Jesus began his public ministry with his baptism, administered by John the Baptist at the Jordan River. All four gospels narrate the baptism, which reveals Jesus as the Son of God and points to his work of new creation.
Hymn Guide: We Three Kings
“We Three Kings” is a festive carol that both tells the story of the magi visiting baby Jesus, and also explores the deeper significance of their gifts.
Hymn Guide: Good King Wenceslas
“Good King Wenceslas” is a Christmas Carol that celebrates generosity, sacrifice, and the power of holy imitation.
Hymn Guide: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
The majestic Christmas carol, “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing,” celebrates both the birth of Christ and the saving work he came to do. First written by Charles Wesley, with small but significant modifications by George Whitefield, it reflects the confidence of the Great Awakening in the glorious grace of God.
12 Christmas Books for Kids
In our family, we store our Christmas books in the attic for most of the year. So it is a cause of great delight, near the beginning of Advent, when we bring them out again. In these books, we find wonderful stories to celebrate the birth of Christ. To be clear, these are not adaptations…
The Abolition of Man: C.S. Lewis’s Most Prophetic Work of Nonfiction
Published as The Abolition of Man, Lewis’s lectures offered a stark warning: Western civilization was abandoning its commitment to objective truth and moral value in favor of moral relativism.
Beauty Shines Through: A Stained Glass Story
At St. Mark’s Anglican Church in Loomis, CA, a new stained glass panel, still in its design stages, will soon adorn the space.
Singing the Faith with Mrs. Alexander
On the surface, there is precious little widely available on the life of Cecil Frances Alexander, a “Hymn-writer and Teacher of the Faith,” as she’s called in the 2019 Prayer Book. I was able to find precisely one biography available online, which, in turn, led me to a smaller one that her husband wrote after…
Hymn Guide: All Things Bright And Beautiful
While “All Things Bright and Beautiful” is childlike, it is not childish. It contains much more than first meets the eye.
Hymn Guide: Amazing Grace
“Amazing Grace” is a universal anthem of God’s grace to sinners. Now sung all over the world, it began as the personal testimony of John Newton, Anglican priest and former slave trader. Like Paul and the woman with the alabaster jar, Newton loved God much, because he had been forgiven much. Newton’s hymn traveled across…
Hymn Guide: How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place
“How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place” is a hymn of longing and spiritual ascent. It is a paraphrase of Psalm 84 and began in the ancient Hebrew practice of pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
