A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....12-25-02....Christmas Day

Billie and daisyscarlett

[daisyscarlett]

Click on Baby Jesus

THE CHRSTMAS STORY
As told by Matthew

THE NATIVITY

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and 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 be with child and will 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 had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

WISE MEN

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: "'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'" Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.

GIFTS

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him."

FLEEING TO EGYPT

So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."

After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead."

So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."

--Matthew 1:18 - 2:23 New International Version

JESUS IS THE REASON
FOR THE SEASON

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 12-23-02 Christmas Music 12-24-02 Twas the Night Before Christmas

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[Pippin]

Don't worry about it Nan! We are your family now! :^)

[WVNan]

Venerable Ones? Does that mean we're old? LOL

[WVNan]

how sweet Pip. Remember Jesus said something similar. "Who is my mother and my brothers? Are they not those who do the will of my Father?"

[LadyX]

Older than most, but W-I-S-E !!!

LOLOL

[WVNan]

Wise....that's it. Another quote from the Master: "Do not think I come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one's foes will be members of one's own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me."

[Aquamarine]

Sorry Pippie, I missed your birthday.

[Pippin]

i remember.

[Pippin]

Thanks, Aqua!

[Iowa Granny]

I heard you were taking roll call of people who are older than DIRT,,, so I thought I'd better get over here right away to answer roll call.

Nice to see you, Rev.

I think lots of us have had about all the Christmas Gathering stress we can handle. We have one more gathering tomorrow,,,, guarenteed to be the most stressful of all. At least we are close to home. I've been known to plead a load of clothes in the washer that need to be transfered to the dryer in order to escape those of narrow mind at this annual gathering.

[WVNan]

Hi IG, glad you could show up for muster. It's nice to know that I'm not alone in my angst over family weirdness=liberalism. BTW, how in the world are you doing? I haven't seen you in a coon's age.

[Libertina]

You are in good spirits and had a grand-child invasion - how wonderful, LadyX! Nan, there certainly have been lots of funerals around my family lately as well. Mixed emotions on them... But I'm happy to hear your church project was such a success :)

[Pippin]

What!? You called up reinforcements, Nan!

Howdy, IG! Great to see you!

[Iowa Granny]

I am doing better. I've finished with PT, and altho I am not 100%, I never will be, so lowering the bar was a necessity.

I tire easily, but have learned to pace myself.

A major hurdle I need to overcome is managing my pain meds. Sometimes I forget to take them. Other times I can't remember if I've taken them. I've double dosed several times within the past month because I can't remember whether or not I've taken the meds, so I go ahead and take them again,,, only to end up in a hazy world,,, that's when I figure out I'd already taken the prescribed dosage.

A scratch pad on the counter is suppose to remind me to write it down when I take them. It usually works. Today I bought one of those thingys to put your weekly meds in to help better keep track of it all. Chronic Pain is the pits,,, but the alternative is worse.

Tell me what you've been up to,,, aside from the usual Christmas stuff.

[WVNan]

I'm sorry to hear about the funerals in your family Libertina. It does make for a sad Christmas. Of course, the funeral today was someone I had been ministering to and I preached the funeral and committed the body to the earth and his soul to God. For some reason I don't mind doing funerals unless the person was mean and unrepentant. I hate weddings.

[Iowa Granny]

Hi there Pip. Have you got all your Birthday Cake eaten? Hope you had a fine day.

[LadyX]

The Key Word is 'Accommodation' to All Things..:)))

The thing about the medication boxes, neatly divided into 7 days, is the fact they have to be refilled about every 3 days, it seems! - endless rows of medications to keep us plodding along - how anyone makes it without the God we serve is beyond me.
(Plus, I have 6 injections of insulin every day and at least 4 finger sticks to see where I am to calculate how much.)

Okay - we're not ready to Exit Stage Left quite yet - have another few things to do, so we keep making those steps forward..:)))

[WVNan]

Gee, I don't know how long it's been, and I don't even take meds, LOL. I officialy retired in June. Then took another church as a part-time pastor. Of course, there's no such thing as part-time pastoring, only part-time money. It does free me up some from the pressure of Conference directives and endless meetings. I just don't go any more. What are they going to do? Fire me? It gives me more time for pastoring and I enjoy it so much more. We did a great Christmas project. Recreated the Bethlehem Inn. Fed the "travelers" who came in and played out the Nativity story complete with singing angel on top of the stable. It was great.

[Iowa Granny]

For some reason I don't mind doing funerals unless the person was mean and unrepentant.

You are just TOO KIND. If I were in your shoes, it would be the old meanies I'd enjoy sending off.

By the way,,, I 'got' to bury someone once. It was the funeral of a neighbor. Our priest was hospitalized, and we had a very frail, retired priest in to do the funeral Mass. I was the lector for the Mass. When we got to the cemetary, it was freezing cold and the wind was blowing like crazy. The old gentleman tried his best to conduct the final rites, but he was trembling and shaking so badly from the cold he couldn't hold the misal. He finally motioned to me to join him,, then whispered, "you're gonna have to finish this for me".

There really wasn't much to it,,, I just followed along in the book in the Rite of Christian Burial section.

[WVNan]

That's because you're a walking miracle, and inspiration to all who recognize God's work through you.

[Iowa Granny]

'Accommodation' to All Things..:)))

You've got that right. I am having a devil of a time learning how to make all the Accommodations.