Hi, Alex McFarland here, and this Christmas I want to say to each and everyone listening. We love you. We thank God for you. We wish you a very joyous, Jesus-filled Christmas. But make this the focal point of your Christmas: that Christ the King.
resides in your heart and in your life. and you've put your faith in him. And that every day you truly do feel his presence because you've invited him in. and he's a welcome guest. in your heart, your life, your soul.
That's the most important part of Christmas. But really it's the most important part of life itself. May God bless you. May God be glorified. And Merry Christmas.
The spiritual condition of America, Politics, Culture, and Current Events Analyzed Through the Lens of Scripture. Welcome to the Alex McFarland Show. Thanks be to God for His. Unspeakable gift. That's 2 Corinthians 9.15.
And with that, the unspeakable, indescribable, impossible to estimate gift of Jesus and his coming, I welcome you to this edition of the Alex McFarland program. Hi, Alex McFarland here, wanting to be the first to wish you a Merry Christmas 2025. This will air the weekend of the first Sunday of Advent for 2025, around November 30th. And we are going to, for the next several weeks, of course, be talking about Christmas, my absolute favorite time of the year, because the birth of Christ is what made possible the gospel, the ministry of Jesus, his eventual death on the cross, resurrection from the grave, ascension to heaven, the sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the birth of the church, the Great Commission, the preaching of the gospel. And here we are, 20 centuries removed.
From Christ's time here on earth. And very near, quite likely very, very near, his return, the second advent. And so I want to talk about, as we get into the Christmas season, Christmas and my challenge. Not only to everyone listening, but to myself as well, to make it a time for revival. And I want to go over really four or five things that are the challenges or the personal responsibilities that we might hold ourselves to at this time.
The great commission, the great news, as 2 Corinthians 9:15 says, the impossible to over-describe, overemphasize the reality that God took on a human body, came from heaven to earth to be our Savior. And really, regardless of all of the other curveballs that life throws at us, whether it be health issues or family relationship challenges, financial, just the problems of living down here in a fallen, sinful world, ultimately, though, we have joy, we have hope. We have peace inside if Jesus is on the throne of our life. And Christmas is a reminder. And we'll be talking about this in great depth over the next several weeks.
So please be in prayer. Please listen in if you would. All that Christmas and Christ's Advent makes possible for us. Because this is absolutely real. I mean, think about it.
The most real thing in our life. is our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And Christmas, what a great reminder of that. You know, I love the Christmas songs. Those that have listened many years know that I quote lots of Christmas songs.
And one of my favorites is Joy to the World. Of course, that famous hymn by Isaac Watts that was really inspired by Psalm 98, where it talks about the joy of the world, the oceans clapping and shouting hallelujah, because Christ has returned. And really the original title of that was When Christ Comes to Set Up His Kingdom. You know, and of course, there's the famous lyrics about, you know, no more let sin and sorrow reign, nor thorns infest the ground. And the Isaac Watts hymnal, Joy to the World, acknowledges that things like sin and sorrow and death, and even the weeds and the thorns, are part of the fall of Genesis 3.
You know, uh one of the phrases that you might hear in biblical worldview circles is restoring all things. meaning that God is in the business of restoring all things, and everything lost by the fall, everything inflicted on the human race by the advent of sin. And separation from God and the fall is restored in Christ's second coming. That's why Thomas Jefferson You know, many people paint Thomas Jefferson as a secularist, but he wasn't. And regardless of how he might have deviated from the Christian faith through his time in France, and he was around a lot of Enlightenment thinkers, there's pretty good evidence that by the time the last decade of his life, Jefferson did solidly affirm faith in Christ, and we've done shows on that.
But Jefferson was huge on Christmas, Thomas Jefferson, at both Monticello and Poplar Forest. There are dozens and dozens of letters and entries about how Thomas Jefferson would decorate, would have big feasts. And he said, Christmas is the greatest day of the year, Thomas Jefferson. Because of what God did to To relieve the burden on the sons of Adam. the burden of sin and the fall.
