Merry Christmas!  

Today is the day we’ve been waiting for. By now, the presents are unwrapped, the food--if there is any left--is officially called “leftovers.”  For some, you can’t believe how fast Christmas arrived; for others you can’t wait until it’s over. Hopefully, you made it to a Christmas Eve service that inspired you and gave you a dose of hope, joy, peace, and love.  

We are days away from the first of fourteen Christmas Eve services. It seems just yesterday we started talking about Christmas, but it was actually early October when we began to put the details on marker boards in conference rooms.  

And now it’s here.  

“When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.”  -Luke 2:17-18

Last week, I talked about the shepherds.  No one would have believed that angels would appear to shepherds. But, as heaven’s light blinded and terrified them, an angel personally delivered a birth announcement. The first thing out of the angel’s mouth was, “don’t be afraid!”  

So, let me see if I have this right. We believe that God miraculously impregnated a woman without any human physical contact. We believe this baby was born in a stable in Bethlehem. We believe this baby was “God in flesh,” God’s son. We believe angels appeared in the sky to shepherds.  

Why would God come to earth and why would angels seek out a few shepherds to inform of this great event?