The significance of Christmas extends far beyond nostalgic traditions and family get-togethers. Today, R.C. Sproul reflects on the event that divides all of history: the birth of Jesus Christ, God incarnate. Get R.C. Sproul’s book The Work of Christ, plus lifetime digital access to two of his teaching series, The Messiah Is Born and What Did Jesus Do?, for your donation of any amount: https://gift.renewingyourmind.org/3785/donate Meet Today’s Teacher: R.C. Sproul (1939–2017) was known for his ability to winsomely and clearly communicate deep, practical truths from God’s Word. He was founder of Ligonier Ministries, first minister of preaching and teaching at Saint Andrew’s Chapel, first president of Reformation Bible College, and executive editor of Tabletalk magazine. Meet the Host: Nathan W. Bingham is vice president of ministry engagement for Ligonier Ministries, executive producer and host of Renewing Your Mind, host of the Ask Ligonier podcast, and a graduate of Presbyterian Theological College in Melbourne, Australia. Nathan joined Ligonier in 2012 and lives in Central Florida with his wife and four children. Renewing Your Mind is a donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Explore all of our podcasts: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts
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Christmas. It's not a legend and it's not a fairy tale.
It is easy for us to forget that at the heart of the Christmas story is the most important historical event that has ever transpired.
Celebrating the incarnation today on Renewing Your Mind. Welcome to the Monday edition of Renewing Your Mind. I'm Nathan W. Bingham. Christmas is just around the corner, but unfortunately, many people aren't thinking about what really happened 2,000 years ago there in Bethlehem.
There is, of course, the busyness and the stress of the season, but for many people, stories like Christ's birth are simply myth and fable. Well, to help you better understand why we celebrate, in addition to featuring R.C. Sproul's series, Messiah is Born on Renewing Your Mind, we're offering four resources this week.
The digital edition of this series, the series and study guide titled, What Did Jesus Do?, plus we'll send you Dr. Sproul's book, The Work of Christ. when you make a year-end gift in support of proclaiming the message of Christ through this daily outreach at renewingyourmind.org, or when you call us at 800-435-4343. Well, here's Dr. Sproul to remind us why we celebrate, because Christ is born.
T'was the night before Christmas, and all through the house... Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care in the hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there. I don't think I should try to do any more of that famous poem.
because I would probably forget some of those lines about the bowl full of jelly and throwing up in the sash and all of that. But it is a delightful poem that we hear annually during the Christmas season. But it is a poem that captures some of the traditions that have surrounded the Christmas holiday. Traditions that are fun and that children enjoy and so on.
But we have to remember that this story, "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," is not a true picture of history. One of the habits that I have is to work on crossword puzzles every day. I do at least two of them every day just to get the gray cells moving.
And one of the common questions that we read in the crosswords, at least that I do, is the question that reads, fairy tale starter, four-letter word. I think you can guess what that is. It's the word once, because fairy tales begin traditionally with the phrase, once upon a time. Now, it was the night before Christmas, once upon a time.
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