So I want to talk about this. And as we reflect on all that God has done for us, I want to give a little bit of church history and talk about how the church came to really observe Christmas And there's a couple of people that I want to familiarize you with, although you may know this already, but really the founder of church history, Eusebius. Eusebius lived 263 to 339, and he was one that took great pains to write about the historicity of Jesus and how Jesus really did live. on earth And Eusebius wrote about Jesus being born in Bethlehem. And now, this is only 250 to 300 years after the life of Christ.
But he documents how during the census of Quirinius of Syria, which is mentioned in Luke. That Eusebius would talk about, quote, in the days of the taxing, That Jesus was born, and Eusebius went to great pains to document the historicity of not only the life of Jesus. But the birth of Jesus. But even really two hundred years before Eusebius, there was a Christian leader named Theophilus of Caesarea.
Now about 190 AD, there's a quote that is attributed to Theophilus of Caesarea, and it says this We ought to celebrate the birthday of our Lord on whatsoever day the twenty fifth of December shall happen.
Now this comes to us from the five hundreds, but it's a quote that supposedly was stated around one ninety AD.
Now The celebrating of the birth of our Lord, that's not really. Quibbled about.
Now, did the early church celebrate it on December 25th? That's where a lot of people have discussion about the authenticity of that Theophilus of Caesarea. Citation. And we also have done other shows about the December 25th date. And I would refer you to Dr.
Henry Morris, the famous creationist. He had his PhD from the University of Virginia, brilliant guy. We're not going to get into the December 25th date right now. But when we come back after this first break, I want to talk about. Why Christmas and the reality of it that You know, regardless of the day, And by the way, we have a 1 out of 365 chance of getting it right.
Those are not bad odds, but the reality is Christ was born. It changed the world. Twenty centuries later, the entire world. Still orbits around the incarnation that God took on a human body, came onto the stage of human history. Jesus was born, died, rose, he's coming again.
It's Christmas, and this should inspire within us and put a fire within our hearts to be absolutely committed. And I'll give you some areas in which Christmas can be a time of renewal in your heart. In your mind, in your whole life. Stay tuned, we're gonna come back and we'll talk more about Christmas. this first week of Advent.
Stay tuned. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland, a religion and culture expert. Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this. You know, at Christmastime, you think about how grateful you are for the past year. And I share a letter that we just got.
A teenage girl that was in one of our camps, she said, Mr. McFarlane, I've never read a book for more than five minutes, but since going to your biblical worldview camp last summer, I read my Bible 45 minutes every day. Praise God. And as Christmas time comes, I want to say thank you to all the people who pray and financially support our ministry as we call people to Christ and youth to serve God and country. But what about you?
Do you know Christ? You know, Jesus is as close by as a prayer. And if you need help in your walk with the Lord or encouragement, you can go to my website, which is alexmcfarlane.com, and there's a tab there. What does God say about my relationship with Him? In the meantime, Stand strong, be bold, thank you for your prayers and support, and in the new year, let's do great things for the sake of the gospel.
He's been called trusted, truthful, and timely. Welcome back to the Alex McFarlane Show. Welcome back to the program. You know, we began by talking about that wonderful verse. In Second Corinthians chapter nine, verse fifteen, thanks be.
Unto God for His unspeakable gift, the gift of Jesus.
Now, the larger context of that is. about giving really. And it talks about ministering seed to the sower. And I know, believe me, as an evangelist, really a missionary to the United States of America, I know. As the sower of the gospel before thousands of audiences, I know how much I need people to minister seed.
to this ministry. And we've been very blessed to have people donate and to We Hope that you might consider that as this year draws to a close, of investing in our growing ministry. We have full-time staff members now. seven days a week on radio and television. Literally every week of the year, I and our events and my preaching schedule, we're in pulpits.
