Malankara World Journal - Christian Spirituality from a Jacobite and Orthodox Perspective
Malankara World Journal Abstracts
Theme: Christmas Special
Volume 7 No. 452 December 22, 2017

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where Jesus was born
Where Jesus was Born

The star in the photo locates the spot where Jesus was believed to have been 
born in Bethlehem. Located inside the Holy Church of Nativity in Israel.

Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Foreword

At Bethlehem, heaven and earth meet: God and Man look each other in the face. A Mother for the first time in the universe, as she holds the babe in her arms, now looks "down" to heaven. Because nothing greater than this will ever happen in the world, the peace of the world is conditioned upon that great act being repeated, in a reduced measure, in each of us. ...

I. This Sunday in Church: Sunday Before Christmas

2. Bible Readings for This Sunday (December 24, 2017)

http://www.MalankaraWorld.com/Library/Lectionary/Lec_sunday-before-christmas.htm

3. Sermons for This Sunday (December 24, 2017)

http://www.MalankaraWorld.com/Library/Sermons/Sermon-of-the-week_sunday-before-Christmas.htm

4. Malankara World Journal Specials on Genealogy of Jesus

For more in-depth look at the genealogy of Jesus Christ read the Malankara World Journal Issue 114 - a special on the Genealogy of Jesus Christ.

http://www.MalankaraWorld.com/Newsletter/MWJ_114.htm

More articles can be found in Malankara World Journal archives:

http://www.MalankaraWorld.com/Newsletter/MWJ_183.htm

Malankara World Journal Issue 319
http://www.MalankaraWorld.com/Newsletter/MWJA_319.htm

The Genealogy Of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:1-17)

Malankara World Journal Issue 389 Dec 16 2016
Theme: Advent, Genealogy of Christ

II. Christmas Day (Monday, December 25)

5. Bible Readings for Christmas (December 25, 2017)

http://www.MalankaraWorld.com/Library/Lectionary/Lec_Christmas.htm

6. Sermons for Christmas (December 25, 2017)

http://www.MalankaraWorld.com/Library/Sermons/Sermon-of-the-week_christmas.htm

7. From Malankara World Journal Archives - Christmas

Volume 6 No 390 Dec 23 2016

Volume 5 No 320: December 23, 2015

Volume 4 No 254: December 24, 2014

Volume 3 No 184: December 23, 2013

Volume 3 No 185: December 28, 2013

Volume 2 No 115: Dec 23 2012

Volume 1 No 44: December 22 2011

 8. Malankara World Advent and Christmas Supplements

To learn more about the spiritual significance of Christmas and Advent Season Malankara World has created special supplements so you can read all about them in depth. Click below to visit:

Malankara World Christmas Supplement
http://www.MalankaraWorld.com/Library/Seasonal/Christmas/Default.htm

Malankara World Advent Supplement
http://www.MalankaraWorld.com/Library/Seasonal/advent/Default.htm

III. Lectionary Reflections: Luke's Nativity

9. Luke's Nativity: Messiah Came into History

Caesar thought He was issuing his decree, in order to build his army, cities and to better order his Kingdom. Millions of people were inconvenienced and relocated for the census. But all of this took place to fulfill the ancient prophecy of the Messiah,...

10. Luke's Nativity: The Sign of the Inn, the Cave, and of The Swaddling Clothes

Everything in scripture is meaningful, all is the Word of God. What is it that God is saying in this double binding of Jesus? ...

11. Luke's Nativity: The First Coming Is like The Second

The story of the birth of Jesus, is perhaps the most familiar and loved portions of the Bible. But the problem with familiar passages of scripture is that people think they know what needs to be known about them and often aren't open to a fresh look at the same text from another angle. ...

12. Luke's Nativity: On Singing Christmas

How fitting, that not to the powerful, but to the lowly, and not into a palace or temple, but into a lowly, filthy barn, basically a cave, did the "High and Lofty God", from of Old, choose to condescend unto us, in order to save us. ...

13. Luke's Nativity: Jesus' First Bloodshedding

Eight days have passed, since the birth of the Savior, therefore the time had come for Joseph and Mary to present Jesus for circumcision. The Son of God would come under the Law and covenant of God with all of its obligations and privileges. He as a Son of Israel, would bear the mark of the covenant. ...

