On a recent Sunday morning, I was the guest preacher at a church near my house. A handbell choir, donning Christmasy-red shirts and white gloves, opened the service with a rendition of “O Come O Come Emmanuel.” I’ve loved this haunting Advent hymn since my childhood. The original version of...

  The Nativity is the story of an ordinary miracle. Look closely at the tapestry of Christmas, and you will notice it has been woven with common thread and shining strands of gold. First, consider the utter humanness of this story: JESUS WAS BORN Jesus was a human infant. He didn’t mythically spring, fully-formed, from the...