Universities, high schools, we are before audiences somewhere face to face. Every weekend of the year, and we're shipping out thousands and thousands of resources to people that are very spiritually hungry, and they inquire and they ask for spiritual help. I give God the glory, I completely give God the glory. But my 21st book came out in October, just a few weeks ago: 100 Bible Questions and Answers on Prophecy and the End Times.
So, this thing about seed to the sower, so that the sowers can go forth and sow the gospel, it goes back to the early church. And Paul routinely expressed thanks to those that would support his work. And we sincerely thank God for all that invest in our ministry. But let me unpack this and talk about what the unspeakable gift of God's coming. the birth of Jesus should breed within us.
Paul writes about in Second Corinthians nine thirteen, he's speaking to these believers and he says that he glorifies God for their professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ and for your liberal distribution Unto the Christians, the ministers, unto all men.
So I too rejoice for all that are walking with Jesus. I thank God that He saved my soul back when I was 21 years old in college. And we're all trying, at least I hope we're trying to do our part to distribute and invest in the gospel. And really unto all people. And you say, how can that be?
Well, because we don't know all people, we can't meet all people. But the beautiful thing about it is, when you, by your life, by your giving, by your prayers, by your witness, When you live for Jesus and His great commission, there is a ripple effect. beyond anything any of us can know. And uh it talks about That we glorify God in our prayers, which long after you, for the exceeding grace of God in you, invest, right? And all of this, our walk, our witness, our prayers.
are giving. our acknowledgment that life for the Christian is about service to the king and investment in the great commission. Paul seems to summarize in Second Corinthians nine fifteen, Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift. And the word there really means indigestible. In other words, we just can't even fully take it in.
It's impossible to estimate. I mean, and let's remember, without this we would have had no hope. Really?
Now, what does this motivate us toward? I want to give you several things to think about as we ponder the coming of Christmas again, the observance of that Bethlehem manger. Where Mary gave birth to the one that the angel said would be Emmanuel, God with us, Jesus. Number one. Christmas, if you will let it, can be a time of personal revival in your relationship with Christ.
You know, obviously, I hope that you've made that decision and invited Christ into your life. You know, there's that old You know, saying, What can I give him? Poor as I am. If I were a shepherd, I'd give him a lamb. But we can all, it says we all do our part.
We can give him our heart. I hope that you have. Put your faith in Christ and are saved, and you know you're born again. But at this time over the weeks, and I know it's busy and there's so many, sadly, people think about the stress of Christmas. But seek that quiet.
Place to reflect that God loves you. Christmas is proof that God loves you. Christmas is proof that He came. In Romans 5.8, He demonstrated His love and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Secondly, make Christmas a time of revival and restoration in your relationship with others.
You know, there seems to be If you live near a place where it snows, There's a quietness when there's a snowfall, and much has been written about the winter world blanketed in white. But there seems to be a quietness that settles over the world. To a degree at least, at Christmas. And we maybe we humbly realize that, you know. We were enemies of God, and yet He made the overture.
to restore the relationship. Just like in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had sinned, and yet Christ came walking through the garden calling out, Adam, where are you? And let's mend fences with others. Look, life's too short. I've done six funerals this year.
I'm an evangelist and I do funerals when asked sometimes. And I've heard it probably hundreds of times in nearly forty years of ministry, how people say, I just wish I had one more time, one more conversation. to say things that need to be said. make Christmas humbly remember God's love for you, the grace He showed. See, we show grace to others.
Sometimes we're the ones extending grace. Often we're the ones needing grace, but make Christmas a time of revival and restoration. in your relationship with others. Thirdly, let me challenge you to make Christmas a time of resetting your priorities in life. Just like Paul was telling the Christians there to sow.
so that the sowers can take the gospel forth. And we do this all of our life, the prayers, the obedience, the sanctification. Out of gratitude because of Christ's unspeakable gift. Indescribable. cannot be overstated.
