Setting aside the assembly of research notes for topics and issues I am following; I turn to send a simple message on this holiest of holy nights. I am thankful for you in ways I will never be able to convey.
When we say “Merry Christmas” do we think about it?
This is the day of great joy, the greatest joy of all. Tonight, we celebrate a loving and purposeful blessing provided to us by our Creator. The universal truth. The pure perfection of a loving Child born in the most ordinary fashion for us, to us, to guide and share the most blessed and purposeful message that could ever be delivered to mankind: We are Loved.
The message in the story of Christ’s birth is pure love. Sit in the peace created by our acceptance and join together in joy.
Years from now, it is unlikely anyone will remember that thing they unwrapped. What they will remember, what will have much greater impact, is a message from YOU to THEM that they matter, that they too are loved. Think about what “Merry Christmas” means, when you say it.
The Merry Christmas moment provided by you, will NEVER be forgotten. That look in your eye or sound of your voice that reaches them and emphasizes their value, their worth, their importance; that is the gift they will remember in great detail, forever.
Hope is the necessary human element beyond all other facets of life. Give the gift of hope and light to those you love by first reminding yourself of the gift that a loving God has given us all. It is too easy in our human sense to forget the biggest gift we have been granted, the gift of life. The ability to live and choose how we engage in the lives of others.
Remind yourself when you say “Merry Christmas” of the kind of purposeful HOPE that would leave the most glorious throne to be born into a manger as a baby, only to grow into a Man willing to lay down His everything for the flawed people amid humanity. Why? Because that hope is pure. That love is perfect.
No politics or false sense of security can overwhelm the message of HOPE that a loving God has provided. No effort of man or human disposition can surmount the greatest love of all. The message of Christ’s birth is bigger and greater than any political or legislative battle.
“No power of hell, nor scheme of man” can come close to the purpose of God’s intent and love for you as a unique person qualified to receive that love. Turn “Merry Christmas” into an action message. Engage in the moments around saying “Merry Christmas” with a loving purpose filled with the HOPE that He provides. Fall forward to the centered purpose of your life, a very special life, and reflect on the gift we often are too busy to contemplate.
When I think about thankfulness for you at Christmastime, I think about our friend, Rush Limbaugh. He said it so well.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Rush Limbaugh’s final Christmas show. There was always something about Rush and Mannheim Steamroller. While it wasn’t his last ever show, it was his way of saying goodbye to us. pic.twitter.com/GX0ow7RB2Z
— Jill Savage (@Jill_Savage) December 21, 2024
.
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.”
Revelation 21:1-6

Thank you Sundance and everyone here.
I had a successful surgery yesterday and am no longer dying. Thank you for all of the prayers and support.
Christmas Eve Day is my favorite day followed by Easter. This is a wonderful day.
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas!
Good news indeed!
Amen! Deo gratia!
Awesome News!!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
A very merry and joyous day of God’s mercy, Mreed01.
Merry Christmas!
Wonderful. May God richly bless you during recovery.
Sundance, and all the crew here at CTH
I have been really concerned about that family time you should be having…I do wish you the best memories of all that you have done for this HUGE online family…but hows bout you give us up for a few days and just sit in your own living room and watch the children grow 😛
May you have a way better new year than this past one, and remember what you tell this bunch to do…Live Your Best Life, it only comes around once.
God Bless the Treehouse and enrich everyone that passes this way…Enjoy what God has in store for all of you 🙂
…steps off the soapbox and heads for The Shire TaTa and whoosh…Im Gone!
Sundance,
I’ve been right beside you for almost ten years now. Mostly silent. The sword of God’s majesty is with you. Merry Christmas my good brother and carry forward.
Breaking News: Herschel Walker nominated Ambassador to The Bahamas.
Merry Christmas Sundance,Menagerie, admen,and every single branch of the treehouse.
May you all receive Christmas blessings
That quote from Revelations is what I read at my sister’s memorial service when she passed away 3 years ago. She was a faithful believer in Jesus, and she planted many seeds in me over the years. At last, one of those seeds fell on good ground and I began reading the Bible -just 9 months before she died. I am not a Bible scholar and can’t claim to understand that final book, but that passage gave me hope and peace, knowing that Jesus would return someday. My life has changed forever. Now I am trying to follow my sister’s footsteps, walking with God and sharing his promise with anyone who will listen, always remembering that the seeds you plant may not fall on the good ground the first time, so you just got to keep trying.
God bless you and your family, Sundance and Merry Christmas!
Let me lead you to a wonderful commentary site that I constantly reference in my Bible Studies. I just love when someone expands the scripture I’m studying in common everyday language cause I have a tendency to not comprehend the full meaning behind the writing. I do take the written word literally but love to be referenced to Strong’s Concordance for definitions, so I will include that also.
