CHOCOLATY CHRISTMAS?CHOCOLATY CHRISTMAS?

Behold I bring you GOOD NEWS…

of great joy…

A young woman called Mary heard a

from the Angel Gabriel that she was going to be the mother of God’s Son. But how could this be?

Although she was engaged to Joseph

they were not yet married

and to have a baby out of wedlock would certainly be a hot

of conversation in the village,

some may even

about it

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.

This meant that Joseph had to SKITTLE…

…dedaddle off with Mary to his native town of Bethlehem many miles away.

The journey was no

for a woman in Mary’s condition

but Joseph thought the

would do them good.

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.

That night some shepherds and

s

heard in the sky;

“Glory to God in the Highest, Peace on Earth…”

The shepherds said, “Come on, lets

to Bethlehem and see what has happened there”.

When they arrived they found the

Joseph, Mary and the baby who had been laid in a manger.

It was not a

place at all, smelly and dirty and not really a place fit for a new baby.

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However, the Shepherds were filled with wonder, UNITED

in the feeling that this child was special.

Could he be as the prophets foretold, the

of Judah?

It was getting late, in fact it was

so the shepherds returned to the hills.

Meanwhile in a far country, some

– wise men (or astrologers) were busy

scanning the

when they saw a bright star in the

Was it

Or a

?

?

No, it was a

shining with extraordinary brilliance in the sky to the east.

The

realised that the star signalled the birth of someone very special. A king.

They travelled hard and stopped at King Herod’s palace to ask for directions. They were not embarrassed to

with royalty.

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.

The

came to Bethlehem,

And found the

Joseph Mary and the child

and offered their

– Frankincense, Myrrh and

Then God warned the

in a that Herod

was up to his

again, and wanted to kill the child.

So the returned to their own country by another route.

Now that’s the familiar story, the

tale told at Christmas

It has little to do with reindeer,

,

frost underfoot and a

baby in a clean crib decorated with tinsel.

If we take a bit of

to think about the original story we see it was not that

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.

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.

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,

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!