12/23          Matthew 1:18-25 

This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. 20 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. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: 23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” 24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. 25 But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.

JESUS

His name was Jesus.  He came to save us from our sin.  

We were desperately wicked and evil.  Blind and dead we were of no value.  

Only God valued us.  He sent Jesus to us, to cleanse us from evil. 

Giving us new life in Christ.  God’s free gift.  Cost Jesus His life.  

Now we belong to Him.  He has always loved us and will forever.  

Jesus is Lord.  His Lordship includes me.  Praise the Lord.His salvation has set me free sin and evil.  I belong to Him.  

12/22          Luke 2:16-20 

They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child.18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 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. 

HERE

He belonged to us.  We saw Him.  He changed us.

Before we met Him our life was a mess. 

Desperate days and chaotic nights.  Pain beyond belief.  

He loved us.  We saw it as He hung on that cross.  

His life given for us.  We were lost and He died for us,

Paying a price we couldn’t pay. 

On the 3^rd day, His Father, our Father, raised Him from the dead.

I believe in Jesus.  I believe because He first loved me.  

His live for my life.  Praise God, the Christ child has set me free.  

12/21          Luke 2:8-15 

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” 15 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.” 

LOVES

God loves you.  He created you to love Him.  

Everything you have and everything you can be comes from God.  

Do not turn away.  Jesus loves you.  

The Lord Jesus came to pay the price for our sin and save us. 

He provides forgiveness of our sin, redemption and forgiveness.   

He offers us the free gift of eternal life, life like God’s life.

Jesus brings us into the family of God.  

12/20. Luke 2:6-7
And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 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. 

BIRTH

Birth of a child.  Foretold in forty-eight messianic promises.  

The Old Testament testified to His coming in 574 verses.  

We knew it but most don’t believe.  Jesus, Creator of all things is born.

He came as a baby so He wouldn’t scare us.  

He wanted us to see what God looked like.  His coming is the Gospel.

God with us.  God righting the wrongs of evil.  The victory here on Earth.  

God is perfect in every way and Jesus came to show us that perfection.  

When you see Jesus, you have seen God.  

12/19          Luke 2:1-5

1 At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire.  2 (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.)  3All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census.  4 And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 5 He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant. 

GOD

God had decreed before the foundation of the world that He was sending the Messiah.  His love and forgiveness would overpower evil.  

We would be reunited with our Creator, Sustainer, and Lord.  

His Word is without peer.  He knows the end from the beginning. His rule is perfect, and it reaches out to us in perfection.  Jesus is Lord.  

12/18          John 1:4-5

4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

LIGHT

The Word created, bringing light, agreed upon within the Trinity.

This light was important.  Before the light there was only darkness.  

Darkness cannot dispel light.  Light cannot be stopped.  

Even a little light will shine brightly in the dark.  

We need light.  We need it so that we can grow and flourish.  

Light dispels our sadness.  It promotes our health.  Light brings His life.  

Darkness lost the moment light was created.  Jesus is the light.  He is our life.  

12/17          Luke 1:37

37 For the word of God will never fail.

VICTORY

Before the foundation of all things, God declared victory.  

He planned Creation, He designed it perfectly.  Then man in his freedom sinned.  

God knew before man did that sin would destroy what He had created.

But God had a plan and it was Jesus.  He came to save us from our sin.  God uses broken people, but His plan is perfect.  He began with victory.  

12/16          John 1:29

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 

HE IS

God said tell them I AM sent me.  Jesus came to the Roman world.

A middle eastern country.  Sheep were their major product.  

They understood this lamb phrase.  Pure and unspotted.  Jesus came to die.  

The perfect sacrifice, Jesus came to die for us to pay the price of our sin. 

He was the sacrificial lamb.  HE died for our sin!

Raised from the dead He lives.  Now seated at the right hand of the Father,

He is interceding for us every moment of every day.  

Turn to Jesus and He will turn to you.  

12/15          Romans 12:10

10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. 

CALLED

Everyone struggles with their call.  What has God called me to do?  

God has called you to love Him with all your heart and your brother as yourself.  

The obvious is what we so consistently overlook. 

We want exotic, something with a side of martyrdom.  

It is a cachet that modern Christians seek.  

Too high-minded to do low level tasks, like loving each other.  

Bend the knee.  Jesus died for you and every single person you know. 

Not because any of us were good.  All have sinned.

God came in human form to pay a price we couldn’t pay.

To give us life eternal beginning right now.  Love one another.  

12/14          PSALM 72:18

18 Praise the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does such wonderful things. 

WONDERFUL

His name is Wonderful, Mighty Savior, Creator.

Praise the Lord God. He came in the flesh to save us.

He personally took our sin upon Himself.  He paid a price we could not pay.  

Rose from the dead by the power of God, the God man was victor at Calvary.  

Jesus holds our victory.  He shares it for free.  Ask and you shall be free!