IS 9:1-6
have seen a great light;
upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom
a light has shone.
You have brought them abundant joy
and great rejoicing,
as they rejoice before you as at the harvest,
as people make merry when dividing spoils.
For the yoke that burdened them,
the pole on their shoulder,
and the rod of their taskmaster
you have smashed, as on the day of Midian.
For every boot that tramped in battle,
every cloak rolled in blood,
will be burned as fuel for flames.
For a child is born to us, a son is given us;
upon his shoulder dominion rests.
They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero,
Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.
His dominion is vast
and forever peaceful,
from David’s throne, and over his kingdom,
which he confirms and sustains
by judgment and justice,
both now and forever.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this!
GospelLK 2:1-14
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus
that the whole world should be enrolled.
This was the first enrollment,
when Quirinius was governor of Syria.
So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town.
And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth
to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem,
because he was of the house and family of David,
to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
While they were there,
the time came for her to have her child,
and she gave birth to her firstborn son.
She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger,
because there was no room for them in the inn.
Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields
and keeping the night watch over their flock.
The angel of the Lord appeared to them
and the glory of the Lord shone around them,
and they were struck with great fear.
The angel said to them,
“Do not be afraid;
for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people.
For today in the city of David
a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord.
And this will be a sign for you:
you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes
and lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel,
praising God and saying:
“Glory to God in the highest
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
This is a Christmas post. Absolutely no tolerance will be given to any off topic comments. Please respect the intent and nature of this post, keeping it open for Christmas greetings and comments.
Merry Christmas to everyone here! May we all find Peace today.
Christ is Born
Glorify Him!
The Nativity Icon Explained
https://antiochianprodsa.blob.core.windows.net/websiteattachments/Nativity%20Icon%20-%20FR%20Kfouf.pdf
Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be forever and ever and ever.
Merry Christmas to everyone.
Merry and blessed Christmas to all Treepers
Merry Christmas….One and All..God’s Blessings.
Test
Received! 🙂
Merry Christmas, dear Treepers! May God bless us one and all!
I hope this isn’t considered off topic. If it is just delete it!
Isaiah 9:6-7 “For a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace. His dominion is vast”
In this translation of Isaiah the dominion of Christ is mentioned twice. Christ’s “dominion is vast”! As further explained in Colossians 1:15-20:
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
It’s interesting to me the name of the voting system the Democrats used to steal the election is the Dominion voting system. They want to usurp Christ’s dominion over all by controlling We The People through fraudulent elections to impose their anti Christian socialist/communist ideology! But like the people building the tower of Babel the Lord will thwart their efforts and scatter them to the wind. Psalm 22:28 “for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations.” Amen! Merry Christmas to all the Treepers for today we celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ!!!
It is off topic and I don’t understand what part of “no tolerance” is not understood. I don’t WANT to moderate comments like this on Christmas Day.
Please delete it. My apologies!
Jesus was born to save us from sun. Hallelujah! Merry Christmas.
You mean Jesus Christ was born to save us from SIN. I assume that autocorrect struck again…
Merry Christmas everyone! God Bless!
Gloria in Excelsis Deo!
I came here to celebrate Christmas with people who understand. We will fight, for God is with us with all his righteous might!
Thank you Menagerie!
MERRY CHRISTMAS to all the CTH branch members and their families. Wishing you all a blessed and peaceful day!
Sundance, you and God are about the only thing keeping my sanity together right now. I dont post a lot, but I’ve been here for years and this Christmas, especially, I need to see all of these hopeful messages from you and the others here. We lost our older daughter to the SJW movement a few years ago, and one of my fervent hopes is that DJT can win this and everything finally be exposed so she and millions like her can see the truth. So again, thank you from the bottom of my very concerned heart. It means a lot. 🙂
Merry & blessed Christmas, Loriann! May you be surrounded and upheld on this day and forever more with the peace that passes all comprehension that comes from the Savior Whose birth we celebrate this day.
May Jesus fill your heart and home with His joy and mercy.
Merry Christmas Loriann, from your sister on another branch here in the treehouse.
