The document summarizes the story of Jesus's birth according to the Biblical gospels of Matthew and Luke. It describes how Joseph and the pregnant Mary traveled to Bethlehem for the census, where Mary gave birth to Jesus in a manger. Angels announced his birth to shepherds, and later Simeon and Anna recognized Jesus as the Messiah. Wise men from the east came to worship the newborn king, and Joseph was warned in a dream to flee with Mary and Jesus to Egypt to escape King Herod's order to kill male infants.

1. Vicki Soto @ Sandy Hook
“When the shooting started
Vicki hid her kids in closets
and when the gunman came
into her room she said the
class was in gym. She was
then murdered. Not one of
her students were harmed.
Words can not express how
heartbreaking and tragic this
is.”

2. Suffering and evil disprove God …
Christians believe in a ‘good’ and ‘all powerful’ God.
But the world has ‘meaningless’ suffering and evil.
So, if God is ‘good’ he can’t be ‘all powerful’.
And if he is ‘all powerful’ then he can’t be ‘good’.
Either way, the Christian God can’t exist!
… and they’re the reason God sent a ‘Saviour’

3. 16th December 2012
Christmas 2012 [3/5]
“Moving quickly, Traveling light”
Matt 2:13 … an angel of the Lord appeared to
Joseph in a dream. ‘Get up,’ he said, ‘take the
child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay
there until I tell you, for Herod is going to
search for the child to kill him.’

4. Mary followed God
• She was faithful & obedient
• Not much of a ‘Betrothal’
What to say to her family?
Joseph planned to divorce
• Not much of a Wedding
Rushed and ‘on the quiet’
• Not much of a Honeymoon
Travelling to Bethlehem
Eight months pregnant

5. Luke 2: 4-7
So Joseph also went up … to
Bethlehem the town of
David … 5 He went there to
register with Mary, who
…was expecting a child.
6 While they were there,
…she gave birth to her first
born, a son. She … placed
him in a manger, because
there was no guest room
available for them.

7. Luke 2: 8-11
And there were shepherds
living out in the fields near
by, …9 An angel of the Lord
appeared to them, …
the angel said to them,
…11 Today in the town of
David a Saviour has been
born to you; he is the
Messiah, the Lord. 12 … you
will find a baby … lying in a
manger.’

8. Luke 2: 22, 25-26
When the time came for
the purification rites
required by the Law of
Moses, Joseph and Mary
took him to Jerusalem to
present him to the Lord. …
there was a man … called
Simeon, who was righteous
and devout. He was waiting
for … the Lord’s Messiah.

9. Luke 2: 34-35
Then Simeon blessed them
and said to Mary, his mother
‘This child is destined to
cause the falling and rising of
many in Israel, and to be a
sign that will be spoken
against, 35 so that the
thoughts of many hearts will
be revealed. And a sword will
pierce your own soul too.’

10. Matthew 2: 1-2
After Jesus was born in
Bethlehem in Judea, during
the time of King Herod,
Magi from the east came to
Jerusalem 2 and asked,
‘Where is the one who has
been born king of the Jews?
We saw his star when it rose
and have come to worship
him.’

11. Matthew 2: 13-15
When they had gone, an
angel of the Lord appeared
to Joseph in a dream. ‘Get
up,’ he said, ‘take the child
and his mother and escape
to Egypt …14 So he got up,
took the child and his
mother during the night and
left for Egypt, 15 … until the
death of Herod.

12. Matthew 2: 16
When Herod realised that he
had been outwitted by the
Magi, he was furious, and he
gave orders to kill all the
boys in Bethlehem and its
vicinity who were two years
old and under, in accordance
with the time he had learned
from the Magi.

13. A ‘suffering’ Saviour
• Your life matters
… that’s why Jesus came
• There’s a bigger picture
… freedom is real and costly
• It doesn’t all make sense
… sin is a real problem
• Don’t get distracted
… the cause is too important

14. Further Reading
A book for “skeptics and the
believers who love them.”