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The Best Gift of All

Sermon
The Nativity of our Lord - A
Titus 2:11-14
Timothy J. Smith
Christmas Grace
Cycle A Second Lesson Sermons for Advent, Christmas, Epiphany
There is a special feeling from being in church on Christmas Eve. For many of us it feels like coming home for Christmas. We come to hear the familiar story of Mary and Joseph making their way to the little town of Bethlehem. We hear once again of Baby Jesus born in stable. Soon after an unexpected encounter with angels, the shepherds head to the manger to see Jesus for themselves. Children have creatively acted out this story for generations complete with the wise men offering their gifts. Living Nativities complete with live animals are portrayed in church parking lots in many communities.
UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Advent 3
31 – Sermons
180+ – Illustrations / Stories
34 – Children's Sermons / Resources
22 – Worship Resources
30 – Commentary / Exegesis
2 – Pastor's Devotions
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Advent 4
36 – Sermons
180+ – Illustrations / Stories
32 – Children's Sermons / Resources
19 – Worship Resources
31 – Commentary / Exegesis
3 – Pastor's Devotions
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Christmas!
27 – Sermons
100+ – Illustrations / Stories
31 – Children's Sermons / Resources
20 – Worship Resources
33 – Commentary / Exegesis
3 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Plus thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...

New & Featured This Week

The Immediate Word

Christopher Keating
Thomas Willadsen
Katy Stenta
Mary Austin
George Reed
Dean Feldmeyer
For December 29, 2024:

StoryShare

Peter Andrew Smith
John peeked around the corner. “Daughter of mine, is there any chance that Ollie is in the kitchen?”

“I haven’t seen him for a bit.” Amy started to get up from the table. “Isn’t he with you?”

“Nothing to worry about,” John said. “We’re playing hide and seek, and your son is hiding and I’m seeking.”

Amy pushed out a chair. “He’s not here and you look like you could use a break.”

“I sure can. I’m exhausted.” John slumped down in the chair. “Does he ever stop?”

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Mark Ellingsen
Frank Ramirez
Bill Thomas
Bonnie Bates
1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26
In the mid-1990’s, Wendy’s restaurants had a promotion win which they would “biggie size” your drink, your meal, almost everything but the Frosty! Wendy’s decided to discontinue this promotion after getting some criticism from those who claim the fast-food industry was contributing to the nation’s obesity problem.
Mark Ellingsen
1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
Call to Worship:

Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and men. Let us worship him today with dignity and love, remembering that he was once a child just as we have all been children.

Invitation to Confession:

 Father God,

Lord, have mercy.

 Father God,

Christ, have mercy.

 Father God,

Lord, have mercy

 Reading:

 Luke 2:41-52

SermonStudio

James Evans
(Occurs in all three cycles of the lectionary; see Christmas 1, Cycle A; Christmas 1, Cycle B; and Easter 5, Cycle C, for alternative approaches.)

Mary S. Lautensleger
Each of us faces the choice of who and what we will become. Sometimes, we don't really know what we want to be when we grow up until we are forty-something. Our earliest models for making that choice are the people who raise and nurture us. Although we identify with the adults whom we admire most, each of us is unique and intended to become "our own person."
Cynthia E. Cowen
Tradition is defined as an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought or action. Take for instance a cooking method. Sarah asked her mother, "Why do you always cut the turkey in half and put it in two small roasters?"

"Because my mother always did. It's a tradition handed down through our family," responded her mother.

"But Mom, did you ever think they didn't have big roasters back then?" Tradition -- a customary pattern or action. But who said traditions can't be changed?
Robert S. Crilley
In his book What's So Amazing About Grace? Philip Yancey tells of a conversation he once had with two scientists who had just emerged from the biosphere near Tucson, Arizona.1 For those of you who aren't familiar with what that is -- several years ago, an isolation experiment was conducted, in which a team of four men and four women lived inside a glass-enclosed structure, entirely shut off from the outer world. The general idea was to see if humankind might one day be able to exist on another planet by recreating a portion of the earth.

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