That means a lot.. thank you 🙂
Merry Christmas Loriann. Let’s pray for restoration. There’s always hope. I was a wayward leftie daughter in my youth and even beyond, somewhere someone was praying for me and I awoke; so there is hope for your daughter!! In Jesus’ Name we pray. AMEN and AMEN.
A granddaughter is lost to this also. May the Lord of Truth grant grace to all who are led astray.
Merry Christmas to all on this site. Have a day of joy to refresh your hearts.
Merry Christmas Loriann. Stay in prayer and God will answer in time. Sometimes the Lords children need to see the dark in order to stay in the light.
Loriann: My eldest son has been led down that path too. We’re blessed that he flew back here to Honolulu from LA…and we are celebrating Christmas together.
“With people, these things are impossible; but with GOD, all things are possible!” – Mark 10:27
I understand your travail and sorrow. I’ll be in prayer for you and your family. What a wonderful thing that celebrating our Lord’s birthday can bring us together in sharing our needs and bringing them to the Lord…together in Him.
Thanks all of you.. there is always hope. It’s hard to find this year, especially this year. But reading this site, and only this site anymore… gives me a lot of hope 🙂
Merry Christmas to All for our Savior is born today.
God Bless you all Americans.
Give glory to God in the highest, to Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost Amen!
Luke 2:10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
Praising God for his Perfect Gift!
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to all at The Last Refuge, and especially Sundance and administrators!
Glory be to God forever!
God bless leaders who fight on behalf of the dignity and freedom of human beings. And especially God bless VSGDJT!
Merry Christmas, and thank you all here on The Last Refuge. May God keep blessing you.
Merry Christmas to all the twigs and branches in this wonderful Treehouse!
Merry Christmas to all.
In our house we read an extended edition of the Christmas story starting with Luke 1:5-55, then Matthew 1:18-24 then back to Luke 2:1-40 and finishing up with Matthew 2:1-23. Somehow I had forgotten the Isaiah prophecy and will now add it to the reading. Thank you for the reminder. If there are other scriptures that I hav missed, I am all ears.
I love looking through all the daily mass readings on the USCCB site. Christmas Mass of the Nativity always has this reading, but the dawn and daytime masses are different. You will find John’s prologue in on, John chapter 1, 1-18. It begins
<i>In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.</i>
I remember this passage at every Mass when the gospel is read. It is why we sing Alleluia, welcoming him who IS the Word.
Thank you Menagerie. I hope you and everyone else at the Treehouse had a very blessed Christmas.
Merry Christmas and thank you!
Merry to Christmas to all ! The birth of Christ offers to all who want to live in the light, an opportunity to do so. Let our personal light of the Holy Spirit shine through for all of those seeking to find it.
Merry Christmas, Menagerie!
Merry Christmas to Everyone!
Good Christmas Morning! Merry Christmas to All!
Charlie Daniels reading from Luke:
Merry Christmas to all and may you have a blessed New Year.
For with God nothing shall be impossible.
Luke 1:37
Merry Christmas Betty! I was just searching for a scripture or a song with the ‘dominion’ in it and couldn’t find it. Very powerful and wonderful song! Love your last paragraph too 🙂
This video was just posted last night. Holy, Joy filled Christmas to all Treepers shining bright. God Bless.
Thank you. So beautiful! LOVE came down at Christmas.
The best gift ever is STILL and ESPECIALLY SO now, the best gift ever, during these turmoiled times.
Merry Christmas!
Beautiful, just beautiful. I pray that we never lose sight of our one and only Light and Hope!
It’s so easy to forget, so thank you for reminding me.
I have been wishing people MERRY CHRISTMAS for weeks now and not one person replied back “Happy Holidays,” they all reply back MERRY CHRISTMAS even if they originally had said “Thank you, Happy Holidays,” they answered me back MERRY CHRISTMAS.
There are definitely more Americans who love CHRISTMAS more than some generic empty rhetoric holiday stuff.
Jesus is the reason for the season!
I said Merry Christmas to one of my favorite employees at the local Harris Teeters and he said I am so glad you said Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas fellow MAGA warriors!
