CT Daily Briefing – 12-25-2024

December 19, 2024
CT Daily Briefing

Today’s Briefing

For Christmas Day, poet Malcolm Guite shares a blessing inspired by the inextinguishable light of Christ.

Philip Yancey reflects on our call to celebrate, even in the midst of upheaval.

From our Advent devotional: The Christmas season offers an invitation to meditate on the humility of the Son and seek to follow his lead.

You can check out more of our Christmas stories and reflections here.


In Other News


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Today in Christian History

December 25, 496: King Clovis, who united Gaul and founded France, is baptized in the Cathedral of Rheims, followed by 3,000 of his soldiers. “Worship what you once burned, and burn what you worshipped,” the priest instructed him. However, Clovis and his troops showed little change after their “conversion” and apparently believed Christ was merely a war god who would grant them victory if they prayed for it.


in case you missed it

Advent celebrates the most joyous news in the world, but it can feel cheapened by the holiday commercialization and the busyness of the season. That’s why I read one book…

On November 21, 1943, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a letter from Tegel Prison. “A prison cell like this is a good analogy for Advent,” he said. “One waits, hopes, does this…

Read Luke 2:9–11 “DO NOT BE AFRAID.” Each time an angel appears in Luke’s nativity story, they say these words. Mary hears them from Gabriel during the Annunciation; Gabriel speaks…

To see how much we really want to peer into the mystery of the Incarnation, go to a Christmas pageant and note whether there’s a plastic doll in the manger…


in the magazine

As this issue hits your mailboxes after the US election and as you prepare for the holidays, it can be easy to feel lost in darkness. In this issue, you’ll read of the piercing light of Christ that illuminates the darkness of drug addiction at home and abroad, as Angela Fulton in Vietnam and Maria Baer in Portland report about Christian rehab centers. Also, Carrie McKean explores the complicated path of estrangement and Brad East explains the doctrine of providence. Elissa Yukiko Weichbrodt shows us how art surprises, delights, and retools our imagination for the Incarnation, while Jeremy Treat reminds us of an ancient African bishop’s teachings about Immanuel. Finally, may you be surprised by the nearness of the “Winter Child,” whom poet Malcolm Guite guides us enticingly toward. Happy Advent and Merry Christmas.

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