Mary lived in the hope that God’s promise of a Messiah would soon come to pass. What she never expected, however, is that she would be the one God chose to help bring this miracle to pass. Throughout history, God has chosen people who, by outward appearances, did not seem to have much to offer but were open to following His will. Mary knew this truth. She was self-aware and understood her place compared to others with more money, position, or power. She had learned to become

In the Scriptures, we are given just a little glimpse of Mary and Joseph before Jesus was born. We know that they lived a simple life in the hill country of Galilee. Joseph was a religious and just man, which means he obeyed the will of God. Imagine, though, his thoughts and his suspicions about the girl to whom he was engaged. Imagine what he was thinking when the same angel who appeared to Mary appeared to him. What faith it must have taken on Joseph’s part to believe that

The stars must have shone like diamonds in that cold crisp sky. On the hills outside of Bethlehem, the flocks had been gathered, and watch was being kept. The shepherds outside Bethlehem, like most of the people of Palestine, were poor and insignificant men. They had no reason to expect that this night would be different from any other. But God had other plans. As proclaimed by the angels, this was the night when God Himself would come to earth. The Christmas story takes us

Christ is born! But He wasn’t born into a perfect world and into the perfect situation. Christ came into a world with problems much like the ones we grapple with today. We often imagine that the world to which Jesus came was not complicated and that its issues were not complex. But history tells us a different story. It tells us that the problems of that day were similar to the problems of today. What does Christ’s birth mean to you, personally? This is what Scripture tells u

The message of Christmas that resounded 2000 years ago is still relevant to us today. First, it is a message of love and peace. Second, it is a message of joy and hope. The message of Christmas reminds us that God not only exists, but that He is a living heavenly Father who seeks to restore us to what we were created to be – His children, and He wants to restore us so that we can properly do what we were created to do, which is worship Him. When we, like Mary, humble ourselve