Remembering the Season

Quotes for Christmas Time

After the turkey and dressing are cleared from the table on Thanksgiving day, I let down the ladder that leads into the attic and make the annual ten foot pilgrimage into the dark, wide expanse... 

Up and down, up and down, carrying box, after box, after box of yuletide decorations fit for the season. Garland and ornaments, candles and stockings – everything is carefully removed from the neatly packed boxes to occupy their usual positions of honor in our home.

Hidden, somewhere between the lights and the angel that will top the tree is my collection of favorite Christmas books. It is here, in the words of saints old and new, that I find my own heart warmed to the wonder of the incarnation. Yes, this is where Christmas begins for me.

Whether it’s a classic like A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens or recent favorites like The Mitford Snowman by Jan Karon, I always look forward to revisiting the stories of the season. This year I’ve enjoyed a brand new title from Crossway books entitled, Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus. It features sermons from reformed pastors, both contemporary and classic, including one contribution from our own Senior Minister. If you have not purchased a copy for yourself, do so now!

This year I’ve had the joy of looking back through a file of old Christmas sermons, devotionals, stories, and quotes that I’ve collected over the years. From my reading, I’ve posted a few quotes that I hope will stir your heart this Christmas season…

“Infinite, and an infant. Eternal, and yet born of a woman. Almighty, and yet hanging on a woman’s breast. Supporting a universe, and yet needing to be carried in a mother’s arms. Kings of angels, and yet the reputed son of Joseph. Heir of all things, and yet the carpenter’s despised son. Oh, the wonder of Christmas.”—Charles Haddon Spurgeon

“Brightest and best of the sons of the morning,
Dawn on our darkness and lend us thine aid;
Star of the East, the horizon adorning,
Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid.

Cold on His cradle the dewdrops are shining;
Low lies His head with beasts of the stall;
Angels adore Him in slumber reclining,
Maker and Monarch and Saviour of all.”—Bishop Reginald Heber

“O be not so ungrateful to him who has been so kind to you! What could the Lord Jesus do for you more than he has. Then do not abuse his mercy, but let your time be spent in thinking and talking of the love of Jesus, who was incarnate for us, who was born of a woman, and made under the law, to redeem us from the wrath to come.”—George Whitfield

“When I think of Christmas Eves, Christmas feasts, Christmas songs, and Christmas stories, I know that they do not represent a short and transient gladness. Instead, they speak of a joy unspeakable and full of glory. God love the world and sent His Son. Whosoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life. That is Christmas joy. That is the Christmas spirit.”—Corrie ten Boom

“Personally, of course, I believe in Santa Claus; but it is the season of forgiveness, and I will forgive others for not doing so.”—G.K. Chesterton

Well, I had to end with a fun one... Merry Christmas.