The Announcement of the Birth of the Christ

๐—ช๐—”๐—ฅ๐—  ๐—จ๐—ฃ

โ€ข Share surprising news that youโ€™ve recently heard. What about it got your attention?

โ€ข Recall a time when you were chosen to work on a task or project. How did you respond?

โ€ข When faced with challenges, do you wait for favorable conditions or would you rather push through? Why?


๐—ช๐—ข๐—ฅ๐——

๐˜๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜น๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ ๐˜Ž๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜Ž๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ข ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜Ž๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜•๐˜ข๐˜ป๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ข ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ข ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜‘๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฉ, ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜‹๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฅ. ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ฏโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜บ. ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฅ, โ€œ๐˜Ž๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ด, ๐˜– ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ!โ€ ๐—Ÿ๐—จ๐—ž๐—˜ ๐Ÿญ:๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฒโ€“๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿดย 


(Read also ๐—Ÿ๐—จ๐—ž๐—˜ ๐Ÿญ:๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿตโ€“๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿด and ๐— ๐—”๐—ง๐—ง๐—›๐—˜๐—ช ๐Ÿญ:๐Ÿญ๐Ÿดโ€“๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฑ.)


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 Josephโ€™s 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, letโ€™s learn how He does miracles in and through us.ย 


๐Ÿญ. ๐—š๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—–๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜.ย 

๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ, โ€œ๐˜‹๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฅ, ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜บ, ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜Ž๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ. ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ, ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฃ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ ๐˜ข ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜‘๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ด.โ€ย ๐—Ÿ๐—จ๐—ž๐—˜ ๐Ÿญ:๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฌ-๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿญ


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, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜”๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉย 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, ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ. 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?


๐Ÿฎ. ๐—š๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ต ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—›๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป.

๐˜‰๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ด, ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข ๐˜ฅ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ, ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ, โ€œ๐˜‘๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฉ, ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜‹๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฅ, ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜š๐˜ฑ๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ต. ๐˜š๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ ๐˜ข ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜‘๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ด, ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ด.โ€ ๐— ๐—”๐—ง๐—ง๐—›๐—˜๐—ช ๐Ÿญ:๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ-๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿญ


It mustโ€™ve been a shock to Joseph when he found out that Mary was pregnant. He already had plansโ€”she 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 Davidโ€™s line and told him that the miracle in Maryโ€™s 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 donโ€™t go your way?


๐Ÿฏ. ๐—š๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ž๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ผ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ป ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ.

๐˜๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜”๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ. ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ ๐˜Ž๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜‹๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฅ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜‘๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฃ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ.โ€ย ๐—Ÿ๐—จ๐—ž๐—˜ ๐Ÿญ:๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฎ-๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฏ


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 7:12โ€“16). He is ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ž๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ง๐˜ถ๐˜ญ ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ, ๐˜”๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต๐˜บ ๐˜Ž๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ, ๐˜Œ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜—๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜—๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฆ (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 humanityโ€”our 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.


๐—”๐—ฃ๐—ฃ๐—Ÿ๐—œ๐—–๐—”๐—ง๐—œ๐—ข๐—ก

โ€ข 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 

โ€ข Recall the miracles God has done in and through your life this year. How has He been faithful to you?ย 

โ€ข 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 


๐—ฃ๐—ฅ๐—”๐—ฌ๐—˜๐—ฅ

โ€ข 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.

โ€ข 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.

โ€ข 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.