Merry Christmas! As we grow older, Christmas takes on new and deeper meanings. For each Christian around the world, we take heed to the meaning of Christmas and find solace in its significance. Without Christmas, there is no Easter. The birth of Jesus is the most important and defining moment in history.

Luke’s narrative of the birth of Jesus highlights both theological and historical aspects of the event. Luke’s account connects the birth with world history but also proclaims the birth of Jesus in theological terms. Neutrality is not possible regarding the person and ministry of Jesus. As a historian, Luke anchors the ministry of Jesus in the context of world history.

SUWANEE, Ga. — The story of a 19-year-old aspiring preacher who baptized most of his teammates on the East Georgia State College baseball team amassed more readers in The Christian Index than any other news article in 2023.Analytics show Index readers have an affinity for stories about people turning to Christ. Of the newspaper’s most-read news articles of the year, all involved people turning to Christ.

ALPHARETTA, Ga. – The North American Mission Board spent 2023 serving Southern Baptists in their efforts to reach North America with the gospel through church planting, compassion ministry, evangelism and chaplaincy. In 2023, NAMB celebrated a milestone in church planting—more than 10,000 new churches started since 2010—and a record-setting total of $70.2 million given to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering.

ALPHARETTA, Ga. – Ongoing wars, earthquakes and other natural disasters captured international attention in 2023, and Send Relief, the compassion ministry arm of Southern Baptists cooperatively shared by the International Mission Board and North American Mission Board, dedicated itself to the task of meeting needs for the sake of seeing lives changed through the power of the gospel.

VALDOSTA, Ga. – It would appear to the most casual observer that Northside Baptist Church in Valdosta exists to reach unbelievers. Northside’s Pastor, Robby Foster, is a Gospel preacher and has led his church to focus on the value of the reaching the unreached.

NEW ORLEANS — With upward trending enrollment numbers, campus renovations completed, and academic milestones marking the year, Jamie Dew, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Leavell College, looked back on 2023 with gratitude and joy. “At NOBTS and Leavell College, we are in a wonderful season of time,” Dew said.

ONTARIO, Calif. — Following the recognition of graduates (the conferring of degrees) at winter commencement on Dec. 9, Gateway president Jeff Iorg charged graduates to “live the gospel,” in a world in turmoil. “Live a transformed life that is so unusual, remarkable—even radical—that people look at you and say, ‘That person is truly different,’” he said.

Most American Christians have been following the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Ultimately, they say they want negotiations, Hamas to be subdued, and a result that benefits both Israel and Palestinians. Almost 9 in 10 self-identified Christians in the U.S. have kept up with the current war between Hamas and Israel, according to a Lifeway Research study sponsored by The Philos Project. More than 2 in 5 say they have been following the events closely since the war began (44%).

A Christmas carol first published in a hymnal in 1812 was titled The Star of Bethlehem. The author, Henry Kirke White (1785-1806), had been a skeptic before his conversion. His career path was redirected from the law to the ministry. Already an accomplished poet, his life held great potential. Then tragically, at age 22 while a student at Cambridge University, Oxford, England, he became ill and died.

In one nation in sub-Saharan Africa, repeated terrorist attacks have created a refugee and internally displaced people crisis stretching across four countries. At the resulting makeshift refugee camps, women have no opportunities to further their education or learn a trade that would help support their families during this trauma-filled interim.

KANSAS CITY, Mo—Midwestern Seminary hosted two unique study experiences for students this fall, including a study tour to New England and a doctoral seminar in Romania. Each trip sought to expand educational horizons and surpass academic expectations for a variety of programs at the seminary.

People from across Georgia were featured in The Christian Index in 2023. Some are old. Some are young. Some are somewhere in the middle. All are busy impacting their communities for Christ. Here’s a look back at a few of those people.

James Howell, the son of a Welsh clergyman in the 17th century, was a writer and historian; and he is the one to whom the quote, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” It is also true that for those in ministry “all work and no play” can create burnout and exhaustion. Grace Harris, a native of Georgia and former member of Burnt Hickory Baptist Church in Powder Springs, is on the staff of the Metropolitan New York Baptist Association. She admits to being extraordinarily busy this time of year and decided to get a ticket to go to the Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon.

ATLANTA — Groups of Georgia Baptists took part in a series of prayer tours of the state Capitol over the past week.  Mike Griffin, public affairs representative for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, led tours, providing insights into how state government operates. As the groups made their way through the Capitol, they made multiple stops to pray for government leaders.

TYRONE, Ga. — Pastors need to be aware that they’re involved in ongoing spiritual warfare and that they must be on the lookout for  attacks that could end their ministries and bring shame to Christ. That was the message Georgia Baptist Convention First Vice President Stephen Dervan preached to more than 100 members of the state Executive Committee Tuesday at Dogwood Church in Tyrone.

WARSAW, Mo. — The New Home Baptist Church sits outside of Warsaw, just down the road from the Baptist Ridge Camp of Fellowship Baptist Association.  In late November they were plagued by a series of increasingly drastic vandalism incidents. The damages from four separate incidents are estimated to be in the tens of thousands of dollars, according to church officials.

Have you ever been so filled with the joy of the Lord or overcome with appreciation that He has met a secret or public need, or He has saved your bacon AGAIN, and you just can’t get over that He still puts up with you, or He has pulled you out of a pit or brought you out of bondage, and you could write a Psalm or sing a song about it? 

Our daughter, Missie, takes after her mother and is a lover of “lists.” Missie is 39 years old, has a form of autism, is developmentally delayed and basically operates on about an 11-year-old level. She loves to make Christmas lists. Now mind you her first sentence when she sends a list is always, “I don’t want much this year,” and then the list starts!

Virginia O'Hanlon's letter to the editor of The New York Sun in 1897 asked if Santa Claus is real, triggering a response from the newspaper declaring that, yes, there is a Santa Claus. What follows is a parody of that famous editorial declaring that, yes, there is a Jesus Christ.

When a shepherd heard of the Great Shepherd, his answer to the invitation to follow was “yes.” When men and women in a fishing village heard of the man who multiplied loaves and fish, their answer to the call was “yes.” When internally displaced women heard of their home in heaven, their answer to the question of whether they wanted an eternal home was, “yes.” 

NEW ORLEANS — Jamie Dew, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary president, called on graduates Friday to see graduation day not as a season of life ending, but rather the beginning of a time of much greater importance. Dew recalled his high school graduation to illustrate and explained how he felt at the time that life and everything familiar to him was ending until his principal corrected him, saying, “It’s not over. It’s just beginning.”  

ROME, Ga. — Shorter University hosted its 6th annual President’s Gala this past Thursday, breaking its record with attendance and fundraising for student scholarships. The evening started with a VIP reception in the Price Learning Center, which included music by student Even Wyatt, hors d’oeuvres, and pictures with former University of Georgia Coach Mark Richt.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — After a March 2020 tornado destroyed the Rev. Jacques Boyd’s Nashville church, his friend, the Rev. Vincent Johnson, lent him space to worship in. Nearly four years later, Boyd has offered to return the favor for the exact same reason.

The Georgia Baptist community lost many church leaders during 2023, including Charles Stanley and Michael Catt, the pastors who developed worldwide outreaches through Christian broadcasting and filmmaking.