Are You Enjoying Your Christmas

[Blood Bought 1953]

5 hours ago, LadyKay said:

I was wondering who would be the first person to turn this happy little thread into a debate. 

 

Always remember.......The “ Fun Police” never sleep.......

[Blood Bought 1953]

3 minutes ago, Dennis1209 said:

Technically speaking, you're correct, Jesus was not born anywhere near December 25th. Sheep and Sheppard's are not grazing and out in the winter in Israel.

Celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior against the Bible? On the contrary. Perhaps you're thinking about the particular day that was selected and its pagan associations? We can take about any day of the calendar year and link it to a pagan event or holiday if one wishes. 

We should celebrate Jesus every hour of the day and every day of the year. A national day was selected for our country to remember and celebrate the birth of the Messiah, our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ [Jesus is the reason for the season]. Our church last year did something I've never heard of or experienced. At the suggestion of our Pastor, our congregation sang Happy Birthday to Jesus. I thought it strange at first, but I think Jesus would take no offense at our intentions, love and devotion of sing it to Him. 

I wish you a "Merry Christ-mas",  and God bless you.

 

 

Yes......God sees the heart.....

[ItsJustDeep]

Well put. Appreciate the reply @Dennis1209

 

[InChristAlways]

Gathering around the tree and playing Christmas carols and reading the account of the birth of of Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ...........

The Arch Messenger Gabriel is mentioned in only 4 verses of the Bible. 2 times in Daniel and 2 times in Luke concerning John the Baptist and Jesus.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=gabriel&t=YLT#s=s_primary_0_1

"gabriel"occurs 4 times in 4 verses in the YLT.

Luke 1:19And the messenger answering said to him, ‘I am Gabriel, who have been standing near before God, and I was sent to speak unto thee, and to proclaim these good news to thee, 20and lo, thou shalt be silent, and not able to speak, till the day that these things shall come to pass, because thou didst not believe my words, that shall be fulfilled in their season.’

YLT) Luke 1 26And in the sixth month was the messenger Gabriel sent by God, to a city of Galilee, the name of which [is] Nazareth, 27to a virgin, betrothed to a man, whose name [is] Joseph, of the house of David, and the name of the virgin [is] Mary. 28And the messenger having come in unto her, said, ‘Hail, favoured one, the Lord [is] with thee; blessed [art] thou among women;’ 29and she, having seen, was troubled at his word, and was reasoning of what kind this salutation may be. 30And the messenger said to her, ‘Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God; 31and lo, thou shalt conceive in the womb, and shalt bring forth a son, and call his name Jesus; 32he shall be great, and Son of the Highest he shall be called, and the Lord God shall give him the throne of David his father, 33and he shall reign over the house of Jacob to the ages; and of his reign there shall be no end.’ 34And Mary said unto the messenger, ‘How shall this be, seeing a husband I do not know?’ 35And the messenger answering said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee, therefore also the holy-begotten thing shall be called Son of God; 36and lo, Elisabeth, thy kinswoman, she also hath conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month to her who was called barren; 37because nothing shall be impossible with God.’ 38And Mary said, ‘Lo, the maid-servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to thy saying,’ and the messenger went away from her.

Luke 2:8And there were shepherds in the same region, lodging in the field, and keeping the night-watches over their flock, 9and lo, a messenger of the Lord stood over them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they feared a great fear. 10And the messenger said to them, ‘Fear not, for lo, I bring you good news of great joy, that shall be to all the people — 11because there was born to you to-day a Saviour — who is Christ the Lord — in the city of David, 12and this [is] to you the sign: Ye shall find a babe wrapped up, lying in the manger.’ 13And suddenly there came with the messenger a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying,

14‘Glory in the highest to God, and upon earth peace, among men — good will.’

15And it came to pass, when the messengers were gone away from them to the heavens, that the men, the shepherds, said unto one another, ‘We may go over indeed unto Bethlehem, and see this thing that hath come to pass, that the Lord did make known to us.’ 16And they came, having hasted, and found both Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger, 17and having seen, they made known abroad concerning the saying spoken to them concerning the child. 18And all who heard, did wonder concerning the things spoken by the shepherds unto them; 19and Mary was preserving all these things, pondering in her heart; 20and the shepherds turned back, glorifying and praising God, for all those things they heard and saw, as it was spoken unto them.

==================================

One of my all time favorite Carols of the birth of Jesus:

 

Edited December 17, 2019 by InChristAlways

[JoeCanada]

17 minutes ago, InChristAlways said:

Gathering around the tree and playing Christmas carols and reading the account of the birth of of Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ...........

The Arch Messenger Gabriel is mentioned in only 4 verses of the Bible. 2 times in Daniel and 2 times in Luke concerning John the Baptist and Jesus.

