But all these things we can do also draw attention to what we can’t do. The vaccine is amazing, but ultimately we can’t vaccinate our mortality away. Many people have tried to live without these limits – we have tried to overcome the limits of age and mobility, the limits of the things we can’t control, the limits which cause difficulty in our lives. We have tried to shield ourselves from how limited each of us is – we’ve done that often by our limitless use of the natural world. These are actions which have brought the planet into trauma which, despite the initial and vital agreement at COP26, it is still unclear if we can heal. At the heart of all these issues is not economics or politics. It is human sin, selfishness, it’s our desire to be in control as a human race, not in God’s control. We think we can save everything, even Christmas.

There are things we can’t conquer – people are not on an upward trajectory towards perfection. Together and as individuals we daily bear the consequences of selfishness, lack of love and unforgiveness. Look at the comments below an article in the newspapers if you want to see selfishness and unforgiveness. We see that in our own behaviours and in organisations that we just can’t find the way to act rightly. We cannot save ourselves. But God can. The gift of salvation that we see in this infant in the manger is not just offered to some people, but to all.

And that is the theme of the song of the angels. The very seams of heaven split, and with cartwheels of delight they announce the news – God has come as saviour and everyone is included.

Read it all.

We are loved, in all our limitations, by the God whose love has no limits.

My Christmas Day Sermon: https://t.co/WRw8DeUGWP

— Archbishop of Canterbury (@JustinWelby) December 25, 2021

15. This time of Christ’s feast natal,
We will be merry, great and small,
And thou shalt go out of this hall;
Farewell from us both all and some!

16. Advent is gone, Christmas is come;
Be we merry now, all and some!
He is not wise that will be dumb
In ortu Regis omnium. [At the coming of the King of all things]

Read it all.

'Advent is gone, Christmas is come;
Be we merry now, all and some!'

A medieval friar's cheery carol bidding farewell to Advent: https://t.co/X3eT0CHyHD pic.twitter.com/bbTcd7w90A

— Eleanor Parker (@ClerkofOxford) December 24, 2021

“Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you Good News of a great joy . . . This day is born the Savior,” that is, he who, as Son of God and Son of the Father, has traveled (in obedience to the Father) the path that leads away from the Father and into the darkness of the world. Behind him omnipotence and freedom; before, powerlessness, bonds and obedience. Behind him the comprehensive divine vision; before him the prospect of the meaninglessness of death on the Cross between two criminals, Behind him the bliss of life with the Father; before him, grievous solidarity with all who do not know the Father, do not want to know him and deny his existence. Rejoice then, for God himself has passed this way! The Son took with him the awareness of doing the Father’s will. He took with him the unceasing prayer that the Father’s will would be done on the dark earth as in the brightness of heaven. He took with him his rejoicing that the Father had hidden these things from the wise and revealed them to babes, to the simple and the poor. “I am the way,” and this way is “the truth” for you; along this way you will find “the life.” Along “the way” that I am you will learn to lose your life in order to find it; you will learn to grow beyond yourselves and your insincerity into a truth that is greater than you are. From a worldly point of view everything may seem very dark; your dedication may seem unproductive and a failure. But do not be afraid: you are on God’s path. “Let not your hearts be troubled: believe in God; believe also in me.” I am walking on ahead of you and blazing the trail of Christian love for you. It leads to your most inaccessible brother, the person most forsaken by God. But it is the path of divine love itself. You are on the right path. All who deny themselves in order to carry out love’s commission are on the right path.

Miracles happen along this path. Apparently insignificant miracles, noticed by hardly anyone. The very finding of a Child wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger—is this not a miracle in itself? Then there is the miracle when a particular mission, hidden in a person’s heart, really reaches its goal, bringing God’s peace and joy where there were nothing but despair and resignation; when someone succeeds in striking a tiny light in the midst of an overpowering darkness. When joy irradiates a heart that no longer dared to believe in it. Now and again we ourselves are assured that the angel’s word we are trying to obey will bring us to the place where God’s Word and Son is already made man. We are assured that, in spite of all the noise and nonsense, today, December 25, is Christmas just as truly as two millennia ago. Once and for all God has started out on his journey toward us, and nothing, till the world’s end, will stop him from coming to us and abiding in us.

