what does Christmas mean to you

[forgiven61]

the true meaning .. might i add the gifts the trees decorations yes even santa Claus. yes i still enjoy Rudolph the red nose reindeer . how the Grinch stole Christmas frosty the snow man and last but not least Charlie Brown Christmas .
there is more to Christmas than just the Birth of Christ . a baby born in a manger most historians feel it was a type hole in a rock with hay.. if our Child was born under them conditions . we would have had a fit. in Mathew it tells us of him being the savior and will save his people from their sins

Luke 2:32
A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. until Christ came this world was full of darkness .

we find in Galatians 4
4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.


then we back up to chapter 3
13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

redeemed he purchased us bought us he paid a debt he did not owe of course my favorite Christ story in the Bible is luke
25 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.

26 And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ.

27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,

28 Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,

29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:

30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,

31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;

32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.

let your thoughts your imagination Go back to that day with

Simeon;

he Got to hold the Word of God of course we cant forget the shepherds. ya know those guys who slept with the sheep smelled like sheep no bath no deodorant Got see baby Jesus in the manager .. they knew what was going on before they got there.

this birth had been prophesied ahead of time for no telling how many hundred of years .

we could even go back to geniuses in the fall the Garden

Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
this is just a prelude to the Morning message in Church in the Morning .the rest unfolds as the real preacher delivers the message .​

​​​

 

[Lanolin]

I thought the no room at the inn story was a lot more behind it and I often wonder if there really was room or they just wouldn't accept a young unmarried couple...well today it would be like having a baby in the garage.

One of my friends had her baby in the car on the way to the hospital.

Generally women don't travel when heavily pregnant and would prefer a homebirth, but now almost everyone is booked into a hospital or birthing clinic and they rush you out the door after you've had one.

My birth story (from what I've been told) was that I nearly died, I had jaundice and had to be transfered to another hospital as they couldn't treat me at the maternity one. I had to be under blue lights. Mum didn't have any milk so I was fed on formula. Dad stood by playing nintendo video game while he was waiting. I was born on Mothers day lol

 

[Via dolarossa]

hey forgiven61
I never read Galatians before, those are great scriptures.!
I did grow up with all the Christmas trimmings, unbeknown to me what the real celebration was all about. I didn’t need Jesus back then( so I thought lol)

But now I can only imagine what life would be like without Him being born.
Full of despair and suffering that would never ever end….total torture

we find in Galatians 4
4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons​

6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.​

So now I see, I wasn’t ready before my time back then because it says in the scriptures you have to be ready. We are not supposed to born in this world as a non suffering person.
And God sent me my worst nightmares so I would be ready for Him.. And I would also imagine the same is for others also. God gives us the things we need in order for our growth and knowing Him and not before.

Merry Christmas Forgiven to you and your family brother and thanks for allowing me to see some Galatian scriptures.

 

[bobinfaith]

Hello forgiven;

Amen. This is what Christmas means to me.

On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, lets make it a time to put aside personal challenges of life, remember the loss of our family and friends, reflect on our faith, coming together in love, peace and reassurance toward each other as family, being One Foundation under God, in Jesus Name.

God bless you and yours, brother.

 

[Via dolarossa]

Hello forgiven;

Amen. This is what Christmas means to me.

On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, lets make it a time to put aside personal challenges of life, remember the loss of our family and friends, reflect on our faith, coming together in love, peace and reassurance toward each other as family, being One Foundation under God, in Jesus Name.

God bless you and yours, brother.

Hey Bob, Amen
Your refreshing posts again uplift me

 

[forgiven61]

I thought the no room at the inn story was a lot more behind it and I often wonder if there really was room or they just wouldn't accept a young unmarried couple...well today it would be like having a baby in the garage.

by far a expert theologian and in reality there is none. but everything i have read there was no room. and yes the no room is a very important part. there is a lot to be gleamed out of the Christmas story. sometimes Christmas brings the religious folks out .. no Christmas tree its a idol santa Claus is a tool of Satan. i am sure there will be some that will break out the religious by laws

 

[Lanolin]

I think sometimes the Christmas story (as read or presented) leaves out some of the challenges Mary was facing, living in relative poverty, being pregnant. He husband was in the Judah line, so lineage of Kings but Mary was from Nazareth, where nobody of note was born. She had her cousin Elizabeth who was also pregnant at the time to be her buddy but the actual birth it seems she had no family round, the whole reason going to Bethlehem was that was Josephs' HOMETOWN so supposedly he would have relatives there who would let he and Mary stay wouldn't he??

I don't know about christmas trees or santa claus I think it really depends on what story you read - I mean they are seperate stories!

In the library there are many stories about Christmas, the most famous being Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol. But that's a bout a rich miser being generous, while most people in Dickens time lived in poverty but still managed some christmas cheer at that time of year. In England and northern hemisphere it would be middle of winter and cold and miserable.

