Happy birthday Jesus, and a very merry Christmas to you all

Mary, a virgin, was living in Galilee of Nazareth and was engaged to be married to Joseph, a Jewish carpenter. An angel visited her and explained to her that she would conceive a son by the power of the Holy Spirit. She would carry and give birth to this child and she would name him Jesus. At first Mary was afraid and troubled by the angel's words. Being a virgin, Mary questioned the angel, "How will this be?" The angel explained that the child would be God's own Son and, therefore, "nothing is impossible with God." Humbled and in awe, Mary believed the angel of the Lord and rejoiced in God her Savior. Surely Mary reflected with wonder on the words found in Isaiah 7:14 foretelling this event, "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." (NIV) The Birth of Jesus: While Mary was still engaged to Joseph, she miraculously became pregnant through the Holy Spirit, as foretold to her by the angel. When Mary told Joseph she was pregnant, he had every right to feel disgraced. He knew the child was not his own, and Mary's apparent unfaithfulness carried a grave social stigma. Joseph not only had the right to divorce Mary, under Jewish law she could be put to death by stoning. Although Joseph's initial reaction was to break the engagement, the appropriate thing for a righteous man to do, he treated Mary with extreme kindness. He did not want to cause her further shame, so he decided to act quietly. But God sent an angel to Joseph in a dream to verify Mary's story and reassure him that his marriage to her was God's will. The angel explained that the child within Mary was conceived by the Holy Spirit, that his name would be Jesus and that he was the Messiah, God with us. When Joseph woke from his dream, he willingly obeyed God and took Mary home to be his wife, in spite of the public humiliation he would face. Perhaps this noble quality is one of the reasons God chose him to be the Messiah's earthly father. Joseph too must have wondered in awe as he remembered the words found in Isaiah 7:14, "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." (NIV) At that time, Caesar Augustus decreed that a census be taken, and every person in the entire Roman world had to go to his own town to register. Joseph, being of the line of David, was required to go to Bethlehem to register with Mary. While in Bethlehem, Mary gave birth to Jesus. Probably due to the census, the inn was too crowded, and Mary gave birth in a crude stable. She wrapped the baby in cloths and placed him in a manger.

Now I know you all aren't Christians, some of you are atheists, and muslims, so I ask you to stay away and refrain from commenting if you are, or at least if you are going to be negative, today is about the birth of christ, for those of us that have faith and belive in that sort of stuff, merry christmas to all.

reply to post by woogleuk


Merry Christmas! but no i will not refrain from saying that Christians hijacked the holiday from pagans(no surprise) but even if you read the bible you will see a glaring hole in the so called winter birth of Jesus! it is all irrelevant in the end though imo, once again happy Christmas!

Merry Christmas and thank you for posting. God bless. Todd

reply to post by woogleuk


Merry Christmas though I figured the historical Jesus was pegged to be born More around summer or fall.
It is most likely a cover for the pagan holidays that coincided with the solstice.
Sorry to be a nit picker

Saturnalia was introduced around 217 BC to raise citizen morale after a crushing military defeat at the hands of the Carthaginians.[1] Originally celebrated for a day, on December 17, its popularity saw it grow until it became a week-long extravaganza, ending on the 23rd. Efforts to shorten the celebration were unsuccessful. Augustus tried to reduce it to three days, and Caligula to five. These attempts caused uproar and massive revolts among the Roman citizens.

en.wikipedia.org...

The tree is the one symbol that unites almost all the northern European winter solstices. Live evergreen trees were often brought into homes during the harsh winters as a reminder to inhabitants that soon their crops would grow again. Evergreen boughs were sometimes carried as totems of good luck and were often present at weddings, representing fertility. The Druids used the tree as a religious symbol, holding their sacred ceremonies while surrounding and worshipping huge trees.

www.essortment.com...
Merry Xmas

reply to post by Solomons


I know, but its the accepted date, my GF is pagan and reminds me of these things, lol

EDIT: Her father is a mason too. just to complicate matters, although he is a strong christian, lol

Merry Christmas and peace to you all.

Cheers

Seasons Greeting to all, and please post your holiday wishes to everyone in this earlier thread
www.abovetopsecret.com...

ETA
Because of the different slant regarding the birth of Jesus, I will be un-Scrooge-like and reopen the thread.

I would like to thank Donttreadonme for re-opening the thread, my message was, yes it's Christmas, but lets not forget what it is, it's not about giving presents, it's about remembering a man, son of god or not, who tried to bring peace to mankind. No-one (except maybe Bob Geldof) has achieved the same thing that that man did. He really was a son of God, whether literal or not.

Merry Christmas ATS.

Merry Christmas to you all ! And best wishes ......

Thank you all for posting, MERRY CHRISTMAS to all.

Today is the time for family and God.