2013-05-20T14:41:36-05:00 GCI info@gospel.com http://www.gospel.com/feeds/topics/christmas http://faithaliveresources.org/Products/401001/reformed-worship-1-year-subscription-4-issues.aspx 2013-05-20T14:41:36-05:00 This quarterly journal provides practical help with worship planning in the Reformed tradition. http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-most-important-relationship/closed-doors-at-christmas-6772 2012-12-27T15:18:08-05:00 Jesus said, "I have longed to gather you together, but you were not willing." And that tragedy continues today as Jesus tries to get into a life that He came for that first Christmas; that He died for on Good Friday - maybe yours. He paid such a high price for you. He loves you so much He doesn't want to lose you. He died to pay for the sin that would cause you to be shut out of Heaven. http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-most-important-relationship/surprises-in-the-family-tree-6770 2012-12-21T21:07:18-05:00 We're sinners who must always find grace to be "Amazing grace - how sweet the sound." The hymn says, "I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene, and wonder how He could love me...a sinner condemned, unclean." I hope today you still find God's grace amazing, and that you haven't been around so long that you think you belong in God's family because you deserve it. http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-most-important-relationship/wanting-to-be-king-6768 2012-12-20T09:52:41-05:00 As we count down to our annual visit to the manger, let me ask you, "Who's king in your life?" "Who's driving?" We don't mind the baby in a manger; that's kind of sweet. We don't even mind the Savior on the cross, but king on the throne; king of my life? Him driving? That's another story. http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-most-important-relationship/the-gift-he-didnt-want-6769 2012-12-20T09:50:44-05:00 This Christmas, you've got to decide what you're going to do with this greatest gift of all. To reject that gift is to reject God's great sacrifice for you, is to spurn this ultimate act of love from the God who made you, and to turn your back on the heaven that you want to go to when you die. http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-hindrances/the-closer-they-get-the-better-you-look-6764 2012-12-17T12:03:51-05:00 Live your life in such a way that you have no fear of scrutiny or discovery, or people comparing stories. If you tell the truth and do all things as Jesus would do them, the light will only show your authenticity as it did Samuel's. It can be said of those who live without secrets and without deception, "The closer people get, the better you look." http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-most-important-relationship/christmas-is-for-losers-6763 2012-12-12T10:03:39-05:00 Aren't you glad Christmas is for losers like you and me? Let's be sure that Christ comes to some people no one else comes to. He'll come to them through you, and they'll come to you to bring you into His family. http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-most-important-relationship/keep-the-child-alive-6732 2012-10-30T09:27:37-05:00 The first snow? Christmas? Amusement parks? They may or may not bring out the child in you. But knowing Jesus, trusting Jesus? That should keep the child alive in you. And I am so grateful that what Jesus did for us He said requires simply the faith of a little child to possess it. What He did on the cross, dying for our sins, loving us enough to pay the penalty we deserve, that that is something a child can grasp, and theologians can explore the depths of. http://internetevangelismday.com/blog/archives/6513 2011-12-16T11:57:35-05:00 In the Celtic Christian tradition, 'thin spaces' are times and places where the spiritual and the natural world intersect – occasions when it is possible to reach out and be touched by God. Christmas, even in our post-christendom world, is such a thin space. http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-most-important-relationship/our-own-little-bethlehem-6505 2011-12-16T09:29:56-05:00 You know, Christmas really is all about a Baby who came to die so we could live. And I will never stop thanking Him that He saw that lost little family in a second floor apartment on the south side of Chicago and sent a missionary - my brother - who never spoke a word to gave us Jesus.