What God did in sending His Son to the Bethlehem manger.
Well, we've got to take a brief break. When we come back, we're going to talk about Advent and what that means.
So, in the meantime, Merry Christmas. May God bless you. And stay tuned as we come back and we talk about Christmas, a time for personal revival and relationship with the Savior. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland, a religion and culture expert. Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this.
Christian author and speaker Alex McFarland is an advocate for Christian apologetics. Teaching in more than 2,200 churches around the world, schools, and college campuses, Alex is driven by a desire to help people grow in relationship with God. He arms his audiences with the tools they need to defend their faith, while also empowering the unchurched to find out the truth for themselves. In the midst of a culture obsessed with relativism, Alex is a sound voice who speaks timeless truths of Christianity in a timely way. With 18 published books to his name, it's no surprise that CNN, Fox, The Wall Street Journal, and other media outlets have described Alex as a religion and culture expert.
To learn more about Alex and to book him as a speaker at your next event, visit alexmacfarland.com or you can contact us directly by emailing booking at alexmcfarland.com. He's been called trusted, truthful, and timely. Welcome back to the Alex McFarlane Show. Welcome back to the program. Alex McFarland here.
We're going to resume our talk about making Christmas a time of revival. But as we wrap up this third segment of the broadcast, I want to ask everyone to please visit our website, alexmcfarland.com. There are over 200 searchable questions that we've answered from listeners and people all over the world, really. People with questions about the Bible, Christianity. What about AI?
What about the Antichrist? What about assurance of salvation? What about things like suicide? Is suicide the unforgivable sin? Basically, we do our very best to give a biblical, scripturally factual answer to the worldview questions that people have all around us.
And so I appreciate everyone, your prayers, your support for this ministry. We have a growing staff. In 2025, I give God the glory. We did two citywide evangelistic crusades. We did five biblical worldview events with speakers like Charlie Kirk and Dinesh D'Souza, seven summer youth camps, countless numbers of youth events, including public high schools, middle school assemblies, gospel events.
And we give God the glory for the thousands of people that have indicated a salvation decision this year, hundreds of thousands of Christians. That have said now they feel confident to share their faith, and so many other decisions that people have made to turn to Christ or turn back to Christ. And so, finally, also, not the least of which is the release of my 21st book, 100 Bible Questions and Answers on Prophecy and the End Times, published by Broad Street Publishers, available at BarnesNoble, Amazon.com, and of course, your local Christian bookstore, which I encourage you to support if there is one of those in your city. And you can check out this book. It's got fresh research on the end times.
Is America in Bible prophecy? What about Israel? What about the rise of anti-Semitism? It's part of our series that was about five years ago, 100 Bible Questions, then 100 Bible Questions for Families, and then the most recent 100 Bible Questions on Prophecy and the End Times. And finally, let me encourage you to make plans now.
to join us in July of twenty twenty six at The Cove, the Billy Graham Training Center in Western North Carolina. I'll be there July 17 through 19, teaching on Bible prophecy, Daniel and Revelation. What does the timeless Word of God says about the future. And then I'll also be there, not only July 17 through 19, just me speaking, but again, July 27 through 31 with world-renowned apologist Dr. Gary Habermas.
And we'll be doing a deep dive on apologetics, all of the topics, the existence of God, the trustworthiness of the Bible, the resurrection of Christ. What about the problem of pain and suffering? What about Christianity and other religions? How do we know the Christian message is the true message?
So whether it's the July 17 through 19, or the July 27 through July 31 with Famed defender of the faith, Gary Habermas, the world expert on the resurrection and ancient evidence for the life of Christ. Please make plans to join us at the beautiful Cove, the Billy Graham Training Center. Their website is thecove.org, T-H-E-C-O-V-E.org, or you can find out information at my own website, alexmcfarland.com. And finally, I would ask you to please consider a year-end gift for this ministry. You may give securely at alexmcfarland.com by hitting that donate now button, or you may mail a check, if you please would, to AMM, as in Alex McFarland Ministries, P.O.