Read it all.

Gentile da Fabriano.grazie Lina M. pic.twitter.com/qGO5RCnpNi

— Umberto Di Giorgi (@GiorgiUmberto) December 24, 2021

The crucial significance of the cradle at Bethlehem lies in its place in the sequence of steps down that led the Son of God to the cross of Calvary, and we do not understand it till we see it in this context…the taking of manhood by the Son is set before us in a way which shows us how we should ever view it–not simply as a marvel of nature, but rather as a wonder of grace.

–J. I. Packer, Knowing God, (Downer’s Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press; 20th Anniversary ed.), p.42

Adoration of the Christ Child, Deccani School, Golconda Court, circa. 1630. Freer Gallery of Art.

Merry Christmas!! pic.twitter.com/onySqp4Zql

— Mou Banerjee (@moubanerjee28) December 25, 2021

Almighty God,
you have given us your only-begotten Son
to take our nature upon him
and as at this time to be born of a pure virgin:
grant that we, who have been born again
and made your children by adoption and grace,
may daily be renewed by your Holy Spirit;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Happy Christmas from the Church of England! 🎄💓🌟 pic.twitter.com/wWd76CclCH

— The Church of England (@churchofengland) December 25, 2021

She was five,
sure of the facts,
and recited them
with slow solemnity
convinced every word
was revelation.

She said
they were so poor
they had only peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
to eat
and they went a long way from home
without getting lost. The lady rode
a donkey, the man walked, and the baby
was inside the lady.
They had to stay in a stable
with an ox and an ass (hee-hee)
but the Three Rich Men found them
because a star lited the roof.
Shepherds came and you could
pet the sheep but not feed them.
Then the baby was borned.
And do you know who he was?
Her quarter eyes inflated
to silver dollars.
The baby was God.

And she jumped in the air
whirled around, dove into the sofa
and buried her head under the cushion
which is the only proper response
to the Good News of the Incarnation.

–John Shea, The Hour of the Unexpected

That’s all for this Nativity edition of Art Wednesday. Have a great Christmas. Remember, hope has come. Glory to God in the highest. #ArtWednesday #Nativity #Rembrandt pic.twitter.com/kxqUaXQeOk

— Russ Ramsey 🫀 (@russramsey) December 23, 2021

O Heavenly Father, as we celebrate again the nativity of thy Son our Saviour, we pray that, like the angels, we may sing his joyful praise; like the shepherds, we may go even to Bethlehem and see the Child lying in a manger; and like the wise men, we may offer to him our worship, and give him the love and loyalty of our hearts; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

Some wonderful photographs in @BBCWorld's “In pictures: World celebrates Christmas”, but this one from Bethlehem has the feel of a Rembrandt painting https://t.co/m9hJHUEZ1W pic.twitter.com/p9qCF5Gdiw

— Mark Pullinger (@larkingrumple) December 25, 2021

God with us means more than God over or side by side with us, before or behind us. It means more than His divine being in even the most intimate active connection with our human being otherwise peculiar to Him. At this point, at the heart of the Christian message and in relation to the event of which it speaks, it means that God has made himself the one who fulfills his redemptive will. It means that He Himself in His own person at His own cost but also on His own initiative has become the inconceivable Yet and Nevertheless of this event, and so its clear and well-founded and legitimate, its true and holy and righteous Therefore. It means that God has become man in order as such, but in divine sovereignty, to take up our case. What takes place in the work of inconceivable mercy is, therefore, the free overruling of God, but it is not an arbitrary overlooking and ignoring, not an artificial bridging, covering over or hiding, but a real closing of the breach, gulf and abyss between God and us for which we are responsible. At the very point where we refuse and fail, offending and provoking God, making ourselves impossible before Him and in that way missing our destiny, treading under foot our dignity, forfeiting our right, losing our salvation and hopelessly compromising our creaturely being at that very point God Himself intervenes as man.

