In the Christian Church Advent is celebrated in the month of December so the 1st of December is the start of Advent. The word 'advent' means coming and it relates to the coming of Jesus Christ into this world as a baby.
It is appropriate for this blog to celebrate advent in a society which has sadly forgotten the true meaning of Christmas. The incarnation (word used to mean that the Eternal Son of God took a human body and was born of a virgin at Bethlehem) is a spectacular example of humility. For the Son of God to take on the limitations of humanity is breath-taking and demonstrates the amazing stoop which He was prepared to take so that we could share with Him in His glory. But I am not going to say much more. I tend to write too much in the blogs and so for the next 12 blogs I am going to let the Christmas carols and hymns speak for themselves.
In fact, I did not choose the carols - they were chosen by our musician, Anne Smith whose keyboard playing features on the dayshare.co.uk website. Her style of playing allows us to reflect on the lyrics which are so full of meaning. As I made up the videos to present these Christmas songs, I had ample time to meditate on the meaning of the words. I was caused to worship and praise the Lord. It is our prayer that others will not just enjoy the music but will be uplifted in praise and worship for the real meaning of Christmas.
Each video has a short Bible reading by some Christians from my local area. Today's reading is an extract from the well-known passage in Paul's letter to the Philippians (Philippians 2:5-8). Here is how a Bible teacher comments on this wonderful truth.
I want to thank Anne for her arrangements of these lovely hymns and for recording her music. I also want to thank the various people who have read Bible passages relevant to the Christmas songs. Thanks also to my dear wife, Janie for reading the passage from Philippians 2.
I have read this book by defending Athanasius. I think you recommended it to me. I read it on Kindle.
C S Lewis describes Incarnation as The Grand Miracle. A brilliant early writing on this from 3rd century - worth reading short book De Incarnatione by Athanasius.