YLT) Luke 1 26And in the sixth month was the messenger Gabriel sent by God, to a city of Galilee, the name of which [is] Nazareth, 27to a virgin, betrothed to a man, whose name [is] Joseph, of the house of David, and the name of the virgin [is] Mary. 28And the messenger having come in unto her, said, ‘Hail, favoured one, the Lord [is] with thee; blessed [art] thou among women;’ 29and she, having seen, was troubled at his word, and was reasoning of what kind this salutation may be. 30And the messenger said to her, ‘Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God; 31and lo, thou shalt conceive in the womb, and shalt bring forth a son, and call his name Jesus; 32he shall be great, and Son of the Highest he shall be called, and the Lord God shall give him the throne of David his father, 33and he shall reign over the house of Jacob to the ages; and of his reign there shall be no end.’ 34And Mary said unto the messenger, ‘How shall this be, seeing a husband I do not know?’ 35And the messenger answering said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee, therefore also the holy-begotten thing shall be called Son of God; 36and lo, Elisabeth, thy kinswoman, she also hath conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month to her who was called barren; 37because nothing shall be impossible with God.’ 38And Mary said, ‘Lo, the maid-servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to thy saying,’ and the messenger went away from her.

Luke 2:8And there were shepherds in the same region, lodging in the field, and keeping the night-watches over their flock, 9and lo, a messenger of the Lord stood over them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they feared a great fear. 10And the messenger said to them, ‘Fear not, for lo, I bring you good news of great joy, that shall be to all the people — 11because there was born to you to-day a Saviour — who is Christ the Lord — in the city of David, 12and this [is] to you the sign: Ye shall find a babe wrapped up, lying in the manger.’ 13And suddenly there came with the messenger a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying,

14‘Glory in the highest to God, and upon earth peace, among men — good will.’

15And it came to pass, when the messengers were gone away from them to the heavens, that the men, the shepherds, said unto one another, ‘We may go over indeed unto Bethlehem, and see this thing that hath come to pass, that the Lord did make known to us.’ 16And they came, having hasted, and found both Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger, 17and having seen, they made known abroad concerning the saying spoken to them concerning the child. 18And all who heard, did wonder concerning the things spoken by the shepherds unto them; 19and Mary was preserving all these things, pondering in her heart; 20and the shepherds turned back, glorifying and praising God, for all those things they heard and saw, as it was spoken unto them.

==================================

One of my all time favorite Carols of the birth of Jesus:

 

Hi InChristAlways,

Yes, a great song indeed.

So, correct me if I'm wrong. The sixth month is Feb/March in the Jewish calendar. The Angel Gabriel was sent by God in the sixth month. Can we or should we assume then, that Mary became pregnant around that time.....the sixth month? (Elizabeth was already in her sixth month of pregnancy when Gabriel was talking to Mary.)

So, from Feb/March........add 9 months........ it kinda looks like December for birth. 

Who knows....maybe? 

[Debp]

31 minutes ago, InChristAlways said:

Gathering around the tree and playing Christmas carols and reading the account of the birth of of Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ...........

The Arch Messenger Gabriel is mentioned in only 4 verses of the Bible. 2 times in Daniel and 2 times in Luke concerning John the Baptist and Jesus.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=gabriel&t=YLT#s=s_primary_0_1

"gabriel"occurs 4 times in 4 verses in the YLT.

Luke 1:19And the messenger answering said to him, ‘I am Gabriel, who have been standing near before God, and I was sent to speak unto thee, and to proclaim these good news to thee, 20and lo, thou shalt be silent, and not able to speak, till the day that these things shall come to pass, because thou didst not believe my words, that shall be fulfilled in their season.’

YLT) Luke 1 26And in the sixth month was the messenger Gabriel sent by God, to a city of Galilee, the name of which [is] Nazareth, 27to a virgin, betrothed to a man, whose name [is] Joseph, of the house of David, and the name of the virgin [is] Mary. 28And the messenger having come in unto her, said, ‘Hail, favoured one, the Lord [is] with thee; blessed [art] thou among women;’ 29and she, having seen, was troubled at his word, and was reasoning of what kind this salutation may be. 30And the messenger said to her, ‘Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God; 31and lo, thou shalt conceive in the womb, and shalt bring forth a son, and call his name Jesus; 32he shall be great, and Son of the Highest he shall be called, and the Lord God shall give him the throne of David his father, 33and he shall reign over the house of Jacob to the ages; and of his reign there shall be no end.’ 34And Mary said unto the messenger, ‘How shall this be, seeing a husband I do not know?’ 35And the messenger answering said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee, therefore also the holy-begotten thing shall be called Son of God; 36and lo, Elisabeth, thy kinswoman, she also hath conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month to her who was called barren; 37because nothing shall be impossible with God.’ 38And Mary said, ‘Lo, the maid-servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to thy saying,’ and the messenger went away from her.

