We miss the essence of Christmas unless we become, in the words of Eberhard Arnold, “mindful of how Christ’s birth took place.” Once we do, we will sense immediately that advent marks something momentous: God’s coming into our midst. That coming is not just something that happened in the past. It is a recurring possibility here and now. And thus Advent is not merely a commemorative event or an anniversary, but a yearly opportunity for us to consider the future, second Advent — the promised coming of God’s kingdom on earth.
He who would be born of God
must be mindful of how Christ’s
birth took place.
Eberhard Arnold, When the Time Was Fulfilled
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This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
***
I will be posting a photo, quote, and verse here to count down the 24 days until Christmas Day. Subscribe to my blog if you don’t want to miss it. ATimeForWonder.blogspot.com.
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2 comments:
I'm looking forward to reading your blog this advent, Anika. How do I subscribe to your blog. I clicked on the link, but it just took me to your blog.
Mom, I was referring to subscribing to a blog with a blog reader, like Google Reader. But not everyone uses that so I just added a place to signup to receive the blog posts by email on the right hand column of my blog. All you have to do is put in your email address, click Subscribe, follow the instructions, and when you get the confirmation email, click on the link to confirm your subscription. Hope that works for you.
Anika
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