Study Resources :: Text Commentaries :: Matthew Henry
https://www.blueletterbible.org/commentaries/mhc/
The commentaries of the Reverend Matthew Henry have been a great blessing to the readers of the Blue Letter Bible since 1996. He was a 17th and early 18th Century minister of the Gospel in Chester, England, and died in 1714. Quoting Charles Spurgeon: “First among the mighty for general usefulness we are bound to mention the man whose name is a household word, Matthew Henry. He is most pious and pithy, sound and sensible, suggestive and sober, terse and trustworthy….”
The Blue Letter Bible team has Matthew Henry’s complete unabridged commentaries for each Bible book. There are over 60,000 links between the Blue Letter Bible and the Henry Commentaries.
On the top menu at the Blue Letter Bible (my favorite goto website) there is an option to apply Strong’s to the passage you are reading, for example:
Rev 2:7 KJV ¶ He that hath G2192 an ear, G3775 let him hear G191 what G5101 the Spirit G4151 saith G3004 unto the churches; G1577 To him G846 that overcometh G3528 will I give G1325 to eat G5315 of G1537 the tree G3586 of life, G2222 which G3739 is G2076 in G1722 the midst G3319 of the paradise G3857 of God. G2316
The number if clicked will define the word before it and give the original language it was written. Also, it will place the right definition even if the same word appears with a different number elsewhere, which puts the meaning in the context where the word appears.
I am not a Bible scholar either, but grandma taught me to read from the Bible as a young child. As I got older, I learned to use reference material to gain knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. As a teenager, I won many bookmarkers for my Bible from the Sword Drills we had every Sunday night before the main service.
Afterall, we are told to learn from the Word of God eh, and continue to nurture those seeds we plant 🙂
Perhaps the theologically-soundest commentary on Revelation is this one, written in 1939 and still in print:
“More Than Conquerors” by William Hendrickson (ISBN 978-08010-1840-4).
Reading this book brightly shone the light of understanding into John’s apocalyptic book for me, and ended my confusion about Revelation’s imagery and message that had persisted for decades.
May it bless you equally!
Thank You,Thank You ,Thank You so much fo all the hard work you put into …..Everytime I am compelled to respond to something you have said I just end up struggling to find the right words to properly convey my opinion and Not look so stupid.
I thank you from the bottom of my Heart how much I truly appreciate all that you do to keep us all more informed. Its people like you sir that keeps me holding on. Merry Christmas my friend.
“Not look so stupid?” The fact that you are here on a branch of the CTH defies that thought. You are most likely the most knowledgable person on your block, acre or little patch of woods. Glad you are here.
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas Sundance and all the Treepers. Many Blessings in the coming year.
Merry Christmas Sundance. This community that you lead is a light in a dark world and I’m thankful for all that you do.
May the love and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be with you and all who are in the Treeper community.
Merry Christmas!
And in the greatest act of humility and love mankind will ever know, the Lord God Almighty arose, descended from the Throne of Grace itself and took on the form and flesh of his most beloved creation, in order to live and walk among them, ultimately giving himself up in pure innocence as a ransom to the penalty of their sin, and so save them from the schemes of evil incarnate.
mighty, Mighty, MIGHTY God of Love and Grace!!
Merry, merry Christmas treepers!!
Merry Merry Christmas, Sundance, Menagerie and Admin!! Im so glad to have found this tree branch!!
“GLORY”
Merry Christmas and thank you Sundance!
What happened to the “The Best Christmas Song I’ve Ever Heard”?
It truly is the Best..
Thank You Sundance
Merry Christmas Everyone
& Happy New Year
Christmas is a national holiday in Syria…
For now
God bless
Thank you all, I’m thankful for fellowship and purpose…
Dear Heavenly Father, as we gather on this Christmas Eve, we thank You for the gift of Your Son, Jesus. May our celebration be a reflection of His love and purpose. Help us to prioritize fellowship and community, and may we be intentional about living out our faith in practical ways. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
Merry Christmas Sundance and fellow Treepers. As a classical music lover and performer, if you want true Christmas music, I suggest you take the time to listen and follow with text Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. They are a little long but worth it. They will give you time to reflect the true meaning of Christmas.
Thank you all. This is an informative and trusted place on the interwebs because of Sundance and crew. Merry Christmas!
BEST CHRISTMAS IN DECADES!!! THANK YOU, SUNDANCE AND TEAM!!! YOU HELPED MAKE THIS CHRISTMAS A TRULY SPECIAL ONE… GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!!!
Merry Christmas Sundance and all fellow Treepers! May your Christmas season be a blessed one.
A very merry and blessed Christmas one and all!
And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
Luke 2:16-20
The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:
The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
Numbers 6:24-26
Grateful for you, Sundance, and everyone here. May the blessings of ‘Merry Christmas’ be with you all and your families.
Thank you, Sundance. Merry Christmas to you and all Treepers.
May God continue to bless President Trump and his family, our great nation, and all pious, freedom-loving people around the world.
Thank you Lord for Your many blessings. All the glory belongs to You.
~ EM
Sundance,
Through your faithful stewardship, you encouraged us to get prepared through “come what may.” Thanks for being the big brother I never had and for giving us a place to get real news, commune, and stay sane.
