Our attention shifts to Mary and the announcement of her conceiving Christ. The whole passage is about grace and God's intention to save through sending His Son in a very humble means.

Mary and Joseph help us frame a picture of obedience in its full context and reveal to us the difficulty and delight of devotion to God.

Joseph was faced with a problem when his fiancee was discovered to be pregnant before their marriage was consummated.

A Birth Announcement like No Other - Luke 1:5-38 INTRO: “We’re having a baby!” … These are the ecstatic words of the elated young couple expecting their first child… or of the sweet little child announcing in super cute fashion that she is about to get another sibling! Yay! … I’ve heard similar words…

The birth of Jesus brings and WILL BRING hope.

LESSON: The Crib and the Cross go together With our focus centred on the birth of Christ, the beautiful and serene image of the crèche, and the celebrations with family and friends, we often overlook the fact, that the Octave of Christmas is a rather bloody period in the Church’s calendar. The very day…

The birth of Jesus the Christ in Bethlehem of Judea demonstrates God's sovereignty and glory in history, and it is news that alters the course of human history, and it can change your life and eternal destiny.

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he…

Stripping away the context of Nativity having seen the Bible Society Four Minute Nativity (https://www.biblesociety.org.uk/get-involved/christmas/2018/matt-and-lukes-4-minute-nativity/) and Igniter Media "God With Us"( https://www.ignitermedia.com/products/8832-god-with-us). The question arises why a Donkey and an Ox? Coupled with The Boy (https://www.theboy.eu/index.html) stipping away the elements added ove the years we see the nativity being about the boy that is God and ask do you recognise your master, do you recognise your oweners manger?

LESSON - No room at the inn The crèche or Nativity scene is a beautiful depiction of the mystery that we celebrate today. Our Lady and St. Joseph, with the shepherds and the animals adorning the newborn Christ in the manger. However, it is necessarily a static image, frozen in time at a moment, it is…

1 Entice: Danger! Danger! Danger! There is danger in the Manger! I fear Rudolph's glowing nose and the Grinch's thievery far less than my own aimlessness, listlessness and tendency to distraction. The Danger is far beyond committing holiday mall-i-cide, or over-commercialization. • 1 Entice: Danger!…

Continuing the series of the Gospel according to Luke, we finally come to the birth of Jesus and see the worshipful example that was set, even by shepherds

Advent I hope you have been blessed during our Advent series this year, and this morning I hope to tie together much of what the Lord has been speaking to us as a congregation on Sunday mornings as we reflect on the Advent again today. To recap: Week 1—Rick kicked off our season for Advent, and he mentioned…

Main Preaching Theme : The life giving power of Jesus the Messiah brings hope, joy, peace and salvation. Scene 1: We celebrate Christmas A special time of year, a time of hope, of joy. Shops fill with things we should not eat. Carols are sung. Most people go on holidays. There is an emphasis on good…

DO NOT BE AFRAID

Christmas Eve Welcome D: Videos / Bethlehem Video Sermon intro Social Media Nativity http://youtu.be/sghwe4TYY18 Main Preaching Intention I believe the congregation will see the challenge of Immanuel, God with us and understand that just as this sign was a challenge to trust God in the days of Isaiah;…

10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 1. They knelt in _humility_ 2. They…

Introduction When you give a gift, how you do it is important. Let me explain. In our house we have a hallway. In this hallway there is a closet. In this closet we have all kinds of junk, but that’s not the point of the story. Among the various items stored in this closet are a plastic tub with about…

Luke 2:1-7 A few days ago, I posted this question on Facebook: “How can a church not gather for worship on Christmas Day when Christmas is on Sunday?” I wasn’t expecting to spark any controversy. I was only sharing some candid thoughts from my heart that day. But a surprising number of people jumped…

The Nativity reduces us to wonder, for its timing and contrasts make us as small children before something we cannot grasp. A small village receives a great king, but at an unknown time. This king is "from the beginning" and so it is that Elizabeth recognizes "my Lord" in Mary, the Theotokos. And thus John dances as David did when the ark neared Jerusalem. Yet this king will offer the sacrifice of himself, his own body, which we celebrate at mass, even at Christ-mass. This was beyond the full grasp of Mary or Elizabeth, and it still calls us to wonder now.

In our American Evangelical tradition, we often use terms associated with individuals - Jesus is my Lord and Jesus is my personal savior...and he can be your personal Lord and Savior too! However, the Scriptures have more in mind than individual salvation and present the birth of Christ as a Cosmic event intended to rescue and save all of humanity! Here we look at what it means that the Word of God became flesh and dwelt amongst us!

On this third week of Advent we are focusing on Joy. Luke records the amazing event that took place when the angels announced the birth of Jesus to a group of shepherds. They described they news as being of "great joy". That same joy is still meant to be felt when we remember the birth of our savior.

God comes into our world and into our lives because of his deep love for us. Like Mary and Joseph, we are invited to rejoice in God's personal presence.