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The impact of the virgin birth
First appeared as a web original on November 30, 2015.
As a former professional singer I enjoyed many years performing in various Christmas concerts. A particularly memorable night was when I sung the familiar carol “O Holy Night” for the city of Boston’s tree lighting ceremony. But more often than not it was Handel’s Messiah that kept me busy during the Christmas concert season.
At each performance I would joyfully sing the angel’s announcement of the birth of “a Saviour” to the shepherds watching over their flocks at night (see Luke 2:10, 11). As I sang, I had the desire that all of us in the concert hall would feel the momentous nature of that earth-shattering event. I longed to convey through the glorious music that the birth of Christ Jesus is unparalleled in human history; it was the fulfillment of the biblical prophecy: “The Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). Christians throughout the world recognize the birth of Jesus as the sign of Immanuel, or “God with us” (Matthew 1:23).

December 19, 2016 issue
View Issue-
From the readers
Pat Spencer, Patricia Hirsch, Gwendolyn Caldwell
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Christmas wisdom
Roger Gordon
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The impact of the virgin birth
Kari Mashos
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Presence of Immanuel
Richard Schaberg
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Mothering—a more expansive love
Name Withheld
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The best Christmas gift
Blythe Evans
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Spiritual understanding dissolves lump
Lynne Bundesen
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Healed of crippling back pain
Toni Wengler
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Healed on a morning run
Tad Blake-Weber
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Angel space
Fenella Bennetts