Jesus is born!!!!!!!!!

Our wait is over! The Savior is born!

The bright star is shining.....the angels are singing.....shepherds are worshiping!

Thank you God.....for the most wonderful gift we can ever imagine.....your son, Jesus!


And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in highest heaven,
and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them. ~Luke 2:6-20

the trip to bethlehem

So under Roman rule.....Augustus Caesar sent an order for everyone to register in the village they were from. This is how the trip to Bethlehem came about. Joseph needed to go back to Bethlehem (aka town of David) as he was from the family of David and he took Mary with him.


There was many people in Bethlehem because of the census, so this caused all the inns to be full.....which is how they ended up in a stable.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ~Luke 2:4-5

joseph

So I am thinking that Joseph def. makes it to the Top Ten in Faith-filled men of The Bible, don't you think? Can you imagine? Joseph was engaged to Mary when she told him her news of being pregnant through God's miracle. Pretty sure that this news was hard for Joseph to digest.....but still being a good man and not wanting to disgrace her in public, he decided to break off the engagement to her secretly.

Thankfully, an angel visited Joseph in a dream and told him about how Mary truly was blessed by The Holy Spirit and it was God's plan for him to marry her and be Jesus's earthly father. Joseph woke from his sleep and did exactly as he was told, knowing and believing that he was part of God's will. Now *that* is an amazing testimony of faith in The Lord.

Not sure if Joseph had all these tools "back in the day".....but we thought this was a cool representation of a carpenter.

As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.~Matthew 1:20-21

mary

God needed a strong, smart and loving earthly home for his Son. He chose Mary, a young virgin from Galilee (who happened to be Elizabeth's cousin). When the angel Gabriel came to her and told her about how she was chosen for this difficult and most important job, of course she was startled and confused. "How can this happen as I am a virgin?" she asked.
Gabriel told her about how God had blessed Elizabeth which definitely was a miracle based on her age, and proved that God could do anything. So being a faithful servant of God, she said "let this happen as you say".
This is a cool ornament we had as part of my collection....thought it would work well for The Virgin Mary

....The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.
~ Luke 1:35

john the baptist

Tonight's reading is about Zechariah and Elizabeth's son, John. The story jumps ahead to the New Testament and confirms that John was chosen by God to tell everyone about Jesus. Although not everyone listed to John, I am pretty sure he had no problem getting people's attention. Talk about a radical Christian! This guy wore clothes made from camel's hair and wore this crazy leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey.....woah.
But even though he was a wild sight.....there was quite a few people who did listen to John. He preached about Jesus, the Savior that God had promised the people so many years ago. He wanted people to confess their sins and turn away from their old ways. He baptized them in the Jordan River.


We snagged this shell out of Nev's collection. :)


People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River ~Matthew 3:5-6