Since before Thanksgiving we have attended a number of family gatherings that ignored even the light rules here in Texas ha ha. No masks, exceeded numbers, hugs and other so-called “risky business” ha ha
Nobody has contracted the CCP-virus, nobody has even caught the regular seasonal flu. Just old fashioned joy and togetherness.
Merry Christmas my friends…
Happy Birthday Jesus! https://s0.wp.com/wp-content/mu-plugins/wpcom-smileys/twemoji/2/svg/2764.svg He is the reason, for the Season
I love these Bible verses. They are perfect! God’s love and like minded folks help me through the darkest times. Thank you everyone, especially Sundance. Merry Christmas to everyone.
Thank you for your testimony. May your words rebound in more graces for you.
Wisdom xviii. 14-15
While all things were in quiet silence, and the night was in the midst of her course, your almighty Word, O Lord, leapt down from your royal throne.
Titus iii. 4-5
The goodness and kindness of God our Saviour appeared, not by the works of justice which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us.
Retired Magistrate here: We went to a beautiful Christmas Eve service last night at a Lutheran church close to us. Our regular church is small so we usually don’t have Christmas Eve services.
It started to snow early in the afternoon and the roads were not cleared. Driving to the church we were both questioning our sanity about doing this; however it was worth it. Beautiful service.
By the time we left the service the roads were really bad. Thankfully I have an older Jeep Grand Cherokee, which is a tank with 4 wheel drive, so praise the LORD we got home in once piece. We have a steep curvy driveway and if you go off it you go down a hill and into a pond. So winter here is always exciting.
As usual there is just the two of us for Christmas. But since my husband is my best friend it is always a great Christmas. Of course the greatest gift of all is Jesus Christ, my LORD and SAVIOR. Merry Christmas everyone!
Merry Christmas Treepers!
“And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.” Isaiah 40:5.
Praises to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in this holy season of the celebration of the Nativity of our Lord, for our God who comes to free the world from Satan’s power is here with us, delivering us from bondage and working all things out.
Prayers for our military, our veterans, our children, our elderly, our President and his family, our nation, and the whole world – that God grant them and all of us here in the Treehouse family blessings, comfort, and joy.
Merry Christmas to all the Treeper family from the beautiful Pacific Northwest!
God’s Christmas Joke on the taxman: Augustus Caesar called for all the world to be taxed. (Hence the “enrollment” of this particular translation). And God’s joke on the “August” Caesar, was that He would see recorded the otherwise unverifiable birthplasce of His Son by the very hand of the voracious, pagan taxman. Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s indeed! Now that’s a Christmas story we should all appreciate!
To paraphrase 1 John 4:4, greater is He Who lives in you (if you believe), than that loser who is messing with the world right now.
May your faith increase; your love blossom; your patience deepen; and your hope in the Lord’s return flare into an outpouring of great witness, perseverance and zeal. That is the definition of the Church of Philadelphia of Rev. 3.
And may you know the joy of fulfilling God’s call on your life to know Him, living each day in utter dependence on Him, completing His purpose in your life, and taking each step upward in the faith and love of God.
Merry Christmas, my precious friends! I love every one of you with an inexpressible affection and longing to be united with you when that time comes. In the meantime: Let’s be salt and light (preserve and bring Truth to) our wonderful nation and the many peoples beyond!
Merry Christmas world! Thank you Dear Lord for the gift of your SON that in his life, teachings, death and RESURRECTION on this earth that I might have a chance at everlasting life. And thank you Dear Lord for always hearing and answering my prayers.
Merry Christmas to all at The Treehouse for your time and effort to make it a welcoming home for all of us who have settled on a branch. May God bestow his blessing and guidance upon us all.
Thank you for this, Menagerie, and a Merry Christmas to one and all!
Merry Christmas ya’ll and may you be blessed in the coming year.
Merry Christmas to Sundance and all the Treepers!!! Let’s rejoice the birth of our great savior Jesus Christ!!! God Bless!!!
Ooohhh! There, at the back. It’s one more Christmas present!
It’s from Menagerie!
Thank you so much!
It’s just what I wanted!!
… and just what we all need.
Beautiful scripture passage. Thank you. Merry Christmas!