Christmas
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More Than A Random Act of Kindness
Greetings SUMites. I hope you’re having a beautiful Christmas season filled with love and holiness. Today I have a special treat for you. What you’re about to read below was sent to me by a fellow SUMites, Cindy. This email arrived in my inbox on Saturday. However, I didn’t get to read it until late…
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Weekend Worship – Dreams, Prophecies and Magi
“Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, ” God with us. – Matthew 1:23 Hello dear friends! I hope you’re enjoying this series about Joseph and Mary. Some of you left comments on Wednesday’s post with some great insights. Go…
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Let’s Walk in Mary and Joseph’s Sandals
“Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, ” God with us. – Matthew 1:23 My friends, can you believe Christmas is just five weeks away?!?! Right now I'm doing a series with my life group at church in preparation of…
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Romans 8:15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” I LOVE this verse lately. And it keeps coming at me from every direction. From teaching this morning. From email. I heard it on…
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Weekend Worship – A Testimony
My precious friends, I can't believe Christmas is so close! As the day draws closer, I'm trying to keep my heart and mind wrapped around the miracle that God brought so long ago and keep my eyes open for the ones He's doing right now. I want to share one with you. My rep at…
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When Love Abounds: Four Choices to an Intentional Christmas
We’d said farewell to precious friends and the turkey and fixings now resided in our fridge, along with the deserts, thank goodness! Our Thanksgiving Day drew to a close with a sweet contentment that warmed our hearts. My husband even commented that he thought it was his favorite Thanksgiving so far. He and I worked…
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A Charlie Brown Christmas For Me
I grew up waiting each Christmas season for two special TV shows to appear on our old television set. Yes, I grew up in the “Dark Ages”, according to my teenager. There weren’t video recordings nor hundreds of channels with millions of re-runs. You had one chance, once a year. That was it. I anxiously…
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Weekend Devo – ‘Twas the Week Before Christmas
I'm having an "ahh" moment with a cup of my favorite tea. The warm scent of English blend wafts across my nose and my eyes close in welcome relief. The stress in my shoulders seeps away as I settle into my comfy chair and on the matching ottoman I prop my aching feet. I'm tired but happy.…
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A Christmas Legend??? I Believe
This story was written by Rev. Howard C. Schade, pastor of the First Reformed Church in Nyack, New York. By the time the story was anthologized in Alice Gray’s Christmas Stories for the Heart in 1998, Rev. Schade already had passed away in 1989 and could not be contacted to verify the details of the…
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Away in a Manger, Then a Tomb-The Humility of Christ
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have…
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Weekend Devo – The Greatest Gift of All
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value,…
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Give Yourself THIS Gift This Christmas
On Tuesday I was sitting in my office at Church. I love where our Women’s Ministry office is located. We are situated next to the receptionist, near the front door, one doorway away from the break room and at the apex of all foot traffic. Everyone passes by our office and I have candy on…
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He Came Upon a Midnight Clear-For YOU!
My Bible study group completed our study yesterday. We’d walked the past 11 weeks through the story of David with Beth Moore. On this last day she shared a powerful visual of a staff that had once been a vine. The bottom was straight but about half way up, the thick stalk rose upward in…
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Creating Christmas Memories with your Kids on the Cheap
Holiday Traditions Some of you know that I can be a bit wacky. With that said, my adventurous nature is in full gear during the Christmas season. And I AM, ahem, adventurous. And I share my escapades with my daughter. We have built memories that will last forever. One of our favorite things to do at Christmas…
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I’m Thankful
It’s two days until Christmas: I’m thankful our house is clean. I’m thankful that we had just enough to provide for Christmas. I’m thankful that we had a tiny bit more to help a few others. I’m thankful for my Christmas baby, my son Brad, age 28. He shares his birthday with Jesus. I’m thankful…
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The Intentional Marriage-Santa Claus, Jesus and Kids
Today I will share a cute little story with you about my daughters when they were itty bitty, just around 3 and 7. I (Dineen) hope you’ll tune in to our Christmas edition of The Intentional Marriage broadcast over at CWATV.com for some great ideas to keep Jesus alive all year long in our children’s…
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The Christmas Letter
Okay, you usually fall into two camps when it comes to this funny and strange tradition of a family Christmas letter. You love ’em or hate ’em. I LOVE THEM. Now I know they are usually filled with sickening sweet recollections of all the amazing and fantastic things that occurred in the year and sometimes…
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Santa Claus, Jesus and Kids
When my girls were little, one of my biggest challenges this time of year was not letting Santa Claus overshadow Jesus. Add to that the conflicting expectations a mismatched couple can bring to Christmas and sparks fly! Those early years were really tough sometimes. You see, my sweet hubby turns into a big kid at…
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Deck the Halls and the Dog
Yesterday I spent most of the afternoon putting up the Christmas tree. Our tree is a fake tree. Boo! I know. I know. There are two camps those who MUST have a real tree and the rest of us… I promise I’m not a Scrooge… But an artificial tree is in the Donovan home. Our…
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The Bright Morning Star
We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. – 2Peter 1:19 I loved reading this particular verse this past week because its…
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Charlie Brown? Hope of the World.
I grew up waiting each Christmas season for two special TV shows to appear on our old television set. Yes, I grew up in the “Dark Ages”, according to my teenager. There weren’t video recordings nor hundreds of channels with millions of re-runs. You had one chance, once a year. That was it. I anxiously…