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The History of Christmas Carols
The History of Christmas Carols Christmas Carols... love them or loathe them, it’s inevitable that you’re going to hear Christmas Carols in the coming weeks. I love Christmas Carols which is probably a good thing because I start listening to them in July in preparation for December services! Whatever your disposition is towards them, I hope you enjoy reading this brief history about Christmas Carols. There’s so much information about where Carols started and about their musical evolution. The first Christmas song was written in 129AD by a Roman Bishop who said a song called ‘Angels Song’ should be sung at a Christmas service in Rome. Another early Christmas song was written in 760AD by Comas of Jerusalem. However, these early Christmas Carols (as we now call them) were
Using Our Words in Our Calling as Christians
Using Our Words in Our Calling as Christians Rob Humphreys is a member of our church and has written this article for your encouragement. He is married to Glenda and has four adult children. The Oxford Dictionary defines a calling as a ‘profession’ or ‘trade’. As a retiree I don’t fall into either category. Am I just a non-taxpaying burden on society? That’s not what God’s Word says. I am reminded by the Lord of glory that I have a threefold calling from heaven itself: A High Calling (Philippians 3:14) A Holy Calling (2 Timothy 1:9) A Heavenly Calling (Hebrews 3:1) All of us who name the name of Christ – whether staff, elders, or members share this high, holy, and heavenly calling. There is no great divide between
International Day of Prayer
International Day of Prayer This Sunday, the Church will unite as the one body of Christ to pray for persecuted Christians – those who share our faith, but not our freedom. The International Day of Prayer is an initiative of Open Doors, an organisation whose mission is to strengthen and prepare Christians living in persecution, and to mobilise the Australian church to identify with the global body of Christ. Open Doors is encouraging churches to pray for persecuted Christians, in particular, for secret believers, for women, and for children. We will spend time praying together as a church on Sunday, but can I encourage you to be praying at home as well. You might like to use the following as a guide for your prayers. Together, lets pray for
Halloween
Halloween can be a controversial topic among Christians! Every October my Facebook feed starts to fill up with posts arguing for a whole range of approaches the holiday. Some argue for an outright rejection of the season, some show complete embrace of it, and many try to find a balance between the two. Halloween is becoming a big deal here is Australia, but October 31st is also an important day for other reasons. Historically, in the church calendar (which is a tradition, not part of the Bible) it is the day before All Saint’s Day, which celebrate the lives of those Christians who are now with the Lord. And October 31st is also Reformation Day, the day when Martin Luther nailed his list of objections to the revenue-raising abuse
What Delights God
What Delights God What brings you delight? What gladdens your heart and gives you joy? It could be any number of things. Personally speaking, there are many things that bring me delight: the laughter of my kids, a smile on my wife’s face, reading Tim Winton, listening to Bob Dylan, eating rib fillet steak with pepper sauce, or stepping back to admire my freshly cut lawn. What about you? More importantly: What about God? What brings delight to the heart of God? There are of course a number of different things. For example, God delights in His Son (Is. 42:1, Matt. 3:17, 17:5), in what He has made (Ps. 104:31), in His people (Ps. 149:4, Zeph. 3:17), in honesty (Prov. 11:1), in justice (Jer. 9:24), and so forth. But
Ethical Shopping vs. Christmas Shopping
Ethical Shopping vs. Christmas Shopping What kind of Christmas shopper are you? Do get your Christmas shopping done early or are you a last-minute shopper? Every year I lull myself into a false sense of security. I make lists in October and start shopping early... only to leave 50% of the gift buying to the week before Christmas! Now, you might be wondering why I’m writing about Christmas shopping? Consumerism is rife in our society. It’s one of the lies that culture tells us will make us happy. But as we were reminded last Sunday, the things of this earth will not make us happy. Adam said in the sermon ‘Happy is the person who is right with the happy God! This is the ultimate form of happiness. Because
Expressive Individualism: The ‘Truth’ Behind the Half Truths
Expressive Individualism: The ‘Truth’ Behind the Half Truths How aware are you of air? Air is all around us. We breathe it in every few seconds. It’s what we live and work and play in. But I’m guessing you’re not that conscious of air. It’s something you’ve just accepted as normal. Besides, you’ve never really known of anything else. But… let’s imagine you could speak to a fish. They would tell you that for them air is not normal. Not everyone lives in it… and it is peculiar to your species. Ok, so why the laboured analogy? Well, air is kind of like what ‘Expressive individualism’ is to Australia and the rest of the West. You might be thinking… “expressive what now?!” I’ll do my best to define it
Great is Thy Faithfulness
Great is Thy Faithfulness I grew up singing hymns. I remember the old hymn books – the colour, the print, the smell. I remember the hymn books in some churches I visited had the music score with the words written under the notes. As a child who found music fascinating, I loved to follow along on the music and challenge myself to sing the alto line or the tenor line and sometimes even the bass (which was way too low for my voice but so fun to sing.) Of course, as I grew older it wasn’t just the rich harmonies of the music that captured my heart, it was the words. Such deep, solid doctrine is found in the words of those old hymns. And as I sang them
