Christmas
God’s gift...the Saviour
The story begins
centuries before when God promised he would send a
SAVIOUR
to rescue his people
Then one day God sent his angel,Gabriel to visit a girl called Mary in Nazareth
Some of these
promises are recorded in God’s book, the Bible: e.g. from Isaiah 9 ‘... a light will shine ... a child is born to us, a son is given to us and the government will rest on his shoulders and he will be called: Wonderful Counsellor Mighty God ... Prince of Peace ...
(and there are lots more)
Greetings The Lord is with you!
Oh?
Do not be afraid. You will give birth to a son ... he will be the Son of God
This is super scary How can this be?
I’m engaged to Joseph but we are not married yet Remember, nothing is impossible with God
Mary was thrilled ...
The Holy Spirit will come upon you so the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God! I am the Lord’s servant, may and this come the true! angel left
Oh, how I praise the Lord How I rejoice in God my Saviour ...for the mighty one is holy and he does great things!
Joseph, Mary’s fiancé discovered she was pregnant ...
As he was thinking about it he fell asleep
Oh dear, what will I do? I love Mary but now I can’t marry her and dreamed
All this happened in the small town of Nazareth, in Israel, part of the Roman Empire.
Joseph go ahead, marry Mary. The child is from God and you will name him Jesus for he will save his people from their sins Greece Asia Minor
Mediterranean
Israel
The Roman Emperor, Caesar Augustus decreed that all citizens had to return to their ancestral towns for a census.
So Joseph and Mary
had to go to Bethlehem for both their families were decedents of the ancient King David from Bethlehem.
They asked at the Inn
We will need somewhere to stay
No room
... but there is a stable out the back maybe you can bed down there