By Dr. Don Bierle, FaithSearch President

What is the biblical bridge between the two great celebrations of the Christian faith – Christmas and Easter? It is two names!

Two thousand years ago, God sent the angel Gabriel to earth to deliver a message with two names: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a Son, and they will call Him Emmanuel…”; “And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus” (Matthew 1:21, 23). Why two names? What is their significance?

Eight out of ten people in the world believe in god or a higher power. Why? Because God made certain that everyone in the world could know THAT He exists by leaving His fingerprints of Intelligent Design in nature. The apostle Paul makes that explicit: “…what may be known of God is plain to them… for since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen… so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:18-20). 

But WHO is it? The Bible says, “No one has ever seen God…” (John 1:18).

By Dr. Don Bierle, FaithSearch President

One hundred and one men, women, and children sailed for sixty-six days across the Atlantic Ocean in 1620. Their first act at Plymouth (Cape Cod, Massachusetts today) when their feet hit the ground was to kneel in prayer.

After one winter in the New World, only fifty-three survived disease and starvation. They celebrated with thanksgiving in the fall of 1621, along with ninety Wampanoag Indians, including their leader and ally, Massasoit.