7. She told Joseph of God’s great plan but before the baby arrived, political events overtook them. By order of the Roman Emperor Augustus everyone had to back to their hometown.
8. This meant that Joseph had to SKITTLE… … dedaddle off with Mary to his native town of Bethlehem many miles away.
11. After a long, hard journey Joseph desperately tried to find lodgings, but after Eventually they were offered a place for the night in a stable and it was there that the baby was born. He was named Jesus which means “Saviour”. let them down, “ No room” they all said.
24. No, it was a shining with extraordinary brilliance in the sky to the east.
25. The realised that the star signalled the birth of someone very special. A king.
26. They travelled hard and stopped at King Herod’s palace to ask for directions. They were not embarrassed to with royalty.
27. Herod pretended to be interested in what these had to tell him. “ A prince has been born in the land you say?” He tried to the issue by saying that he wanted to worship the prince who had been born as King of the Jews and so he ordered the to return and tell him where the baby was.
28. The came to Bethlehem, And found the Joseph Mary and the child
31. was up to his again, and wanted to kill the child. So the returned to their own country by another route.
32. Now that’s the familiar story, the tale told at Christmas
33. It has little to do with reindeer, , frost underfoot and a baby in a clean crib decorated with tinsel.
34. If we take a bit of to think about the original story we see it was not that
35. Jesus was born as a refugee, he was considered a threat and a danger, misunderstood even as a baby. Jesus was born so that of people may know God’s for them.
36. Many people are looking for a life with a meaning and a purpose, others find life dull and boring, in need of of one kind or another.
37. We need a message of hope, something to give us a in the face of tiredness, fear, tragedy and difficulty. God came to earth to show us who He is and that He loves each of us no matter what we have done, who we are or what we will be,
38. and that really is GOOD NEWS. Christ was born to save us, give us life and show us who God is. Have a peaceful and blessed Christmas!