Three Miracles of Christmas - Part 5

By James Boice

Theme: “Be Born in Us Today”

This week’s lessons help us to prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ by

focusing on three miracles seen in the angel Gabriel’s visit to Mary.

Scripture: Luke 1:26-38

At this point I have spoken of three great miracles of Christmas: that God should become man, that he should do so by means of a Virgin Birth, and that Mary should have believed the angel's announcement. But now I want to say that the last of these miracles needs to have its counterpart in us. We too need to believe the good news concerning this child, that he is the Savior sent by the Father to deliver us from sin, and that we need to commit ourselves to him in wholehearted trust and obedience.

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

The Grand Lama

Posted 12/25/15 by Donald Barnhouse

In Tibet, the government used to be a theocracy and the ruler was the Grand Lama. When he died, it was believed that his spirit entered into a boy baby who was born at the very instant of the lama's death. The high priests of the religion cast horoscopes, wandered over the land and pounced upon a child whom they declare to be the Grand Lama. The choice might be a boy living in filth, in a herdsman's tent, far removed from any culture or education. In an instant this child, with matted hair and filthy body, was declared the Grand Lama of Tibet.

The Grand Lama

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Three Miracles of Christmas - Part 4

By James Boice

Theme: Belief in Gabriel’s Message

This week’s lessons help us to prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ by

focusing on three miracles seen in the angel Gabriel’s visit to Mary.

Scripture: Luke 1:26-38

It is hard to think of Christmas without thinking of the two great miracles I have mentioned—the incarnation and the Virgin Birth—and yet the third of these three miracles is the greatest of all, namely, that Mary should believe the angel's message. Luther puts it nicely: “The Virgin Birth is a mere trifle for God; that God should become man is a greater miracle; but most amazing of all is it that this maiden should credit [that is, believe] the announcement.”4

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

The Flaw in the Marble

Posted 12/24/15 by Donald Barnhouse

The great Italian sculptor, Benvenuto Cellini, told of receiving a vast block of marble with one flaw. Because of this flaw, no artist would submit a design - except one. In the public square of Florence a fence was built around that piece of marble, and a little shack was erected for the artist. For two years the sculptor labored; then the fence was torn down, and the shack was taken away.

The Flaw in the Marble

The great Italian sculptor, Benvenuto Cellini, told of receiving a vast block of marble with one flaw. Because of this flaw, no artist would submit a design - except one.

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is member supported and operates only by your faithful support. Thank you.

Three Miracles of Christmas - Part 3

By James Boice

Theme: The Virgin Birth

This week’s lessons help us to prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ by

focusing on three miracles seen in the angel Gabriel’s visit to Mary.

Scripture: Luke 1:26-38

The second miracle of Christmas announced to Mary by the angel Gabriel is the Virgin Birth. Strangely, this miracle was not a problem for the ancients. At least no strong opposition to its being possible has been recorded. It is only in recent times, in the earlier decades of this century, that the Virgin Birth has been discounted. It was attacked by the unbelieving liberal element in Christianity.

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Binding Guy Ropes

Posted 12/23/15 by Donald Barnhouse

A balloon cannot ascend as long as a single rope binds it to its moorings. If every cord but one is cut, it may struggle, but it cannot rise. Not until the knife severs the final stay will it arise. Nor does it ascend of itself. It would remain as heavy and inert as the earth beneath it were it not for the gas within it.

Binding Guy Ropes

A balloon cannot ascend as long as a single rope binds it to its moorings. If every cord but one is cut, it may struggle, but it cannot rise. Not until the knife severs the final stay will it arise. Nor does it ascend of itself. It would remain as heavy and inert as the earth beneath it were it not for the gas within it.

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is member supported and operates only by your faithful support. Thank you.

The Church Comes First

by Nick Batzig • December 22, 2015

There is one area of supreme importance where growth is always needed yet sadly neglected. It is the need for us to resolve to give our lives to Christ in the worship and service of the local church. In a very real sense, it is right for us to insist that the church should come first in the order of priorities of our lives.

As we come to the end of the year and press into yet another new year, it is always beneficial for us to evaluate our commitments and priorities from the past year--noting the ways in which we have, by God's grace, grown in certain areas and the ways in which we desperately need to grow in other areas. When people make New Year’s resolutions, they tend to fixate on their own personal health and wellness—something for which there is much to be said.

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is member supported and operates only by your faithful support. Thank you.

Christward Collective is a conversation of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Christward Collective and the mission of the Alliance.

Three Miracles of Christmas - Part 2

By James Boice

Theme: That God Should Become Man

This week’s lessons help us to prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ by

focusing on three miracles seen in the angel Gabriel’s visit to Mary.

Scripture: Luke 1:26-38

The announcement that Jesus should be born to Mary has several parts, all of them important: that Jesus would be “great”; that he would be “the Son of the Most High”; that he would be “holy,” that is, without sin; and that he would “reign over the house of Jacob” on the throne of David forever. But of these various parts of the announcement the greatest, without any doubt, is that the one to be born should be the Son of God. It is the greatest part of the announcement because it means that by the incarnation and birth God would himself become man.

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

The Artist and the Brush

Posted 12/22/15 by Donald Barnhouse

An artist who plans to exhibit a painting inspects every brush stroke, adding a slight touch here, deftly changing a shade there, until the very day of exhibition. The Lord God is working that way with us now.

The Artist and The Brush

An artist who plans to exhibit a painting inspects every brush stroke, adding a slight touch here, deftly changing a shade there, until the very day of exhibition.

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is member supported and operates only by your faithful support. Thank you.

Three Miracles of Christmas - Part 1

By James Boice

Theme: Christmas Miracles

This week’s lessons help us to prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ by

focusing on three miracles seen in the angel Gabriel’s visit to Mary.

Scripture: Luke 1:26-38

There is something about Christmas that is wonderful—in spite of the frantic pace of the days leading up to Christmas, the anxious flurry of pre-Christmas buying and the undisguised commercialism and materialism that is so much a part of Christmas in the West. I suppose it is the sheer magnitude of the event itself, the grandeur of what Christmas means: the birth of the Savior.

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

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