'This Christmas Night'

'THIS CHRISTMAS NIGHT'. 'Reflection From Our Hearts To Your Home'. Billy and Ruth Graham 2007. This special Trinity Bible Network Edition was a gift to us from TBN UK. In the FOREWORD,Billy and Ruth Graham shared their Christmas thoughts. We reflect in memorandum. Ruth Bell Graham,June 10,1929 - June 14,2007. Billy Graham,November 7,1918 - February 21,2019. ..................Christmas is the most thrilling season of the year. As we look back over the years,memories of many Christmases flood our minds. Christmas cards that we read and reread,the smell of pine drifting through the house,the fireplace crackling,all of these things turn out thoughts to those we love' (Billy and Ruth Graham)

'Ruth and I have treasured these moments spent with family and friends,each year as we gather to celebrate the Christmas message,a message of hope and joy and love. No other day on the calender catches the imagination of young and old alike,as does Christmas. It's a high and holy day,a day when the veil is drawn back and we get a fresh view of eternity' (Billy and Ruth Graham 2007)

'It's a day when our minds go back to that lovely manger in Bethlehem and we have beyond the noise of our materialistic world the soft flutter of angel's wings. We see the tenderness of a mother with her firstborn son,we find that softness of a Baby' (Billy and Ruth Graham)

'Christmas means something far deeper than human goodwill. It is the loving remembrance of the birth of the Saviour. Over two thousand years ago,on a night the world had come to call Christmas,a young Jewish maiden went through the experience,countless mothers had before her and would since. She brought forth a child,but this was no ordinary child. This was the unique Son of God,sent from heaven to save us from our sins (Matthew 2:11) Christmas is the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ our Saviour' (Billy and Ruth Graham)

'Amid the glitter and bitterness of the season,may you not lose sight of the miracle and meaning of that first Christmas Night. With the shepherds and the wise men,let us fall down and worship Him!' (Billy and Ruth Graham)

'A NIGHT OF HEAVENLY HOPE' 'Christmas is the most significant of all the days of the year' (Billy and Ruth Graham)

'A GLORIOUS HOPE! Christmas is not just a date on the calender. It is the celebration of the event that set heaven to singing,an event that gave the stars of the night sky a new brilliance. Eight hundred years before the birth of Christ,the prophet Isaiah declated,'The people who walked in darkness have seen a great Light' (Isaiah 9:2) it was the promise of the coming of Christ and the light that was to dawn upon the world. It heralds the entrance of God into human history. It is heaven descending to earth. It is as though a trumpeter had taken his stand upon the turrets of time and announced to a despairing,hopeless and frustrated world the coming of the Prince of Peace' (Billy and Ruth Graham)

'The Hebrew prophets not only believed in God but they worshipped God. They believed that God could be seen in nature. They believed that He had made the world,but all through the centuries they seem to have been saying,'I wish that God would become personal'. This is precisely what He did that first Christmas night. He became personal in Bethlehem. 'The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us' (John 1:1)At a specific time and a specific place,a specific person was born and that Person was God of very God,the Lord Jesus Christ. From he lips of Jesus came these words,'The Son of man is come to seek and save that which was lost: (Luke 19:10). Like piercing trumpets, these words herald the breaking in of the Divine into human history. What a wonderful and glorious hope we have because of that first Christmas!' (Billy and Ruth Graham)

rocknanchor said:

What a kind and heartfelt collection you have assembled. A fitting carryover of the compassion he had for the lost!

Click to expand...

Thank God for the legendry Billy and Ruth Graham!

'O little town of Bethlehem,how still we see thee lie! Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by. Yet in thy deep streets shineth the everlasting Light. The hopes and fears of all the years are found in thee tonight'

'For Christ is born of Mary and gathered all above. While mortals sleep,the angels keep their watch of wondrous love. O morning stars together proclaim the holy birth and praises sing to God the King and peace to men on earth'

'How silently,how silently,the wondrous gift is given. So God parts to human hearts the blessing of His Heaven. No earay hear His coming,but in this world of sin,where meek souls will receive Him still,the dear Christ enters in.

'o Holy Child of Bethlehem,descend to us we pray. Cast out our sin and enter in,be born in us today. We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell. O come to us,abide with us,our Lord Emmamiell'

'And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Ceasar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered,everyone to his own city' (Billy and Ruth Graham)

'Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth,into Judea,to the City of David,which is called Bethlehem,because he was of the house and lineage of David,to be registered with Mary,his betrothed wife,who was with child. So it was that while they were there,the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger because there was no room in the inn' (Billy and Ruth Graham - from Scripture)

'A SPECIAL CHRISTMAS STORY. It had to be a very special time - the time when God's Son came into the world. God had chosen the children of Israel to build a nation for His Son and the town of Bethlehem as His birthplace. But the Baby still had no family to care for Him. God was His Father,but the Baby needed a mother' (Billy and Ruth Graham)

'God searched among His people for a woman worthy to be the mother of His Son. Would she be a princess living in a palace,or a rich man's daughter who wore bright dresses and jewels and had maids to arrange her hair and rub it with sweet smelling purfume? God did not choose one of these. He chose instead, a modest young girl called Mary,who lived in the little hill town of Nazareth in Galilee. He sent His angel Gabriel to tell Mary that she had been chosen to be the mother of His Son' (Billy and Ruth Graham)

'At first,Mary was so amazed that she could hardly speak. But she had always loved God and tried to obey Him and so she said to the angel,"I am the Lord's servant and I am willing to do whatever He wants. Make every thing you said,come true". She was going to marry a kind,strong man called Joseph. Long ago a man named Jeremiah had told the children of Israel that the Savio,when He came would belong to the family of David and both Mary and Joseph were members of that family,descended from the great King David. Joseph took good care of Mary as the time grew near for her Baby to be born' (Billy and Ruth Graham!

'MARY. One evening in Jerusalem I looked out of my hotel window and saw the lights of Bethlehem in the distance. For a long time I stood there and meditated on the events that had taken place ove 2000 years ago and which have transformed and changed our world.i thought about the angel Gabriel. He came to Mary,who was no more than a teenager and said,'Fear not,Mary,for thou hast found favor with God and behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a Son and shalt call His name Jesus. He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest and the LORD God will give unto Him the throne of His father David and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever and of His kingdom there shall be no end' (Luke 1:30-33)