Searching for Meaning and Purpose...

After Mary's visit from the angel Gabriel, she goes to visit her aunt Elizabeth (to verify the angel's story & celebrate with family!).  Meanwhile, Joseph is confronting an ugly reality.  He's engaged to Mary- which for most intents and purposes- meant they were married.  Mary is pregnant.  This begins to show and soon he either sees it for himself or hears about it.  Scripture tells us: Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly... In Jewish culture, to have committed adultery meant death according to the law. However, in 1st century Israel, the death penalty was off the table- it was reserved solely for the Roman government. Joseph still could have done a lot of things, many that would be close enough to death (public disgrace through a divorce trial, censure as an adultress, etc.). But he text describes Joseph as a "good" man, which puts some sense into his choosing the...

Last time we set the stage- the culture, the mindset, and the historical setting.  Today we start with just a small town girl... God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee,   to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!” Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!” Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.” The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow ...

Every Christmas the season is ushered in with decorations in stores, the familiar refrains of Christmas music, the scents of holiday goodies and pine, stirring memories and marking the beginning of the season. The music, sights, and scents stir our minds and cause memory recall to Christmases prior- why?  Simply put, because humanity is so much more than just minds- we are sensory beings and our senses are intimately tied to our memories.  Our memories are so intimately tied to our senses that if I asked you about someone or something, you'd likely relate it to one of those sensory experiences: a scent, the way something felt, a taste and not just data.  There's an old Chinese proverb that says, "Tell me and I'll forget.  Show me and I'll remember.  Involve me and I'll understand."  Totally true for most people and I'll tell you, that is imminently on purpose.  The Creator made us to know, understand, and remember with the senses He gave us not just on...