CFC Articles

"Wondrous gift of heaven: the Father sends the Son / Planned from time eternal, moved by holy love / He will carry our curse and death He'll reverse / So we can be daughters and sons" -Who Would Have Dreamed One of the great mysteries of Christmas is that this was not a "plan B" for God. The history of the Old Testament is not just a group of misfits and false starts t...

"O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer / Our spirits by Thine advent here / Disperse the gloomy clouds of night / And death's dark shadows put to flight." -O Come, O Come, Emmanuel While death has been a part of our world since Genesis 3, it was not so in God's original plan for the world. The discomfort we feel around death is a constant reminder that it is an intru...

"Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace! / Hail the Sun of Righteousness! / Light and life to all He brings / Ris'n with healing in His wings" -Hark the Herald Angels Sing There's this wonderful line near the end of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. After a fierce battle, many injured men and women are suffering under a severe illness that cannot be cured by normal means....

"Go tell it on the mountain / Over the hills and everywhere / Go tell it on the mountain / Jesus Christ is born" -Go Tell it on the Mountain This song is one that we can tend to sing rather casually, but in looking at the Scripture behind the lyrics, we can see that the shepherds' reaction to the news of Christ's birth is anything but casual: "When the angels went awa...

"Joyful, all ye nations rise / Join the triumph of the skies / With the angelic host proclaim: / 'Christ is born in Bethlehem' / Hark! The herald angels sing / "Glory to the newborn King!" -Hark the Herald Angels Sing "But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish....The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep da...

"Long lay the world in sin and error pining / Till he appear'd and the soul felt its worth. / A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices / For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!" -O Holy Night Years...too many years. Ever since that first sin in the garden mankind had lain in sin. Generations had lived and died with plenty of joys and celebration, true. Weddings, bi...

"Veiled in flesh the Godhead see / Hail the incarnate Deity / Pleased as man with man to dwell / Jesus, our Emmanuel" -Hark the Herald Angels Sing "Show me your glory," Moses requests of the LORD in Exodus 33:18. To be sure, this is an absurdly bold petition. And God kindly tells Moses in Exodus 33:20, "You cannot see my face and live." It is a kindness, because there ...

Preaching Passage: Psalm 30 This Sunday we will continue our Advent series of looking at Christmas in the Psalms. Come join us as we look God's mercy in answering David's prayer and turning his mourning into dancing. Here are the songs we will sing together: "Joy to the World" by Handel Watts(YouTube) "O Come All Ye Faithful" by Oakley Wade(YouTube) "Amen, Amen" b...

"This day is born a Saviour / Of a pure Virgin bright, / To free all those who trust in Him / From Satan's power and might. / O tidings of comfort and joy" -God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen Luke 2:8-20 tells us how shepherds watching their flocks in a field suddenly became the first to hear God's comforting news to his distressed people of a rescuer: Jesus, whose very name ...

"Adam's likeness now efface / Shine Thine image in its place / Second Adam from above, / Reinstate us in Thy love / Hark! The herald angels sing, / "Glory to the newborn King!" -Hark the Herald Angels Sing Throughout C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, human beings (as opposed to the other creatures in the world of Narnia) are referred to as "sons of Adam" and "daughter...