Tag: Dwell Bible app

Christmas in July: Celebrating the Spirit of Christmas During Summer

“Christmas in July” is more than just a humorous reference to early holiday merchandise. According to Hallmark, it’s a genuine mid-year Christmas celebration. The event mirrors the festive spirit of Christmas, but with a summery twist. This includes enjoying outdoor fires, family time, and joyous gatherings. The passage from Isaiah 9:6 is often associated with the birth of Christ, and Handel’s Messiah further popularizes this connection.

Updated June 20, 2025.

I thought “Christmas in July” made a joking reference to the Christmas merchandise appearing in stores during the summer. But according to the folks at Hallmark, who ought to know, it is a holiday in its own right.

On the Hallmark website, they tell us

Christmas in July is your once-a-year chance to celebrate all the things you love about Christmas: the fun, the family, the parties, the cozy fireplaces.

Now, think about all the things you love about summer: the fun, the family, the parties, the cozy firepits.

Replace the inside fires with outside fires and you have Christmas in July, a “Half Christmas” celebration that just makes July jolly.

There is even a rather old movie about Christmas in July available to buy on DVD

And a new Christmas In July movie available to stream on Amazon Prime.

The Christmas Story in July

When I originally wrote this piece, I was listening to the Daily Audio Bible (DAB) Chronologic version and this was the reading for July 13.

For to us a child is born,to us a son is given;

and the government shall be upon his shoulder,

and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6, ESV
© 2001 – 2018 CROSSWAY

from the English Standard Bible 

Although Isaiah is in the Old Testament, many Christians believe this passage refers to the birth of Christ, which we celebrate at Christmas, so it is common to hear this verse quoted in sermons and readings.

Lightstock.com, stock photo site ( affiliate link)

George Frideric Handel and Messiah

The best-known use of this scripture for Christmas is in Handel’s Messiah.

George Frideric Handel used this scripture from Isaiah in his famous work, Messiah, first performed in 1742, performed or heard by millions of people since then. Although it’s usually performed at Christmas, Handel wrote it for Easter.

“Messiah is a fixture of the Christmas season. Woe to the concert hall in the United States or Britain that fails to schedule the piece around the holiday.

For many amateur choirs, the work is the heart of their repertoire and the high point of the year.”

HANDEL'S MESSIAH COMPLETE ALBUM ART
HANDEL’S MESSIAH COMPLETE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA (affiliate link)

Handel’s father was a barber-surgeon. Barber-surgeons were physicians in medieval Europe, who as the name suggests performed surgery, often treating wounds from war injuries. Eventually, surgery and barbery became separate occupations.

Exploring the HEART of health

Do you plan for Christmas year-round, wait til the week before, or somewhere between? What does Christmas mean to you and your family?

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Please follow the links below to learn more about Daily Audio Bible and George Handel.

Dr.Aletha 

Another way to listen to the Bible

Sorrow-a word for Lent

Charles Jennens gave George Handel the lyrics to Messiah, verses primarily from Isaiah, Psalms, Paul’s letters to the early church, and Revelation.

 

“He was despised and rejected—
a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
He was despised, and we did not care.


Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
a punishment for his own sins!”

depiction of Christ on the cross
a church in Cuenca, Ecuador, photo by Dr Aletha

“But he was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.

All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
the sins of us all.”

Isaiah 53, NLT

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

 

ornate altar in a church
altar in a Zanzibar church, by Dr Aletha

Jennens and Handel- musical collaborators

“Charles Jennens (1700-1773) was a wealthy English landowner and friend of George Frideric Handel (1685-1759). He was a a patron of the arts, skilled in music, literature, and the Bible, so he collaborated with Handel on some of his musical compositions.

Jennens gave Handel the lyrics to Messiah, verses primarily from Isaiah, Psalms, the Apostle Paul’s letters to the early church, and Revelation.

Messiah tells the story of Christ’s coming, His victory over sin and death, His defeat of His enemies, victorious return to earth and establishment of His kingdom, and the believer’s victory over death through His resurrection.”

adapted from Handel’s Messiah at doctrine.org

Listen on Apple Music

Did you know Handel’s father Georg was a physician, a barber-surgeon? Find out here

sharing the HEART of faith, hope, and love

Dr. Aletha

Join me in listening to RETURN a Lent devotional on the Dwell Bible app.(this is an affiliate link that helps this blog share the HEART of health).

Far from being rigid or legalistic, Lent is an invitation into the transformation of God’s renewing presence. It reminds us…that we can always return to the Lord and there find our true home and place of lasting peace.

RETURN, Dwell Bible app