Spiritual Water for the Soul...Sermons and Commentaries
Volume 1
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Christmas
The Birth of Jesus
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6
Merry Christmas! Happy birthday, Jesus! Soon it will be Christmas Day! It is the day we celebrate as the birthday of our Lord and Savior, Jesus, the Christ. Since it is Jesus’ birthday we should be talking about and focusing on him, not us. When I prayed about what I should talk about today, the Lord said: “Ruth, talk about my birth.” I thought, of course! Nothing is more important! Nothing should overshadow the reason for the season.
The birth of our Lord and Savior was such a powerful event that the world’s calendars use it to divide time--BC for the period before Christ and AD for the period after the death of Christ. In an attempt to get away from using the birth of Christ as a dividing line, the secular world started using CE to refer to the Current Era or period and BCE to refer to the epoch or period before the Current Era. The words current epoch or era (CE) are used instead of Christ.
An epoch is a specific point in time used to mark the beginning of a period. It is simply a way to measure time to avoid confusion. Jesus of Nazareth is the greatest human ever to live. He was not only fully human; he was and remains fully divine. No person can compare to Him. Therefore, it is fitting to divide time around his birth.
According to the Holy Bible, over 2000 years ago a man named Joseph of the line and house of David, and his bride to be, Mary, a virgin, who was pregnant with child by divine intervention of God through immaculate conception by the Holy Spirit, travelled from Nazareth in Galilee to the town of Bethlehem of Judea, the City of David, to register for the very first census that was ordered by Quirinius, the Governor of Syria. Upon arrival in Bethlehem the couple could not find a room because the one and only inn had no vacancies.
To make this very devastating situation worse, Mary went into labor. What would they do? Mary is about to bring forth into the world God’s greatest gift to humanity--The Messiah, the Savior, the Holy one of Israel, the only begotten Son of God, the Father. Jesus, the Christ, was about to be born and there were no vacancies at the inn. As I am sure God had ordained, they found shelter in a stable. From this lowly place, the Lord Jesus was born as the stars in heaven glittered and glimmered more brightly than ever ------ God transformed a stable into a palace fit for King. Such miraculous acts define the power and magnificence of God almighty, our Heavenly Father.
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About the Book
This book and the series to follow reveal who God is through biblical and personal references, in response to a question posed by my deacon friend: “Who is God?” After a brief pause, my response was, “How much time do you have?” I knew he wanted a deeper answer than the typical: He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, and The Great I Am. These writings are an attempt to provide simplified answers to the very complex question: Who is God?
God is revealed in his written Word, the Bible, through his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, and through the lives of believers. God is in his Word and he is in his works, but God is spirit and he can only be discerned spiritually. We cannot see him with the natural eye.
“You will find a blessing within these pages just for you. I not only dare you, but invite you to consume, digest, and ingest the messages contained within the covers of this book.”
--Samuel B. McKinney D Min, DD, DHL Pastor Emeritus, Mount Zion Baptist Church of Seattle, Washington
About the Author
Rev. Ruth Saunders is founder of It Takes a Village Ministry, an associate pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church, Seattle, Washington, and co-host with Rev. Dr. Samuel Berry McKinney of The Truth Radio Broadcast Ministry aired on Sundays over ztwins.com radio stations.