The story of Saint Nicholas has been embellished and become the famous poem by C Clement Moore Twas the Night before Christmas. American children loved that poem and have believed in it ever since.

The tree thing came about mostly because Queen Victoria had a tree in her palace (her family were half German) and everyone then copied what she did. In England they had barely any trees as it is as most forest cover has been cut down. The tree represented one of the two trees in the Garden of Eden originally in miracle plays, it was actually the bad one with the forbidden fruit on it lol

 

[Lanolin]

Rudolph the red nosed reindeer was from a song that was a hit in the 50s. Everyone had these new fangled vinyl records and was selling them, Christmas songs were the biggest sellers.
Bing Crosby's White Christmas was one of them. Thing is not everyone can live in New England lol.

Because the songs are recorded, people can now just play them whenever they like, though it's usually every year those records come out again. Rudolph is probably as catchy as Jingle Bells, but most children these days have never been on a one horse open sleigh. Where I live, it never snows...and would never snow in December. Out of season christmas jingles drive everyone nuts here, but it's really the Brits who bought all their strange traditions with them. For most children Christmas is a strange fantasy time of year. You get told a lot of stories and don't know which one to believe lol

 

[In Awe of Him]

Simeon;

he Got to hold the Word of God of course we cant forget the shepherds. ya know those guys who slept with the sheep smelled like sheep no bath no deodorant Got see baby Jesus in the manager .. they knew what was going on before they got there.

Love this!!!! He got to HOLD the WORD of GOD. WOW... WOW and WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[forgiven61]

Love this!!!! He got to HOLD the WORD of GOD. WOW... WOW and WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

think about what John said in john 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God .the song Mary did you know goes straight through me . Holy ghost bumps lol o the the things he prophesied Mary and joseph marveled do you think 33 years later mary remember the words of simeon this child is set for the rise and fall of many . he foretold of the slaughter of the Children Herod ordered slaughtered . when the wise men never came back with the directions to where the Christ Child was

 

[forgiven61]

For most children Christmas is a strange fantasy time of year. You get told a lot of stories and don't know which one to believe lol

we tell them the truth Christmas should be special for kids . far as that goes there is no record of just 3 wise men . they presented 3 gifts . there is no we three kings of orient i i dont mind dashing through the snow in a one horse open sleigh . i do like gma got run over by a reindeer lol the kids song i love.. as per dreaming of a white Christmas ..no thanks and i sure dont like Elvis ill have a blue Christmas with out you.. gezzzzzzz

 

[Lanolin]

Elvis stepbrother wrote a book about Elvis and mostly about his faith.
I think Elvis struggled a bit with some of his friends who were not christians who tried to influence him.

It's called 'The Faith of Elvis' by Bill Stanley.
Elvis loved Christmas both the religous and secular aspects to it. He was generous to a fault. He decorated Graceland every year am sure it was all lit up with all the trimmings. I guess when a poor boy hits the jackpot and makes a lot of money he feels like he's Santa Claus. I found the relationship with his younger stepbrother touching, he was always pointing to Jesus.

 

[Lanolin]

Sheep pellets don't smell that bad, well the garden centre ones don't. lol
Wool has a nice smell, its lanolin, and I do like the smell of hay and fresh cut grass.

If there are smelly animals, it would really be dogs that to me smell the worst.

 

[forgiven61]

Sheep pellets don't smell that bad, well the garden centre ones don't. lol
Wool has a nice smell, its lanolin, and I do like the smell of hay and fresh cut grass.

If there are smelly animals, it would really be dogs that to me smell the worst.

have you ever been around a barn yard. inside the barn where the animals feed . to be honest we dont know what type animals. you ever been around pigs?

 

[Lanolin]

have you ever been around a barn yard. inside the barn where the animals feed . to be honest we dont know what type animals. you ever been around pigs?

no we don't really have barns in nz, animals esp sheep graze in the open air/fields/hills. Their wool keeps them warm.
In Israel they didn't keep pigs because they didn't eat pork.

Why wouldn't you know what kind of animals? It says in the Bible sheep...cos of shepherds, and they had oxen and donkeys. They would have had roosters/hens as well. I would expect it was a stable for donkeys/horses as said before it was their garage.

Mary rode on a donkey. Rich people would have had camels, and wealthy Romans would have had horses. There were no cars in those days obvs.

 

[Dave F.]

I thought the no room at the inn story was a lot more behind it and I often wonder if there really was room or they just wouldn't accept a young unmarried couple...well today it would be like having a baby in the garage.

Joseph and Mary were married before they traveled to Bethlehem. It was Mary that the family objected to as she was pregnant and they knew it was not Josephs child and we have to remember that Bethlehem was a small town and people had traveled there for the census, Joseph and Mary could not travel as fast as the others and so when they got there everything was filled up, and family would not let them stay because of their dislike of Mary and what they thought she did.