IV. Featured Articles on Christmas

14. An Invitation to Touch the Skin of Infinite God

Two millennia ago, God answered the anguished cry of humanity by making "the problem of evil" His own. God Almighty became Immanuel, "God with us." He lived as we live, suffered as we suffer, died as we die, yet without sin. And He, being the God-man, overcame the power of death in order to give us eternal life. ...

15. How to Take a Holy Pause before the Christmas Crazy

Life doesn't stand still, but we can. Scripture invites us to do just that: "Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world." (Psalm 46:10 NLT) ...

16. What a Poor Chicago Family Taught Me One Christmas Eve

To her, this child in the manger was the undeserved gift that meant everything - more than material possessions, more than comfort, more than security. And at that moment, something inside of me wanted desperately to know this Jesus - because, in a sense, I saw him in Perfecta and her granddaughters. ...

17. The Nativity of Christ

The threatening clouds of God's wrath were over us. The Lord-the Peacemaker-has come, and has dispersed the cloud. We were covered with the wounds of sins and passions; the Healer of souls has come and healed us. We were bound by the fetters of slavery; the Liberator has come and released our fetters. ...

18. Christmas of Life in Bethlehem, Which Is the Church

The almighty Love is "under the forms of a Child. The Omnipotence as non-power. Non-power as Love, which surpasses everything and gives meaning to everything. God became a little child so that we could understand, welcome and love Him. ...

V. More Christmas Features

19. Why Christmas?

Why do we need Christmas? Have you ever thought about that question? Probably not! If the truth be known, you, like me, are just so busy "doing" Christmas, and enjoying it too, that you haven't stopped to consider the reason for the celebration. ...

20. How You Can Get to The Heart of Christmas

Every Christmas morning before any of those presents were opened, our family would spend some time opening God's Word, reading the story of that first Christmas, and praying and thanking God for the gift He had given us in His Son. ...

21. Five Tips for PEACE-Full Christmas

Have you ever been tempted to run away at Christmastime? There is a solution! We can intentionally cut the Christmas chaos this year. The five steps to doing so spell the word PEACE...

22. The Audacity of Christmas

Christmas marks the "fullness of time" when God, in his sovereign freedom, "sent forth his Son." The One who dispenses times and seasons determined that it was time to send forth the Son who had existed with the Father from eternity. ...

23. The Incarnation

How do you package love? God used a stable and straw on the eve of Christ's birth. The incarnation means that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. ...

24. Life, Death, and Incarnation

The Incarnation is hard to dismiss out of hand because it so radically comes near our needs. Into the world of living and dying the arrival of Christ as a child turns fears of isolation, weakness, and condemnation on their heads. ...

25. The Spirit of Christmas Is Generosity

If it weren't for God's generosity, we would have nothing. The air we breathe is a gift of God's generosity. The blood coursing through our veins is a gift of God's generosity. The fact that our hearts are beating is a gift of God's generosity. Every good thing in your life - including your life itself - is a gift of God's generosity. ...

26. How to Demonstrate God's Mercy at Christmas

Earlier this month, in Tarrant, Alabama, the beautiful light of hope shined into one woman's family. Let me tell you their story. ...

27. The Christmas Sermon I Need to Hear

It's an audacious claim, when you think about it: that the birth of a baby to an unwed teen amid the squalor of a backwater town could possible matter. And yet there, in a nutshell, is the promise of the Gospel: that God regularly shows up where we least expect God to be and always for us. ...

28. The Real Reason You Need Christmas

This quick exploration into Genesis 3 reveals the real reason we need Christmas. This holiday of holidays doesn't exist because we need vacations, presents, and extra church services. Christmas exists because we have sinned. ...

VI. General Weekly Features

29. Recipe: Spicy Mutton Chops (in Malayalam)

30. An Alaskan Christmas Story - A Lesson From A Dog

God sought us before we knew Him, reached out to us before we trusted Him and loved us before we knew how to love him back. ...

31. The Goodness of God

Make a point of frequently encouraging each other by reciting the great deeds of God, reflecting back on those spiritual milestones that prove His long-term faithfulness. ...

32. Combating Loneliness

Let's keep our focus on God and call out to Him when we feel loneliness setting a trap for us: in the festive times, in the quiet times, at all times. ...

33. 5 Ways to Winterize the Soul

Winterizing our souls doesn't mean the storms won't happen, they will come through all seasons of life. But it does mean that we may be better equipped and prepared for whatever comes our way, trusting we are held with the sure grace and powerful strength of our Lord. ...

34. About Malankara World

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