It is almost 2024! If you are like me, you are probably thinking of a bunch of things to do differently next year: eat better, exercise, save more, etc. Let’s pick one thing to do well next year. Just one thing for the first day. Then add or take away something when you feel like you have done the first thing well. Pray every day to just do the next right thing. Let your successes be your successes and your failures be your lessons. The best thing is we don’t have to do it all alone. God is always with us in our struggles. I pray for each of us a fulfilling and life-changing 2024. See you Sunday! Love, Mary
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Everyone is so busy this time of year with shopping, baking lots of cookies and preparing wonderful meals for the family to gather. But let’s not forget the shepherds in the fields quietly going about their night keeping watch over their sheep, when suddenly an angel appeared to them.
The angel said, “Don’t be afraid! I bring good news to you, wonderful, joyful news for all people!” The shepherds were terrified. Instead of running away in terror, they listened to the message and decided to go to Bethlehem to confirm that the message that the angel brought was true. When they got there, they confirmed that it was true. After seeing this, they left and told others, praising God, and expressing joy about the birth of the Savior.
Shepherds were the first to hear of Jesus’ birth. Some think that the shepherds were first to hear of Jesus’ birth because they were low on the social rung, and God wanted it known that Jesus was for everyone. We do know that the shepherds went to Bethlehem and found Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. Then the shepherds returned home and shared the news of Jesus’ birth.
From the angels to the shepherds to the world, the good news of Jesus is for all people. Joy is meant to be shared, as joy is for all. See you in church Sunday so you can tell us of your joy!
Blessings, Miss Sue and Miss Vickie.
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Watch the full service on our YouTube channel by clicking here.
Luke 2:1-16 New International Version
The Birth of Jesus
2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.
Tags: Luke
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Watch the full service on our YouTube channel by clicking here.
Luke 1:26-38 New International Version
The Birth of Jesus Foretold
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[a] the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
Matthew 1:18-25 New International Version
Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[a]: 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. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[b] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[c] because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”[d] (which means “God with us”).
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.