Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Dec 18, 2009
CROWDS AND WOODSTOCK
I was only 14 years old when Woodstock took place. I had just become a Christian that Christmas. What was Woodstock? It was a Rock music festival that took place in America in 1969: "3 Days of Peace and Music". It attracted 300,000 people. It featured Creedence Clearwater
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Evangelical/Non-Denominational
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‘Twas the night before Jesus came and all through the house
Not a creature was praying, not one in the house.
Their Bibles were lain on the shelf without care
In hopes that Jesus would not come there.
The children were dressing to crawl into bed,
Not once ever kneeling or bowing a head.
And Mom in
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Evangelical/Non-Denominational
Contributed by Andy Grossman on Dec 4, 2007
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We can’t imagine what our Redeemer has in store for us. The Holy Spirit gives us a few clues, but it is like a person blind from birth trying to comprehend color. Imagine if you lived in a world of darkness – then could suddenly see. Imagine if you lived in a world without taste – and suddenly
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Holiness
Silent Night Carol
On a cold Christmas Eve in 1818 Father Joseph Franz Mohr (1792-1848) walked the three kilometres from his home - in the Austrian village of Oberndorf bei Salzburg - to visit his friend Franz Xaver Gruber (1787-1863) in the neighboring town of Arnsdorf bei Laufen.
Mohr brought
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Anglican
Contributed by Mark Haines on Dec 16, 2006
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I found an almost unbelievable demonstration of how the Christmas spirit comes and goes in a story told to Pastor Stuart Briscoe years ago by an old German man.
He fought with the German forces in the First World War. In those days, battles were not high tech but hand-to-hand trench warfare.
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Wesleyan
Contributed by Paul Steen on Dec 11, 2017
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BUYING THE STEREO
Philippians 4:11
I had an interesting experience buying a stereo as a teenager. I dreamed of getting one for Christmas when I was 19. I knew it would make me happy. I could hear the music playing and see myself swaying. I really needed it. But, Christmas came and went and I
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Calvary Chapel
Contributed by Kent Kessler on Dec 27, 2006
"Fa-who-for-ay; da-who-dor-ay; welcome, Christmas, come this way; Fa-who-for-ay; da-who-dor-ay; welcome, Christmas, Christmas day."
They continued, singing,
"Christmas day is in our grasp so long as we have hands to clasp."
The Grinch could hardly believe his ears.
He begins to get furious, but
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*other
Opening Video Illustration: Mr. Holland’s Opus
Our scene opens with the principal and vice principal questioning Mr. Holland’s use of rock music in his music appreciation class. Mr. Holland defends his teaching methods and says he will use whatever music he can to teach his students to love
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Evangelical/Non-Denominational
Contributed by Warner Pidgeon on Dec 19, 2007
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(Thanks to Dennis O’Gorman for this illustration). Ernie Smith was a bit odd, but he was a good man. For Ernie every day was Christmas. Each day he switched on his Christmas tree lights. His house was full of cards.
As he passed people in the street he would wish them a Happy Christmas! On
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Anglican
Contributed by Dan Waite on Nov 25, 2005
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“The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” C. S. Lewis noted that the effect of the rule of the White Witch, which represents evil, is to cause it to be “always winter but never Christmas.”
Winter eventually wears on even those who love it. It becomes burdensome and is occasionally
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Free Methodist
Contributed by Gordon Curley on Apr 9, 2012
VISITING BEETHOVEN
Beethoven died in 1827 and is buried in Vienna. A tourist went to visit his grave and found it a deeply moving experience. As they stood looking at the gravestone they could hear music. It was Beethoven’s music only it wasn’t quite right, there was something wrong. Then the
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Brethren
Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on Dec 10, 2006
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Henri Nouwen said in an article in the New Oxford Review: “I realized that songs, good feelings, beautiful liturgies, nice presents, big dinners, and many sweet words do not make Christmas. Christmas is saying ‘yes’ to something beyond all emotions and feelings. Christmas is saying ‘yes’ to a
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Methodist
Contributed by John Shearhart on Feb 24, 2005
based on 11 ratings
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We know that 80% of the town of Meulaboh in Aceh, Indonesia was destroyed by the Tsunami waves and 80% of the people also died. This is one of the towns that was hit the hardest.
But there is a fantastic testimony from Meulaboh. In that town are about 400 Christians. They wanted to celebrate
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Contributed by Jim Kane on Jan 29, 2006
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Chris Seiple writes in an article entitled ‘The Politics of Christmas,’ ‘Westerners, 2,000 years removed from the first Christmas, are tempted to assume that there could hardly be anything more innocent, non-threatening, and "non-political" than a baby in a manger. Yet the birth of a baby that
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Church Of God
Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Sep 28, 2010
Alex Haley, in his book, Roots, shared the story of an old slave who one day drove his master to a great ball at an adjoining plantation. As the slave sat quietly in the buggy waiting for his master to return, he became aware not only of the sounds coming from the big house, but of strange music
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 15, 2002
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THE MANIFESTATIONS OF AN ANTICHRIST
A father told a Senate committee that his son committed suicide after listening to songs about violence, sex, drugs, and death. "He was a good boy," Raymond Kuntz of Burlington, N.D., said of his only child, 15-year-old Richard. "The music wasn’t symptomatic
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Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 16, 2002
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A BUBBLING BABY, A BUBBLING JOY
On September 23, 1930, early in the morning a baby boy was born in Albany, Georgia. At that moment, of course, his family had no way of knowing that this bouncing baby boy would grow up to become one of the most beloved and respected singers and entertainers
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