Matthew chapter 1 verses 18-23

This was how the birth of Jesus Christ took place. His mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they were married, she found out that she was going to have a baby by the Holy Spirit. Joseph was a man who always did what was right, but he did not want to disgrace Mary publicly; so he made plans to break the engagement privately.

While he was thinking about this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary to be your wife. For it is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived. She will have a son, and you will name him Jesus – because he will save his people from their sins.”

Now all this happened in order to make what the Lord had said through the prophet come true, “A virgin will become pregnant and have a son, and he will be called Immanuel” (which means, “God is with us”).

The reason we celebrate Christmas is because of Jesus. Christmas marks the day Jesus came into the world. For billions of Christians across nations and centuries, this is the greatest event in the history of mankind.

This account of Jesus’ birth in the Bible is strange and wonderful. It tells of an angel giving a message to a man in a dream and the miraculous birth of a baby to a virgin bride. But more than this, it tells us about God, the creator of the world who exists beyond time and space, and how he became a man to live amongst us.

Jesus shares the same humanity as all of us. He was born, raised by a mother and father and experienced love, friendship, sadness and pain. He was with us and yet he was God himself, fully human and fully divine. Jesus is the one person in the whole span of history who can show us, not a vague, theoretical idea of God, but what God is actually like.

Being God, Jesus was different from the rest of humankind. In his life he never did anything wrong. He never lied, cheated or hurt anyone, but was loving, compassionate and merciful to friends, strangers and even his enemies.
Ultimately he gave up his life for others.

The angel told Joseph in his dream to call the baby Jesus, which means ‘God saves’. And that is what Jesus did. As a young man he died on a cross to save people from their sins – that is you, me, and anyone who believes in him.

There is a very famous verse in the Bible that tells us about Jesus. It says: ‘For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life’.

Because Jesus came into the world we can know God, ask for his forgiveness and put our trust in him for now and for
eternity.

If you would like to read more of the Bible, why not read the historical accounts of the life of Jesus in the New Testament gospel books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Why did ordinary fishermen, tax collectors and many others, give up everything to follow Jesus?

Below are two stories of ordinary people today, who have discovered that Jesus is the Son of God who died upon a cross for them, and that He is the only way to heaven. Now they are following their Saviour.

Zoe Buttery tells how she came through traumatic experiences in her youth to marriage, having a family and faith in God.

I am the eldest of five children and grew up in a happy household with loving parents. I had very poor eyesight and started wearing glasses from the age of two, so when I started school things became difficult for me. Sitting at the back of the class I was unable to see the board and could not do my work. My teacher would keep me in at playtime and I remember looking out the window at the other children and feeling extremely left out and lonely.

It was a daily battle for my poor mum to get me to school. My self-esteem was incredibly low and academically I fell very behind. At the age of thirteen I tried cannabis and fell into the wrong crowd, hanging out with a gang of lads, drinking and smoking and vulnerable to abuse. I have never felt so used and low and didn’t think much of myself at all. I think all I wanted was to be accepted and loved.

I met my husband, Matt when I was fifteen. He had just come out of rehab and that summer he was clean. I got to know the real Matt, the man I fell in love with. Unfortunately, around six months later he started taking heroin again, and a few months after that I started taking it with him.

Our life became very difficult as we began sleeping in cars and abandoned houses, under newspaper to try and stay warm. We were doing crack, heroin and anything else we could get our hands on. I would wait for Matt to fall asleep, then take his gear and hide it until he had left for work, when I would smoke it alone. I knew I had a problem.

Matt both wanted and needed to go to rehab, and ended up at Victory Outreach in Wales. He wasn’t allowed to have any contact with me at all. A month after he left I found out I was pregnant with our first child. The rehab allowed me to write and have a five-minute phone call with him once a week. This was so hard but I knew it was the best thing for us all. After five months I got to see him for one day, and Matt went down on one knee and proposed to me. Whilst Matt was in rehab he gave his life to the Lord. He would talk to me all the time about Jesus and I really didn’t understand. I thought he had been brainwashed!

We were married on 23rd March 2002 and later that year on 8th June I gave birth to our first child, Poppy. I looked at her and couldn’t believe that something so beautiful and perfect could come from nothing. A few months later I gave my life to the Lord. All the glory goes to Him who pulled me out of the pit I was in and gave me a hope and a purpose.

Matt and I have been married for twenty-three years. Being a mother came so naturally to me that we now have five beautiful daughters, a lovely son-in-law, who also has a faith in Jesus, and a gorgeous grandson Boaz, who was born in July this year. I now serve the Lord in multiple places, Birmingham City Mission and our church being two of many, in order to try my best to show God’s love in everything I do, with the strength of my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Neil Sheldon tells how he was brought up going to church, but did not always have a personal faith in Jesus.

As a child I was taken to Sunday School and heard stories about Jesus, but did not believe in Him and wanted to live my own life without Him. At age 12 I went along to Crusaders in Dudley where I grew up. This was a group for children run by Christians, and it was at Crusaders that I first heard the good news of the BIble.

I left Crusaders at the age of 16, got a job at Midland Bank and lived a worldly life. However, a group of young people at my church became Christians, and were praying for me. One young man, who was ‘one of the lads’ and a good friend, was ‘converted’ and changed instantly. I hated him for it, but it deeply affected me. I stopped attending church and started playing football for a local pub team on a Sunday morning.

I was invited along to a Christian meeting in Dudley. I heard the good news again and was challenged to believe in Jesus. At this time, I became increasingly convicted that I was ‘sinful’ and I knew that, if I were to die, I would not go to heaven. One day, in my dining room at home, I knelt and repented of my sins and asked Jesus to forgive me and be my Saviour. This was in April 1983. I eventually married Helen, who was one of those who witnessed to me and prayed for me.

Used by Permission.

Produced by Birmingham City Mission birminghamcitymission.org.uk

Registered Charity No. 1050123 Company Ltd by Guarantee No. 03112321