Favorite Christmas Quotations

[Dr. Bob]

In the expanded bulletin for this Sunday we have included four wonderful quotations. I'm sure they will bless you all, too. And you may know of some to share back with us.

DESPITE OUR EFFORTS to keep him out, God intrudes. The life of Jesus is bracketed by two impossibilities: a virgin's womb and an empty tomb. Jesus entered our world through a door marked "No Entrance" and left through a door marked "No Exit."
~Peter Larson


REJOICE, you who feel that you are lost; your Savior comes to seek and save you. Be of good cheer, you who are in prison, for he comes to set you free. You, who are famished and ready to die, rejoice that he has consecrated for you a Bethlehem, a house of bread, and he has come to be the Bread of Life to your souls. Rejoice, O sinners everywhere, for the restorer of the castaways, the Savior of the fallen, is born.
~C. H. Spurgeon, "Joy Born at Bethlehem"


WHEN Jesus was born, the voice of God became flesh and dwelt among us. And what the voice said was, "Console, console my people." The consolation that God's anger is past … the conso-lation that our heavenly Father has a tender affection for us in our weakness … the consolation that our sins are pardoned and "cast into the depths of the sea" (Micah 7:19).
~John Piper, "Looking for the Consolation of Israel"

CHRISTMAS has really become a hopeless muddle of confusion. The humility and the poverty of the stable are somehow confused with the wealth and indulgence and selfishness of gift giving. The quietness of Bethlehem is mingled with the din of shopping malls and freeway traffic. The soberness of the Incarnation is somehow mixed with the drunkenness of this season. Blinking colored lights somehow have some connection to the star of Bethlehem.
~John F. MacArthur Jr., "The Incarnation of the Triune God"

 

[Benjamin]

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.

~Dr. Seuss

:laugh:

 

[Benjamin]

You can never truly enjoy Christmas until you can look up into the Father's face and tell him you have received his Christmas gift.
~John R Rice

Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can!
~John Wesley

What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb.
If I were a Wise Man
I would do my part.
Yet what can I give Him?
I give Him my heart.
--Christina Rossetti

Were earth a thousand times as fair
Beset with gold and jewels rare
She yet were far too poor to be
A narrow cradle,
Lord, for Thee.
~Martin Luther

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 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 Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
(Luke 2:9-14)

 

[I Am Blessed 24]

"Christians awake salute the happy morn; Whereon the Saviour of the world was born." - John Byrom

"The universal joy of Christmas is certainly wonderful. We ring the bells when princes are born, or toll a mournful dirge when great men pass away. Nations have their red-letter days, their carnivals and festivals, but once in the year and only once, the whole world stands still to celebrate the advent of a life. Only Jesus of Nazareth claims this world-wide, undying remembrance. You cannot cut Christmas out of the Calendar, nor out of the heart of the world."

"A prison cell, in which one waits, hopes... and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside, is not a bad picture of Advent." -Dietrich Bonhoeffer

 

[Magnetic Poles]

"Ho, Ho, Ho!" - S. Claus

 

[John of Japan]

"Oh, spread the tidings around that Jesus the Savior is born! And He died to save sinners. His arms are open to receive everyone who comes. He is the Savior. Jesus is my Savior! I can say with the songwriters, that Jesus is the sweetest name I know. Thank God, He died to save sinners and is ready to save you."

John R. Rice, "The Promised Savior Has Come"​

 

[Bob Alkire]

I don't know about being my favorite but it hits today as well as yesterday.

How many observe Christ's birthday! How few, His precepts! Oh, tis easier to keep holidays than commandments.
Benjamin Franklin