Box 485. Pleasant Garden, North Carolina, 27313. Your gifts are tax-deductible, faithfully handled. Our growing staff and I. Passionate about revival in America.
We appreciate your prayers and support, and we're counting on friends like you to enable us to keep doing all that we're doing.
Well, we began the show by talking about making Christmas a time for revival, making Christmas a time to renew your relationship with Christ, restore your relationships with others, and a time of resetting your priorities. in life. And then finally, make this Christmas time a time of recommitment to Christ, His Church, and the Great Commission. We often say this: view the Great Commission with a sense of personal responsibility. You know, we have a colleague that we've used in conferences, Oz Guinness.
He's a great defender of the faith, very articulate. I'm sure you've seen him or heard his voice. But Oz Guinness. writes that the church in America has more people, money, and resources than any other body of believers at any other time in history. and yet le less impact.
Yes, that's right. He's talking about us. And Jesus said that in Luke 12, 48, to whom much is given, much will be required. And we have been entrusted with so much. And as we close out, I want to talk about Advent.
And Advent is a Latin word. It means coming. The Advent of Christ. I'm sure you've seen Advent calendars.
Well, as you're hearing this, we're really on the eve of the first Sunday in Advent. And as far as we know, church history tells us that the Christian leader that came up with the idea of the Sundays of Advent was Saint Perpetuous. He was bishop of Tours around 461, and he was a great Christian leader, and he was a preacher of the gospel, and perpetuous, he had the idea that around the birth of Christ, we should reflect on and celebrate hope, Peace. Joy and love. I'm going to give you some verses to think about over these weeks.
You know, Isaiah 9. Verses 2 and following. We're teaching through Isaiah on exploring the word. And it says, The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. On those living in the land of the shadow of death, the light has dawned.
And it goes on and it talks about That unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. and the government will be upon his shoulders. We are reminded to have hope. In remembering the birth of Jesus and this first week of Advent, think about that. Then there's peace, Isaiah 43 through 5.
And this is what John the Baptist recited as he began his ministry: that he was the voice of one crying in the wilderness, that God makes straight in the desert a highway for our God. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken this. Why? Second Sunday and Advent The Coming of the Prince of Peace.
Deep in December, Christmas is coming. There is joy, the third pillar of Advent. Isaiah 12. two six, that the Lord is our joy. Sing to the Lord He has done glorious things.
Let this be known throughout all the world. Shout aloud, and sing for joy, for the Holy One of Israel is among us. God with us, Emmanuel. And then as December closes out, and we'll revisit this, but there's love. You know, in Luke 1 and 2, and I would encourage you to read that if you really want the Christmas spirit.
The angel appeared to Mary and said that the one born of you will be the Son of the highest. And in Mary's, you know, song of praise. She said, My soul glorifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior. That's who Jesus is. Because God so loved the world, He sent Jesus to be the Savior.
Now this might breed within us a All of these things, renewing our relationship with Jesus, our relationship with others, resetting our priorities, and recommitting ourselves. to Jesus Christ The body of Christ, the church, and the call of Christ, the Great Commission. And you can recommit yourself to these things even right now. because, as we always say, And Christmas is such a wonderful time to remember this, that Jesus is as close by as a prayer. If we can help you in your walk or witness, please don't hesitate to reach out to us, alexmacfarland.com.
In the meantime, blessings. Have a great day in the Lord and Merry Christmas. Alex McFarlane Ministries are made possible through the prayers and financial support of partners like you. For over 20 years, this ministry has been bringing individuals into a personal relationship with Christ and has been equipping people to stand strong for truth. Learn more and donate securely online at alexmacfarlane.com.
You may also reach us by calling 1-877-YESGOD and the number 1. That's 1-877-YESGOD-1. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you again on the next edition of the Alex McFarlane Show.
Okay.