Blessings and Merry Christmas!
‘Fear Not” was the theme of my church’s Christmas Eve service sermon. It hit home. Merry Christmas, everyone.
There is nothing, there is no one, that is greater or fills my heart to overflowing, with rejoicing, other than the Father, His Son, and The Holy Spirit. They teach me to do things that on my own I know I would never do. They teach me to love others when I want to run away. They teach me to follow Christ, even though I fail and fail many times every day, they teach me that I am still His child, and for that, I am eternally thankful.
Merry Christmas for God’s unmerited, merciful, magnificent, magnanimous gift given to show us sinners the love of our Heavenly Father, Abba, through His Son, Jesus, the Christ and The Holy Spirit.
A song of reverent love to the King of kings.
Lots of love to you, Sundance. It’s been a wonderful journey with you and so much more to come!
Merry Christmas❤️✝️❤️
Delete
Merry Christmas and a very big Thank you to Sundance, Ad_rem, Menagerie, and the rest of the CTH team.
Hope all of your families are safe and well through this holiday season and the new year.
“As a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us.” — John Winthrop
Merry Christmas, 2024.
Just saw this on ZH. Very funny and very true!
“The War on Christmas cannot end until Christmas stops its illegal occupation of November. I am calling on the Claus regime to return to the borders agreed upon in the Black Friday Agreement.”
American Families Find Joy In Simple, Traditional Christmas Celebrations
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/american-families-find-joy-simple-traditional-christmas-celebrations
Merry Christmas to all you Treepers! Wishing everyone a blessed Holy Day. Love to all.
Merry Christmas Sundance, and to everyone who seeks refuge here! I look forward to a very exciting New Year and sharing it with all of you.
Thank you, SD, for your tireless and ceaseless patriotism that both educates us in knowing the virtue in truth and inspires all of us to trust in God to deliver us from the evil that constantly threatens our great country.
Also, I feel the same admiration and love for everyone residing in TCT.
May all of you have a blessed and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year filled with the best of all good things. 🙏🎄🎆❤
The simple answer is, if I don’t mean something, I don’t say it: MERRY CHRISTMAS SUNDANCE, AND TO ALL WHO ENRICH EACH OTHERS’ LIVES IN THE TREEHOUSE!
(Thank you for posting the Rush video. My 82 year old aunt who is the treasure in my life, listened to him for her entire adult life. She was there for the original broadcast. She told me yesterday that when Rush made that broadcast his listeners knew he would not see another Christmas.)
I just saw this and am posting in case anyone here did not know this about President Trump. I did not.
Peace ☮️
Love that you end the post with the culmination of the New Creation, not just of the individual but of Creation itself.
It seems in this time in history it is something to set our sights on since God has chosen us for His purpose and this time.
It is hard to get our heads around (or at least it is for me) what a fully redeemed creation actually is. But it seems that whatever role God has assigned to us in that process- it is upon us.
Merry Christmas!
Say the name
Jesus
Pray the name
Jesus
Accept the gift
Jesus
With a word he can ….
Jesus
Hoping that each and every member of our Treehouse community has a very joyous and blessed Christmas day as we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ
Thank you Sundance for having the guts, presaverance and determination to do what you do here at CTH. I come here with the desire of connecting with like minded people and always leave with a little more knowledge and one more arrow in my quiver for the fight against the tyranny I see rising in the world. Although I can embrace the message of peace and love that is intended for this time of the year, I will always remain that mule that has been set aside, waiting for the call to be yoked up and brought to the field to do what must be done. DG
A bank teller said it to me first!
Merry Christmas to all the Treepers!
I believe God has pulled us together with the bond
of looking for common sense and the truth and it is truly a blessing!
the Information I have learned here and passed on to others is
invaluable.
All of it goes straight back to our host!
I want to Thank You personally Sundance as
you could of done the same thing like most people have
take the money and sell out
You have resisted this with your integrity and for that I’m forever grateful!
☝🏻 THIS!!!
This quote from Revelation is very valuable reading today. Thank you, Sundance; and may Our Lord continue to bless us all!
Karl Marx once wrote that religion is the opiate of the people, a dystopian viewpoint that entirely misses the meaning of faith in something greater than ourselves!
Religion is our path to those transcendental moments that fill us with awe, connect us to each other and give us that rare glimpse of the divine.
The Nativity invokes such a moment and reminds us that, despite our failings, God calls us to the better angels of our nature.
In Catholic (and protestant churches with liturgical history) today marks a”solemnity” that begins the Octave of Christmas running through the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (1 Jan — used to be a day of obligation in the US). There are several “feasts” within the octave, with Holy Family on Sunday so no reason to stop being “merry” after today.
cross posted at https://freedomaustralia.freeforums.net/thread/6529/merry-christmas-message-thankfulness
Merry Christmas to you and the CTH team, Sundance.
And a big THANK YOU for all that you do from The Land Down Under.