๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข Share surprising news that youโve recently heard. What about it got your attention?
โข Recall a time when you were chosen to work on a task or project. How did you respond?
โข When faced with challenges, do you wait for favorable conditions or would you rather push through? Why?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ช๐น๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข ๐ค๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ป๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ, ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข ๐ท๐ช๐ณ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฉ, ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฅ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ช๐ณ๐จ๐ช๐ฏโ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐๐ข๐ณ๐บ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ, โ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด, ๐ ๐ง๐ข๐ท๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ!โ ๐๐จ๐๐ ๐ญ:๐ฎ๐ฒโ๐ฎ๐ดย
(Read also ๐๐จ๐๐ ๐ญ:๐ฎ๐ตโ๐ฏ๐ด and ๐ ๐๐ง๐ง๐๐๐ช ๐ญ:๐ญ๐ดโ๐ฎ๐ฑ.)
Christmas is a celebration because Jesus is the greatest miracle we can ever receive. However, when we look back at the first Christmas, it was a messy one. Mary and Josephโs relationship took an unexpected turn. The would-be Savior and King had no place to be born in. God indeed had something great in store for humanity, but He was also intentional and involved in the personal lives of those in the first Christmas. God did miracles in and through them so that the world would know Him. This season, as we end the year having trusted God to do the miraculous, letโs learn how He does miracles in and through us.ย
๐ญ. ๐๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐บ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐น๐ผ๐๐๐น๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐.ย
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, โ๐๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ง๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ฅ, ๐๐ข๐ณ๐บ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ข๐ท๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฃ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ข ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด.โย ๐๐จ๐๐ ๐ญ:๐ฏ๐ฌ-๐ฏ๐ญ
When God sent an angel to speak to Mary, Mary could not understand why this was happening. The angel encouraged her to not be afraid and told her that she would bear a son, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉย who will be the King. She grew uncertain, but God assured her that the Holy Spirit is with her to do miracles in and through her, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ. As Mary heard these things, she chose to believe and obey God. How would you respond if God chose you to fulfill something incomprehensible yet great?
๐ฎ. ๐๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ต ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ถ๐ ๐บ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐น๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ป.
๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด, ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ, ๐ด๐ข๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, โ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฉ, ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฅ, ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ง๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐ข๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ช๐ด ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ข ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ด.โ ๐ ๐๐ง๐ง๐๐๐ช ๐ญ:๐ฎ๐ฌ-๐ฎ๐ญ
It mustโve been a shock to Joseph when he found out that Mary was pregnant. He already had plansโshe was betrothed to him and they were to be married. News of her pregnancy would cause shame and judgment upon them. But God spoke to Joseph, encouraging him to take Mary as his wife. God reminded Joseph that he was from Davidโs line and told him that the miracle in Maryโs womb is the promised Messiah. Though it seemed like a lose-lose situation, Joseph was assured that God was with him, so he humbly trusted God. How do you respond when your plans donโt go your way?
๐ฏ. ๐๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ด๐ป ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ.
๐๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ช๐จ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ค๐ฐ๐ฃ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ.โย ๐๐จ๐๐ ๐ญ:๐ฏ๐ฎ-๐ฏ๐ฏ
As God spoke to Joseph and Mary, He was reminding them that what was happening is the fulfillment of His promise. Jesus is the Savior King through whom He would establish His eternal kingdom (2 Samuel 7:12โ16). He is ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ, ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐บ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ (Isaiah 9:6), a King who would rule with righteousness and justice. Yet, He is also the way by which God would save the whole of humanityโour greatest miracle indeed. What does this tell us about the character and plan of God?ย
Even in challenging situations, God speaks to His people and is faithful to fulfill His promises. As we celebrate Christmas, may we give thanks to God for who He is and how He works, and may we make Him known to everyone around us.
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข Is God calling you to do something that seems impossible? Like Mary, will you trust God and His plans for you? What practical steps can you take this week in light of this?ย
โข Recall the miracles God has done in and through your life this year. How has He been faithful to you?ย
โข When you meet your relatives and friends this Christmas, how can you tell them about who God is and what He has done for you? Like Joseph, are you willing to do what may be uncomfortable and make tough decisions in order for Jesus to be known?ย
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Praise God for fulfilling His promises, especially for sending Jesus. Thank Him that He chooses to be involved in your life and invites you to take part in His redemptive work.
โข Ask God for humility to trust Him even when the odds are against you. Pray that despite the challenges you will face, you will have the boldness and passion to make Him known.
โข Thank God that His plans bring about true salvation and peace. Pray that you will take this to heart and proclaim His goodness and power to those you will encounter.