COV LIFE BLOG

Advent 2014 – Matthew 1:18-25 – The Wonder of the Nativity

Do you remember God’s promise to send a Rescuer? His promise to send Jesus? Well, He kept His promise! Jesus came, just like God said He would.

After thousands of years of waiting, on an ordinary night, Jesus came. God gave His people hints and clues about how Jesus would come. He told them that Jesus would come from Bethlehem, be a Ruler and bring peace. Many expected a soldier; some expected a politician. No one expected a baby. But that’s how Jesus came.

Mary and Joseph lived in a town called Nazareth. One day, the king gave an order that everyone was to go back to their hometown to be counted for something called a census. Mary and Joseph traveled a long way to the town of Bethlehem, where Joseph’s family was from. When they got to Bethlehem, the town was full of other travelers, and there was nowhere for Mary and Joseph to stay. So they found a stable to sleep in. While they were there, the time came for Mary to have her baby, and Jesus, the Savior, was born.

Jesus, the King of heaven, left His perfect home to be born a baby to a young man and woman. He became fragile and helpless. His room that night was a stable—dirty, smelly and full of noisy animals. His bed was not kingly and luxurious; it was a feed box that animals ate out of. Mary had to wipe old, rotten food out of the manger and cover it with poky straw before she laid her tiny baby in it.

But everything that happened that night was exactly what God had planned and promised. Jesus came, just like God said He would. God had kept His promise! Jesus had come to save sinners!

The events of that night, in that stable in the little town of Bethlehem, would change the world forever.

Village Church 

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Heart Preparation
Read Matthew 1:18-25. Has the nativity lost its wonder for you? Do you marvel that God stepped down from Heaven and become man? So he could die for you? Take some time to truly consider the wonder and to come prepared to consider its full impact during the sermon on Sunday.