Matthew 1:18-25
Conception and Birth of Jesus
18
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as
follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed
to Joseph, before they came together she was
found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.
19
And Joseph her husband, being a righteous
man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to
send her away secretly
20
But when he had considered this, behold,
an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream,
saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be
afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child
who has been conceived in her is of the Holy
Spirit.
21
"She will bear a Son; and
you shall call His name Jesus, for He will
save His people from their sins."
22
Now all this took place to fulfill what
was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
"BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH
CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL
HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means,
"GOD WITH US."
24
And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did
as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took
Mary as his wife,
25
but kept her a virgin until she gave birth
to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.
1 Now
in those days a decree went out from Caesar
Augustus, that a census be taken of all the
inhabited earth.
2 This
was the first census taken while Quirinius was
governor of Syria.
3 And
everyone was on his way to register for the
census, each to his own city.
4 Joseph
also went up from Galilee, from the city of
Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which
is called Bethlehem, because he
was of the house and family of David,
5 in
order to register along with Mary, who was
engaged to him, and was with child.
6 While
they were there, the days were completed for her
to give birth.
7 And
she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she
wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger,
because there was no room for them in the inn.
8 In
the same region there were some shepherds
staying out in the fields and keeping watch over
their flock by night.
9 And
an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them,
and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and
they were terribly frightened.
10
But the angel said to them, "Do not
be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of
great joy which will be for all the people;
11 for today in the city of David there has
been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the
Lord.
12
"This
will be a sign for you: you will find a baby
wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13
And suddenly there appeared with the
angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising
God and saying,
14 "Glory
to God in the highest, And on earth peace among
men with whom He is pleased."
15
When
the angels had gone away from them into heaven,
the shepherds began saying to one another,
"Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and
see this thing that has happened which the Lord
has made known to us."
16
So
they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary
and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the
manger.
17
When
they had seen this, they made known the
statement which had been told them about this
Child.
18
And
all who heard it wondered at the things which
were told them by the shepherds.
19
But
Mary treasured
all these things, pondering them in her heart.
20
The
shepherds went back, glorifying
and praising God for all that they had heard and
seen, just as had been told them.
We at Anchored In Him would like to wish
everyone a Joyous and Merry Christmas with Blessed
Holiday Greetings from our family to you
and your family.
Now that you have read our Christmas message
above the full and true meaning of the title is
clear. There has been and will continue to
be much controversy as how Christ was
conceived. It is plain and simple as the
above scripture says, but mankind in his
infinite ways and wisdom will always question
things. God's word is the same as was then
and is now. The only difference now is
that many attempt to water down God's word down
to make them feel good.
I will not expound here on the above
scriptures into a sermon, I know and believe
that it is important for all to understand as to
the "How, Who, Where, and Why"
of what we call Christmas. You will not
find any holidays as we call them mentioned in
the Holy Bible. The birth, death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ is what you will
find in the Scriptures as to what we constitute
and call two of the most holiest holidays for
Christians.
This year as we hurry and scurry about the
busy Holiday Season with family and friends, the
greatest gift that you could give to one that
does not know Jesus Christ as their personal
Savior is the good news about the gift of
salvation and eternal life with Jesus
Christ. There is not one of us that does
not know of a family member or a friend that is
on the fast road to eternal separation from
Jesus Christ. What a gift we could give to
them, the understanding of eternal life with
Christ.
You see my friend God's love for us is
apparent in Matthew 1:21 as well as in John
3:16 "For
God so loved
the world, that He gave
His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes
in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
Our greatest
human need here on Earth is love and to be
loved. Many have human love for one
another, but lack in their lives God's
unconditional love. Make this Christmas
the one that you, a loved one, or a friend come
and know the "true" meaning of
Christmas.
