A Rough Start
“It is definitely what people would call a questionable beginning. What aren’t they telling us? What skeletons are in their closet? And he’s the preacher! Why should I be listening to what he says about God when apparently his wife’s life is less than godly? Or maybe it’s both of them…I don’t know but obviously someone has something to hide.” And so we begin The Christmas Record. Certainly not the romantic version that we often tell each other. And yet it is. It’s into this mix of innuendos and rumors the our story of grace, freedom and forgiveness begins.
Dangerous Love
If you’ve had any experience with love at all, and we all have, you know this can be an apt description. We love our children and sometimes that love scares us almost to death as we watch them struggle through an illness or an accident. We fall in love with that other person, who, in the beginning, seems to be almost without fault (called infatuation), but soon into the relationship we discover it’s not all perfume and flowers . . . some times . . . some days it just stinks. Then we decide whether or not it’s worth the stink. The danger of love is not a new issue by any means. We’re going to look at a love story together – at least initially it looks that way. But then comes . . . betrayal . . . heartache . . . pain – and all this comes wrapped up in the story of what we call “Christmas.”
It’s Complicated (sorry, no audio)
Usually, when an individual is “favored” by another individual, we take that to mean…they throw extra privileges their way. Do what they can to make things easier for them. They get a few more vacation days…a longer lunch break…and extra big Christmas bonus! But, when God steps into a young teenage girl’s life and has it announced that she is “favored”, in fact, “highly favored” by him; we discover that doesn’t mean her “ship has now come in;” she’s on the “gravy train” or from this point on “life is good.” Okay, enough clichés. So, what does it mean?
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