—Church Dogmatics (IV.1) [E.T. By Geoffrey Bromiley and Thomas Torrance of the German Original] (London: T and T Clark, 1956), page 12

Adoration of the Shepherds in stillest of nights, by Georges de la Tour in 1644. For the end of Second Christmas Day. pic.twitter.com/RHiZX3SElz

— Dr. Peter Paul Rubens (@PP_Rubens) December 27, 2018

Lyrics:

Good people all, this Christmas time
Consider well and bear in mind
What our good God for us has done
In sending his beloved son
With Mary holy we should pray
To God with love this Christmas Day
In Bethlehem upon that morn
There was a blessed Messiah born
Near Bethlehem did shepherds keep
Their flocks of lambs and feeding sheep
To whom God’s angels did appear
Which put the shepherds in great fear
‘Prepare and go, ‘ the angels said
‘To Bethlehem, be not afraid
For there you’ll find, this happy morn
A princely babe, sweet Jesus born
With thankful heart and joyful mind
The shepherds went, this babe to find
And as God’s angel had foretold
They did our saviour Christ behold
Within a manger he was laid
And by his side the virgin maid
Attending on the Lord of life
Who came on earth to end all strife
Good people all, this Christmas time
Consider well and bear in mind
What our good God for us has done
In sending his beloved Son
With Mary holy we should pray
To God with love this Christmas day
In Bethlehem upon that morn
There was a blessed Messiah born

Almighty God, who hast revealed the glory of thy love in the in the face of Jesus Christ, and called us by him to live as thy children: Fill our hearts, as we remember his nativity, with the gladness of this great redemption; that we may join in the heavenly song of glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, and goodwill towards men; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

Today's big event, year zero: holy family reaches the city gates of Bethlehem (upper right). More excitement to come! From the Plenarium of Duke Otto the Mild, c. 1330. pic.twitter.com/RLaZObnL06

— Dr. Peter Paul Rubens (@PP_Rubens) December 24, 2021

O God, you have caused this holy night to shine with the brightness of the true Light: Grant that we, who have known the mystery of that Light on earth, may also enjoy him perfectly in heaven; where with you and the Holy Spirit he lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

'Fear not for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people'. The angel appears to the shepherds in the snowy hills above Bethlehem in glass by Margaret Edith Aldrich Rope, 1920s, now at Kesgrave Holy Family, Ipswich, Suffolk.

Today is Christmas Eve. pic.twitter.com/BDJG6twSyR

— Simon Knott (@last_of_england) December 24, 2021

We are going to take a break from the Anglican, Religious, Financial, Cultural, and other news until later in the Christmas season to focus from this evening forward on the great miracle of the Incarnation–KSH.

Wherever you are and whoever you are, you are welcome and invited this Christmas to worship the child, the God, whose heart beats for you. #ChristmasEve #AtTheHeartOfChristmas

— Archbishop of Canterbury (@JustinWelby) December 24, 2021

As the Dalai Lama says and as the Christmas story conveys, there is a lot of warm-hearted understanding and forgiveness needed. A lot of more honest conversations which acknowledge our mistakes and offer new beginnings. A lot of choosing to heal and of choosing not to do any further harm.

May this Christmas lift our spirits for this important work that lies ahead.

Read it all.

The Christmas story evokes a warm-heartedness the world needs https://t.co/nZ2mr6e2So

— BishopPhilip Huggins (@PHUGGINS4) December 23, 2021

Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that the solemn feast of our redemption which is now at hand, may help us both in this present life, and further us towards the attaining of thine eternal joy in that which is to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

–Prayers for the Christian Year (SCM, 1964)

Ladybird Artists Advent Calendar, the final window
‘Mam Tor’#SRBadmin pic.twitter.com/WSpzgqALLy

— Helen Day (@LBFlyawayhome) December 24, 2021

In their annual Christmas messages, bishops of the Church of England speak of the end of 2021 as a time of uncertainty and anxiety but say the message of the Christmas story is needed more than ever.

The Bishop of Lichfield, Dr Michael Ipgrave, refers to weeks of uncertainty about whether some Christmas celebrations should go ahead amid concerns about spreading covid-19, at the end of “another unsettling year for the human race, and us as individuals”.

