle Hymn” in 1887. Murray declared that Martin...
by Brad Caldwell | Dec 23, 2024 | 12 Days of Christmas Devotionals (2024), Devotionals
Angels had a lot to say about Christmas! If it wasn’t for the accounts of the angels speaking to Mary, Joseph, and the Shepherd, we would be missing key information about the birth of Jesus. You can tell how important angels are to the Christmas story by recognizing...
by Brad Caldwell | Dec 22, 2024 | 12 Days of Christmas Devotionals (2024), Devotionals
Joy to the World wasn’t originally written as a Christmas carol. It had nothing to do with Christmas at all and it wasn’t even written as a song. The well-known carol wasn’t a song until 100 years after it was penned as a poem. In the 1700s, an English minister...
by Brad Caldwell | Dec 21, 2024 | 12 Days of Christmas Devotionals (2024), Devotionals
The wise men, or magi, were from the east. The Bible does not specify their exact location, but they were likely from Persia or southern Arabia, which is east of Israel. Their names and countries of origin were not recorded in the Bible. These wise men weren’t...
by Brad Caldwell | Dec 20, 2024 | 12 Days of Christmas Devotionals (2024), Devotionals
There are three Wisemen in every nativity and three kids dressed up, complete with crowns and gifts in most Christmas plays. This carol may be the primary reason for this tradition. John Henry Hopkins, Jr was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He went to school in New...
by Brad Caldwell | Dec 19, 2024 | 12 Days of Christmas Devotionals (2024), Devotionals
Sometimes you just need some good news! We find a group of people in the Christmas story who need some good news. You might have heard of these guys. There was a group of shepherds, we don’t know how many, but there was a group who lived in Bethlehem over 2,000 years...
by Brad Caldwell | Dec 18, 2024 | 12 Days of Christmas Devotionals (2024), Devotionals
All over the world this Christmas season, churchgoers will sing along to some version of “Adeste Fideles.” It is traditionally the final anthem during Midnight Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. You might recognize the English title, O Come All Ye...
by Brad Caldwell | Dec 17, 2024 | 12 Days of Christmas Devotionals (2024), Devotionals
Bethlehem was a small, insignificant town outside of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is where the temple of God was built. Bethlehem was only known as the place where Jewish people would stop on their way to the temple to purchase their lambs to be sacrificed at the temple....
by Brad Caldwell | Dec 16, 2024 | 12 Days of Christmas Devotionals (2024), Devotionals
Phillips Brooks was born in Boston in 1825 and would later be educated at Harvard. He was a beloved and respected evangelist. In 1862 Brooks began leading Church of the Holy Trinity in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Two years into his pastorate, he felt compelled to...
