It is necessary not to be Christian to appreciate the beauty and significance of the life of Christ.

The greatest sorrow and burden you can lay on the Father, the greatest unkindness you can do to him is not to believe that he loves you.

Not to aim to show God is not to love, because God is what we need the most deeply. And to have all else without Him is to perish in the end.

He loved us to the uttermost. And let us be so moved by this love that it becomes our own.

The sins that should have brought condemnation on us, God laid on Jesus. God's love planned an amazing exchange: Jesus endured what we deserved so that we might enjoy what he deserved—eternal life. And the way we come to enjoy this life is by believing in Jesus. That's what he said: 'Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life' (John 6:47; cf. Luke 8:12).

O Father, touch us with fresh faith that we might believe the incredible. The very pain of Christ that makes us despair is our salvation. Open our fearful hearts to receive the gospel. Waken the dead parts of our hearts that cannot feel what must be felt-that we are loved with the deepest, strongest, purest love in the universe.

There never has been a greater act of love than that Jesus laid down his life to save sinners (John 15:13; Rom. 5:6-8).

Don't leave Christmas in the abstract. Your sin. Your conflict with the Devil. Your victory. He came for this.

Christmas split history. Foretastes of the future abound. Drink deeply on what he achieved for us. And be filled with hope for all that is coming.

He died for me, who caused His pain-- For me, who Him to death pursued? Amazing love, how can it be That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me

In John 3:16, Jesus teaches us that the God who exists loves. Let that sink in. The God who absolutely is. Loves. He loves. Of all the things you might say about God, be sure to say this: he loves.

It was a very costly love. A very powerful love. A very rugged, painful love. The meaning of Christmas is the celebration of this love. "God so loved . . ." And wonder of wonders, God gives this costly love to an undeserving world of sinners, like us.