But he adds: “Every Christmas we tell again the story of … God, who loves our world so much that he chooses to come among us – not because he is obliged to, not because we have asked him to, but simply out of grace.

“We always begin with grace, and we always come back to grace, shown in the sign of Emmanuel, God with us in Jesus Christ, born as a baby among us.

“No law, no government, no power on earth can cancel the wonder of that birth.”

Read it all and there are video links provided.

Nothing can cancel the message of Christmas – bishops speak of hope amid uncertainty | The Church of England https://t.co/GUGBWW4uhX

— John Inge (@BishopWorcester) December 23, 2021

O God, who didst promise that thy glory should be revealed, and that all flesh should see it together: Stir up our hearts, we beseech thee, to prepare the way of thine only begotten Son; and pour out upon us thy loving kindness, that we who are afflicted by reason of our sins may be refreshed by the coming of our Saviour, and may behold his glory; who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth one God, world without end.

Gm, beautiful family! pic.twitter.com/C8fDjoZx7t

— James A. Truett | Irish Artist (@jamesatruett) December 23, 2021

Lord God Almighty, King of glory and love eternal, worthy art thou at all times to receive adoration, praise, and blessing; but especially at this time do we praise thee for the sending of thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, for whom our hearts do wait, and to whom, with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, be honour and dominion, now and for ever.

–Prayers for the Christian Year (SCM, 1964)

Ladybird Artists Advent Calendar, window 22
‘Winter Scene’#SRBadmin pic.twitter.com/pQamvgSQds

— Helen Day (@LBFlyawayhome) December 22, 2021

Increase, O God, the spirit of neighborliness among us, that in peril we may uphold one another, in suffering tend to one another, and in homelessness, loneliness, or exile befriend one another. Grant us brave and enduring hearts that we may strengthen one another, until the disciplines and testing of these days are ended, and you again give peace in our time; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Vermont, USA 🍁🧡🧡🧡 pic.twitter.com/sd7fjKlpnZ

— Ana Otta (@ottavaldez) December 19, 2021

God our redeemer,
who prepared the Blessed Virgin Mary
to be the mother of your Son:
grant that, as she looked for his coming as our saviour,
so we may be ready to greet him
when he comes again as our judge;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Today marks the fourth Sunday of Advent and we light the fourth next candle on the Advent Wreath. 🕯

On the Fourth Sunday of Advent (the last before Christmas Day) we remember Mary, who waited for his birth, which had been announced to her by an angel.#AtTheHeartOfChristmas pic.twitter.com/Y2YB1DzvwS

— The Church of England (@churchofengland) December 19, 2021

Almighty Father, whose blessed Son at his coming amongst us brought redemption unto his people, and peace to men of goodwill: Grant that, when he shall come again in glory to judge the world and to make all things new, we may be found ready to receive him, and enter into his joy; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ.

Frohen 4. Advent 😊 pic.twitter.com/5ZrUpZx6M3

— Dr. Malek Hallinger 🔬🧫🎙 (@DrHallinger_vet) December 19, 2021

O Christ our God, who wilt come to judge the world in the manhood which thou hast assumed: We pray thee to sanctify us wholly, that in the day of thy coming we may be raised up to live and reign with thee for ever.

Most detailed image of the Crab #Nebula by @NASAHubble 🦀 pic.twitter.com/jNJrnTwnfL

— Space_Hub (@SpaceHub_SL) November 20, 2021

O Lord Jesus Christ, before whose judgment-seat we must all appear and give account of the things done in the body: Grant, we beseech thee, that when the books are opened in that day, the faces of thy servants may not be ashamed; through thy merits, O blessed Saviour, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.

Ladybird Artists Advent Calendar, window 17
‘Crossing the Bridge’#RowlandHilder pic.twitter.com/wBjuM6Qm9l

— Helen Day (@LBFlyawayhome) December 17, 2021

O Lord Jesus Christ,
who at your first coming sent your messenger
to prepare your way before you:
grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries
may likewise so prepare and make ready your way
by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,
that at your second coming to judge the world
we may be found an acceptable people in your sight;
for you are alive and reign with the Father
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Sunrise over the Anchorage bowl and the Chugach Mountains. @ThePhotoHour @StormHour pic.twitter.com/y9dq3TJSis

— akdanno (@akdanno_) December 16, 2021

O eternal and glorious Trinity, deeper than the deepest sea, and the abyss of love for whom we thirst and long; let us forever desire your light, forever seek your face and forever wrap ourselves in the robe of your glory; world without end. Amen.

