Welcome! My son and I put up our Christmas tree on November 26. He also painstakingly arranged two Nativity sets and The Kneeling Santa Claus. These depict the true meaning of Christmas: Jesus’ birth.
Fallowfield United Methodist Church members decorated for Christmas on November 25. Many people were shopping for Christmas bargains that day, but these folks dedicated that evening to decorating our church before the first Sunday of Advent.
Advent means “coming” in Latin. Every Christmas Christians celebrate Jesus’ coming as a baby to earth 2,000 years ago.
The four candles in the Advent wreath symbolize hope, love, joy, and peace, in that order. Christmas falls on Sunday this year, so we will light the Christ candle on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to symbolize Jesus as the light of the world. The Advent wreath itself symbolizes God as eternal. Just as a circle has no beginning or end, God always is. That’s why he calls himself I AM in Exodus 3:14. “AM” is present tense.
I’m sure you’ve noticed how every detail counts at Christmas. We buy bows, ribbon, tissue paper, gift bags, wrapping paper, lights, ornaments, candy canes, and presents in an effort to make Christmas perfect.
God is a master of details. Jesus fulfilled many prophesies in the manner He was born. He had to be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14) in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), and of a descendent of David (Isaiah 11:1, Jeremiah 23:5). Jesus fulfilled many more prophesies during his lifetime, death, and resurrection.
By the way, I once questioned how Jesus could be a descendant of David. Matthew’s Gospel reports that Joseph descended from David through Solomon. But how could Jesus, whose real father is God, claim to be part of David’s lineage? Here’s the answer: Mary was a descendant of David. Luke 3:31 lists Nathan, another of David’s sons, as one of Jesus’ ancestors.
Bible scholars think Luke’s genealogy is of Mary’s line and Matthew’s genealogy is of Joseph’s line. Makes sense to me. So Jesus was the descendant of David through both his biological mother and his stepfather. God didn’t miss even one detail.
If anyone ever asks you how you can prove Jesus fulfilled prophecies even with his birth, you can now point them to the scriptures I’ve cited here. I find carrying a Bible in my purse (or in you car, gentlemen) helps. You can also go to Bible Gateway on your phone or computer. I have the app right on my phone’s home screen. It helps me find verses in a hurry.
Fallowfield bakers donated homemade cookies to Project Support Our Troops this week. It’s a small way of thanking our soldiers for defending our freedom. Please keep our military and their families in your prayers this Christmas.
Have a wonderful week. Blessings!