Be filled with the wonder of Christmas with thirty days of devotionals from the sermons of Charles H. Spurgeon, reminding us of the incarnation to be marveled at all year round.
Spurgeon was considered by many to be the greatest preacher of his generation and lived during the nineteenth-century revival of the celebration of Christmas in America and England. He loved Christmas and welcomed the holiday season as an opportunity for rest and being reunited with friends and family.
How can Christians properly celebrate Christmas today? Certainly, Christmas trees, gift-giving, family reunions, and many other customs can all be joyful traditions of the season. But Spurgeon would say that the primary way to celebrate Christmas is by faith in the incarnate, crucified, and risen Savior. That's why A Wondrous Mystery exists: amid a busy holiday season, it is meant to be a daily reminder of why we celebrate—that "the Infinite has become an infant" and "the joy of his coming is still in our hearts."
Charles H. Spurgeon (1834–1892) was the pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, London, for thirty-eight years, and his ministry exploded, resulting in the largest evangelical congregation of his day and the founding of 66 parachurch ministries, including a college and orphanage. He is widely regarded as one of the nineteenth century's best preachers, and his sermons have been translated into over forty languages.
"No preacher of God's Word speaks to me more powerfully than Charles Spurgeon. His are the words of an old friend, though sadly many of my other friends don't yet know him. Many thanks to Geoff Chang for giving us Spurgeon's rich insights into Christ's incarnation."
Randy Alcorn, Author of Heaven, We Shall See God, and Grieving with Hope
"While some mines quickly exhaust their stores of precious metals, others keep giving forever. And so too do the works of Charles Spurgeon. This book is a collection of treasures that will bless you this Christmas or any Christmas."
Tim Challies, Pastor; speaker; author of Seasons of Sorrow
"A Wondrous Mystery contains pure gold from Spurgeon's treasury of teaching on the incarnation. Far from being an opponent of Christmas celebrations, Spurgeon joined them. Though opposing religious superstition, he championed the Christmas holiday. This volume by Geoff Chang will delight you, deepen your theology of Christmas, and be a helpful tool for family worship."
Ray Rhodes Jr., Author of Susie: The Life and Legacy of Susannah Spurgeon and Yours, till Heaven: The Untold Love Story of Charles and Susie Spurgeon
"In A Wondrous Mystery, Geoff Chang has collected Spurgeon's Christmas sermons to help us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. I can think of no better way to respond to the busyness of Christmas than to slow down and meditate on the glories of the incarnation."
Juan R. Sanchez, Senior Pastor, High Pointe Baptist Church, Austin, TX; coauthor of Reaching Your Child's Heart
"Spurgeon's captivation with Christ bubbles over as he dwells upon the incarnation. Combining deep thought and deep delight, his studies of the Son of God taking our nature settle our faith and stir our love. These sweet extracts, judiciously chosen and helpfully introduced, reveal and stimulate reverence and joy rooted in the wonder of Immanuel—God with us."
Jeremy Walker, Pastor, Maidenbower Baptist Church, Crawley, UK; speaker; author; From the Heart of Spurgeon podcast host
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One of my favorite advent devos yet. Very though provoking
Not your typical advent book. This is a refreshingly deep daily reading that really could be used any time, but is well done for advent.
Spurgeon is a preacher of the Bible whose name is well-known to me but not his writings and preachings. I found this small book of 30 daily devotional readings to be very interesting and enjoyable. The size is very comfortable and the quality seems very high, with a nice weight to the hard cover book and thick pages with print I found easy to read. These are printings of 30 of Spurgeon's sermons relating to the Christ in some way. They are not your typical Christmas sermon and are wonderful to read. Having lived in the preached between 1850-1890, the sentence structure is a bit different than our typical American English but it is lovely and not difficult to understand. The life of Christ is the focus of these, not his birth, which is a common celebration among Christians in American, though it is not a Biblical celebration. (As Chang noted in the introduction, Spurgeon did not celebrate Christmas as the birth of Christ. In fact, he called it "superstition" and "not of divine origin.") I found the sermons beautiful. The mix between understanding the Old Testament and how it informs the New Testament is beautiful and enlightening. I really enjoyed the way the history of the Old Testament was prominent but that the salvation offered through Christ, whose life and teachings are recorded in the New Testament, was the focus. This intersection was found in almost all of the sermons published here. The focus on Christ's life and resurrection, which brought about our salvation, should be noted in life at all times, not just a holiday season. This is the focus that Spurgeon wrote so well about. In the introduction, it was noted that the editor "lightly edited for a modern audience." I wish I knew what that meant and how much that truly impacts what Spurgeon himself wrote. But, there is much to be gleaned from these writings, regardless. Also noted was that the editor had included scripture references to make it easier to refer back to the scriptures. I found this interesting because a couple of the references were not what I had expected, though not off the mark; just a different reference that I had anticipated. I do like this addition, though I wonder how closely this aligns with what Spurgeon himself intended. Overall, I found this a lovely book that is worth the time to work through and a great introduction to the writing of Charles H Spurgeon.
Spurgeon is a much beloved preacher. Chang collected the readings in this book from some of Spurgeon’s sermons. They are “designed to help you grow a deeper understanding of the theology of Christmas.” Geoffrey Chang wrote a beautiful introduction to A Wondrous Mystery that gives some historical background to the Christmas holiday - some of which I was not aware of. I really appreciated having this cultural background at the start of the book. The book contains 30 devotionals to be used throughout the Advent season. Each devotional is relatively short and could be read in less than 10 minutes, making this book appropriate even for those with busy schedules. Some of the topics covered in the book include: Moses, Bethlehem, Mary’s Song, The First Christmas Carol, The Lamb of God, and more. Because these devotionals are written by a theologian - you won’t find a lot of “fluff.” These devotionals will make you think and truly appreciate our Savior. If you are looking for a deep devotional book to read in the days leading up to Christmas, I do recommend A Wondrous Mystery.