Ladybird Artists Advent Calendar, window 15
‘Sledges’#RonaldLampitt pic.twitter.com/XJZPm0Uqkb

— Helen Day (@LBFlyawayhome) December 15, 2021

But to Joseph, Mary’s perceived sin did not make her an outcast. He knew she deserved love and protection. The NIV beautifully combines Joseph’s Jewish religious culture and his personal spirituality in one sentence: “Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly” (Matt. 1:19).

Here, we see that Joseph isn’t the grumpy, emasculated husband of Christmas legend. Even before he received God’s message about Jesus, Joseph’s demonstrated love for Mary and his commitment to protect her dignity overpowered any legalism. Joseph’s behavior portrays genuine masculinity and Bible-certified righteousness.

The situation, of course, isn’t what he had first imagined. In a dream, an angel told him Mary’s pregnancy was of divine origin. Joseph dismissed his previous plans and agreed to obey just as quickly and simply as Mary had accepted that she was pregnant before marriage (Matt. 1:24; Luke 1:38).

Such a positive response to such a difficult and risky circumstance would have been impossible in a spiritually dull, legalistic mind. A legalistic man might have quickly dismissed the angel’s message as hallucination, as it seemed to contradict the law. Joseph’s spirituality was of such a kind that he was able to value the will of the lawgiver more than the law, something that eluded many sophisticated theologians and religious leaders (Matt. 15:3–9), not to mention Jesus’ disciples.

Read it all.

Joseph could have been filled with resentment, but he wasn't.

"I’ve seen how difficult that is," writes @Aniyonizigiye, especially "for men who have had to flee their homes and deal with the frustrations of providing without stability."

How did he do it? https://t.co/Z69fpvrfRf

— Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) December 13, 2021

O Heavenly Father, whose most dearly beloved Son has come once to save the world, and will come again to judge the world: Help us, we pray thee, to watch like servants who wait for the coming of their lord. May we abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost; and, having this hope, may we purify ourselves by thy grace, even as Christ is pure. Grant this, O Father, for his sake and for the glory of thy holy name.

Sunrise in the valley of Knights of old. Historic Chesterton,Warwickshire,England. December 12th 2021. pic.twitter.com/MmYS3YvDBv

— David Adams Photos 2021. (@chesterton2015) December 13, 2021

Thou who with thine own mouth hast avouched that at midnight, at an hour when we are not aware, the Bridegroom shall come: Grant that the cry, The Bridegroom cometh, may sound evermore in our ears, that so we be never unprepared to meet him, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

I've enjoyed photography so much during 2021. This is one of my favourite images, of a swan at sunrise, taken earlier this year in Bushy Park. 🦢#FSChristmasCaptures @Fotospeed
#NaturePhotography #TwitterNatureCommunity pic.twitter.com/lBNhhlBrzr

— Scot Down South (@LesleyAM13) December 13, 2021

O Father God for whom we watch and wait,
you sent John the Baptist to prepare the way of your Son:
by the power of your Spirit give us courage to speak the truth,
to hunger for justice,
and to suffer for the cause of right,
with Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen (slightly edited).

Matthew 11, The Preaching of St. John the Baptist by Pieter Bruegel pic.twitter.com/9epbTPoJ0n

— Matthew Wester (@MatthewWester) December 1, 2021

O thou, who hast foretold that thou wilt return to judgment in an hour that we are not aware of, grant us grace to watch and pray always, that whether thou shalt come at even, or at midnight, or in the morning, we may be found among the number of those servants who shall be blessed in watching for their Lord, to whom be all glory now and for evermore.

Up with the birds#birdphotography #TwitterNatureCommunity pic.twitter.com/2RtSc7SH9h

— Scott ☘ (@Havenlust) December 11, 2021