Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Characters of Christmas

 
When you think of Christmas, what characters come to mind? Santa Claus, elves, Scrooge, Clarance the angel, Frosty the snowman, the infamous Grinch, or any multitude of people or animals that are trying to catch the elusive Christmas spirit. I love to watch the various movies made around the Christmas season but I am not confused about the real characters of Christmas. The first Christmas was all about the coming of the Messiah to the world as Immanuel, God with us.

The Christmas story begins with an angel visiting a young virgin named Mary with some unbelievable news. From that auspicious beginning many other interesting characters appear and each responds to this first Christmas in similar ways to our responses today. Joseph courageously takes a stand for faith and family, the inn keeper puts business above compassion, shepherds come to worship, wise men sacrifice time and treasure to come see this new King, and the current king kills innocent children, all as a response to this earth changing event. We will continue to look at many of these characters each Sunday through Christmas. Please join us for each service. 

On this blog I will introduce you to many characters, some you may have never meet or thought about when you think about Christmas.