Luke 2:8And there were shepherds in the same region, lodging in the field, and keeping the night-watches over their flock, 9and lo, a messenger of the Lord stood over them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they feared a great fear. 10And the messenger said to them, ‘Fear not, for lo, I bring you good news of great joy, that shall be to all the people — 11because there was born to you to-day a Saviour — who is Christ the Lord — in the city of David, 12and this [is] to you the sign: Ye shall find a babe wrapped up, lying in the manger.’ 13And suddenly there came with the messenger a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying,

14‘Glory in the highest to God, and upon earth peace, among men — good will.’

15And it came to pass, when the messengers were gone away from them to the heavens, that the men, the shepherds, said unto one another, ‘We may go over indeed unto Bethlehem, and see this thing that hath come to pass, that the Lord did make known to us.’ 16And they came, having hasted, and found both Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger, 17and having seen, they made known abroad concerning the saying spoken to them concerning the child. 18And all who heard, did wonder concerning the things spoken by the shepherds unto them; 19and Mary was preserving all these things, pondering in her heart; 20and the shepherds turned back, glorifying and praising God, for all those things they heard and saw, as it was spoken unto them.

==================================

One of my all time favorite Carols of the birth of Jesus:

 

Hi friend!   Just a reminder...please post videos in the video section only.   As a Worthy Watchman, I am approving your video here since it is a Christmas Carol.

I enjoy Christmas, always have.

[InChristAlways]

7 minutes ago, Debp said:

Hi friend!   Just a reminder...please post videos in the video section only.   As a Worthy Watchman, I am approving your video here since it is a Christmas Carol.

I enjoy Christmas, always have.

Hello Debp.........Sorry about that. I am still getting use to this forum and will try not to let it happen again. On my way to view that board now.

I just tried to edit it out but am unable to, and I also posted vids on some other threads so feel free to edit them out.

Blessings

Edited December 17, 2019 by InChristAlways

[Resurrection Priest]

Personally, I think it very possible that Christ was conceived in the womb of Mary at the winter solstice, but I don't believe Christ was born on Christmas. 

The back-story is interesting.  John the Baptist's father Zachariah was serving as a priest in the Temple.   He belong to the clan of Abijah (Luke 1:5).  King David had divided the priesthood into 24 courses of priests, to take turns serving at the Temple.  The clan of Abijah came up the 2nd and 3rd week of June (by our calendar).  After the angel appeared to Zachariah, and he was dumb, he then went home of "knew his wife" and Elizabeth became pregnant.  When the angel came to Mary with "the announcement", he told Mary that her cousin Elizabeth was six months with child.  Third week of June + six months = 3rd week of December.  There ya go. 

The birth of Jesus would have come around the 3rd week of September - just in time for the Feast of Tabernacles.   The prophecy did say that He would come to tabernacle with us. 

The "no room at the inn" is also interesting.  Joseph was traveling back to "the city of his birth".  He had oodles of relatives there - at Bethlehem.  Why would he and Mary have to stay at an "inn" ??  What the story doesn't reflect is the Law concerning the birth of a child.  The new mother had to be separated completely for a number of days (which differed depending on the sex of the newborn).  The relatives of Joseph would have expected him.  It was the Feast, and Israelite males were required to appear in Jerusalem for those Feasts.  What they didn't expect was a very gravid wife, ready to give birth.  There was no special separate "room" prepared for a birth.  It was actually common for the poor to separate new mothers in a corner of the stable, with lots of clean straw. 

Christmas Blessings

 

[InChristAlways]

1 hour ago, JoeCanada said:

Hi InChristAlways,

Yes, a great song indeed.

So, correct me if I'm wrong. The sixth month is Feb/March in the Jewish calendar. The Angel Gabriel was sent by God in the sixth month. Can we or should we assume then, that Mary became pregnant around that time.....the sixth month? (Elizabeth was already in her sixth month of pregnancy when Gabriel was talking to Mary.)

So, from Feb/March........add 9 months........ it kinda looks like December for birth. 

Who knows....maybe? 

 

40 minutes ago, Resurrection Priest said:

Personally, I think it very possible that Christ was conceived in the womb of Mary at the winter solstice, but I don't believe Christ was born on Christmas. 