 

[bobinfaith]

I think sometimes the Christmas story (as read or presented) leaves out some of the challenges Mary was facing, living in relative poverty, being pregnant. He husband was in the Judah line, so lineage of Kings but Mary was from Nazareth, where nobody of note was born. She had her cousin Elizabeth who was also pregnant at the time to be her buddy but the actual birth it seems she had no family round, the whole reason going to Bethlehem was that was Josephs' HOMETOWN so supposedly he would have relatives there who would let he and Mary stay wouldn't he?? I don't know about christmas trees or santa claus I think it really depends on what story you read - I mean they are seperate stories! In the library there are many stories about Christmas, the most famous being Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol. But that's a bout a rich miser being generous, while most people in Dickens time lived in poverty but still managed some christmas cheer at that time of year. In England and northern hemisphere it would be middle of winter and cold and miserable. The story of Saint Nicholas has been embellished and become the famous poem by C Clement Moore Twas the Night before Christmas. American children loved that poem and have believed in it ever since. The tree thing came about mostly because Queen Victoria had a tree in her palace (her family were half German) and everyone then copied what she did. In England they had barely any trees as it is as most forest cover has been cut down. The tree represented one of the two trees in the Garden of Eden originally in miracle plays, it was actually the bad one with the forbidden fruit on it lol

Rudolph the red nosed reindeer was from a song that was a hit in the 50s. Everyone had these new fangled vinyl records and was selling them, Christmas songs were the biggest sellers. Bing Crosby's White Christmas was one of them. Thing is not everyone can live in New England lol.
Because the songs are recorded, people can now just play them whenever they like, though it's usually every year those records come out again. Rudolph is probably as catchy as Jingle Bells, but most children these days have never been on a one horse open sleigh. Where I live, it never snows...and would never snow in December. Out of season christmas jingles drive everyone nuts here, but it's really the Brits who bought all their strange traditions with them. For most children Christmas is a strange fantasy time of year. You get told a lot of stories and don't know which one to believe lol

Hello Lanolin;

The whole Christmas thing is long mixed with the Christians' celebration and the world's celebration. So when we see the nativity or the manger scene it's depicted as a beautiful, problem free setting. We don't hear much about the challenges that Joseph and Mary went through traveling to Bethlehem. Joseph, like Mary was from Nazareth. But Romans required a census be registered in Bethlehem by all the Jewish people. Joseph was a descendant of David so they had to register in Bethlehem.

I have to confess as a boy my parents did a good job of us kids believing in Santa Claus until I was 10. But was we grew we were more exposed to the teachings of God through the normal growing up as elementary, teens, and young adults.
Little by little the world's glitter and magic of Christmas began to wane but the true Reason for the Season grew to where we are today as believers.

To be honest I look around and there are so many of our brothers and sisters including my wife and me who are not surrounded by the grand celebration of lights, Christmas tree, music, closest loved ones and all those presents. But what replaces all that is the belief and worship of Jesus' Birthday. I wouldn't have it any other way.

I do stop and think about Joseph and Mary's tough journey to the inn where Jesus born. I would like to find a movie about their journey and Jesus' birth. If anyone knows of one please let me know?

God bless you, Lanolin.

 

[forgiven61]

I do stop and think about Joseph and Mary's tough journey to the inn where Jesus born. I would like to find a movie about their journey and Jesus' birth. If anyone knows of one please let me know?

we have our Bible no it was not a easy time in them days there was no sterilization no doctors no modern medicine. it was all a Christmas miracle of God and from God . i dont know the number of years Christ was prophesied to come.. we cant start in Gen the seed of a woman .

i have no issues with Santa Claus / st Nicholas --provided kids are taught about the Birth of Christ. i see no problem having a tree or even one in the Church house. we have a 4 ft tree in the church sitting in the corner up front. we dont worship the tree so its just a symbol. we dont put up a tree . because we dont want one. the Big problem with Christmas season is they put out the decorations with the Halloween stuff in October. we have commercialized Christmas and left Christ out of it .

instead of making him the center . had the little Baby not been born the world would be full of even more darkness . so celebrate Jesus i know people who make a happy birth day Jesus cake, we dont know the exact time he was born . i have read some think around September. in reality it does not matter on the date. just teh fact he was born to redeem us from the curse of the law,


my how we all fall short . we call Christmas a Holiday but in reality it should be a celebration . athiest the aclu the freedom from religion all take time off for A Christian event

i dont even have proper grammar and i doubt Jesus did either

 

[In Awe of Him]

i dont even have proper grammar and i doubt Jesus did either

Love this!!!!!!!!! You made me smile...

 

[Lanolin]

There's a movie about Jesus birth called The Nativity. It starred Keisha Castle Hughes as Mary (she's a nzer). Keisha had her first child at 16 and was nominated for an academy award for The Whale Rider which is also a good movie.