All year long the church I pastor has been using Everyday Gospel Devotional by Paul David Tripp as a daily guide and of course, devotional. Each week I have been preaching on the Scripture we read from the previous week. That means that I have read each devotional twice. Once to read ahead and prepare my sermons, and the second time to read each day along with the others. It has been quite the undertaking from my standpoint of reading and preparing and presenting the Scripture each week. Usually large blocks of Scripture have to be covered. It has also been quite an undertaking for those who have stayed with it throughout the year. There is a certain amount of discipline required to stick with a devotional program that requires reading a devotion but also the related Scriptures. Often those daily Scripture readings were 2-3-4 (sometimes more) chapters in length. 

We are on the home stretch starting today. One month until the end of 2025. (Today’s Scripture reading today, for example, was Galatians 1-3). I ran into a conundrum though. As I prepared ahead of time, I realized that my normal fare of preaching on the birth of Christ during December would not happen. Like I mentioned to someone recently, “How can I preach on the birth of Christ while finishing up Revelation?” 🙂  I know this Sunday I will be using Philippians 2:5-11 during my message. It speaks of Christ being willing to give up all He had to come to earth to be born as a human. Well, that is one Scripture that fits the Christmas theme. But there isn’t a whole lot of any others. I mean, I have already preached on Isaiah 7:14: “A virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means God with us).”  Or Isaiah 9:6 where it says, “He will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.”  (That was back in July!). Christmas in July works! 🙂 

So, what about now? December? One that I suspect many of you cannot participate in is scheduled for Sunday night, December 21st. I am calling it “A Christmas Night of Worship.” The church will be gathering for a special time of worship that will include Christmas songs (old and new); special music by two of our ladies; a short meditation, communion, and a closing candlelight time of praise and prayer. 

The other is here. Each day I will be writing a Christmas devotional that is designed for my heart to focus on the Christmas story. Then I would like to share my heart with yours. I’d like to ask you to join me and invite others to do so as well. Friends. Colleagues. Family. Trust me when I say it is not to inflate my blog readers. IT IS TO FOCUS ON THE TRUE MEANING OF THE CHRISTMAS SEASON: THE BIRTH OF CHRIST.  I hope you will join me. 

{All Scripture from the NLT}