The back-story is interesting.  John the Baptist's father Zachariah was serving as a priest in the Temple.   He belong to the clan of Abijah (Luke 1:5).  King David had divided the priesthood into 24 courses of priests, to take turns serving at the Temple.  The clan of Abijah came up the 2nd and 3rd week of June (by our calendar).  After the angel appeared to Zachariah, and he was dumb, he then went home of "knew his wife" and Elizabeth became pregnant.  When the angel came to Mary with "the announcement", he told Mary that her cousin Elizabeth was six months with child.  Third week of June + six months = 3rd week of December.  There ya go. 

The birth of Jesus would have come around the 3rd week of September - just in time for the Feast of Tabernacles.   The prophecy did say that He would come to tabernacle with us. 

The "no room at the inn" is also interesting.  Joseph was traveling back to "the city of his birth".  He had oodles of relatives there - at Bethlehem.  Why would he and Mary have to stay at an "inn" ??  What the story doesn't reflect is the Law concerning the birth of a child.  The new mother had to be separated completely for a number of days (which differed depending on the sex of the newborn).  The relatives of Joseph would have expected him.  It was the Feast, and Israelite males were required to appear in Jerusalem for those Feasts.  What they didn't expect was a very gravid wife, ready to give birth.  There was no special separate "room" prepared for a birth.  It was actually common for the poor to separate new mothers in a corner of the stable, with lots of clean straw. 

Christmas Blessings

 

I didn't realize the timing of the birth of Jesus was that controvertial. I have been celebrating it on Dec 25 for as long as I can remember. I was born and raised in a Catholic family. That aside, I did find a thread on it using the excellent WCF search function for those interested. Some interesting poll stats.

Might be a good time to bump that thread up?

https://www.worthychristianforums.com/topic/160275-was-jesus-born-on-christmas-dec25th/?tab=comments#comment-1902310

Most Christians Say Jesus Wasn't Born on Dec. 25, Poll Finds

By Anugrah Kumar , Christian Post Contributor December 24, 2012|8:49 am

When King James Bible Online asked the 110,000 users on its Facebook page if they believe Jesus was born on Dec. 25, Christmas Day, 83 percent of those who responded answered in the negative. A majority of the respondents also said Santa Claus is a "lie."

The date of the birth of Christ was among the four questions King James Bible Online asked as part of its survey, titled "What Do Christians Really Believe About Christmas," that was conducted this month.

Only 11 percent of the respondents said tradition is right about the date of Jesus' birth. Six percent marked "Not sure."

King James Bible Online, a website inviting its visitors to read the Bible online, says 65 percent of its users live in the United States. And 96 percent of those polled said they are Christian.

Interestingly, while the majority of the respondents do not believe Jesus was born on Dec. 25, 71 percent said they think Christians should celebrate Christmas. One-fourth of the respondents said "No."

When asked, "Do you think it's OK to let kids believe in Santa Claus?" the majority, or 64 percent, said, "Definitely not, it's a lie." However, 28 percent said, "Yes, it's just for fun," and six percent had no opinion.

The last question of the survey was, "Do you think it's OK to have a Christmas tree in a church building?" More than half, or 58 percent, of respondents marked "Yes," while 39 percent said "No." Three percent said they were not sure.

The majority of those polled, 82 percent, reported they have been a Christian for more than 10 years, and 79 percent said they had read the entire Bible at least once. Females in the group made up about 60 percent of the respondents.

Several academics have made the claim that Jesus was born several years earlier than commonly believed.

In his recently published book, Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives, Pope Benedict XVI argues that the Christian calendar is based on a miscalculation. "The calculation of the beginning of our calendar – based on the birth of Jesus – was made by Dionysius Exiguus, who made a mistake in his calculations by several years," says the 85-year-old pontiff in the book that was published weeks before Christmas.

"The actual date of Jesus's birth was several years before," the pope argues.

Exiguus, or Dennis the Small, was a 6th-century monk from Eastern Europe who is best known as the inventor of the Anno Domini (AD) era, which is used to number the years of both the Gregorian calendar and the Julian calendar.

Edited December 17, 2019 by InChristAlways

[Sower]

Are You Enjoying Your Christmas

 

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die"

I celebrate with my family the coming of Christ the Savior's birth here on earth, every year.
Any day is OK with me.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. Luke 2, 11
I celebrate every year the resurrection of our Savior.
Any day is OK with me.
I will celebrate the return of Christ when He comes.
I may be with Him, I may still be waiting for His return.
Any day is OK with me, because I'll be watching.
The thing is, whatever the day, however we worship, we are celebrating Christ, our redeemer!
He is the reason for celebrating all seasons.
And, Yes Kay, my family and myself are, and will continue, to enjoy this Christmas season. Thanks...
What better reason is there! Every day.  He lives, and He's coming back!

Psalm 118:24

"This is the day the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it."