The village of Nazareth was a small community of about 4-500 people. Mary wasn’t the Mother Mary but was the girl next door. And Joseph wasn’t the step father of our Lord and Savior, he was the guy down the street. When the villagers saw Jesus’ birth story unfold, they were not privy to Mathew’s supernatural explanation but probably would have assumed the worst, even as Joseph himself did. Because of this Mathew spends a lot of time showing that although Jesus was born into this world a human baby, there was a lot of supernatural factors that were happening behind the scenes. This story focuses on who Jesus is but there is also much to be learned about people and our responses to God, when he breaks into our life and world.

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From Series: "The Coming of the King"

The word ‘Advent’ comes from the Latin word adventus, meaning ‘coming’ or ‘arrival.’ As Christians, we use the four weeks leading up to Christmas to meditate on the incarnation of Christ; his first coming when he was born in Bethlehem. We should also be anticipating his Second Coming; the time when our mighty King will return and every knee on earth will bow to him. Let’s use this Christmas season to become more aware of what we are bowing down to. What we are worshiping. Let’s make sure that our total allegiance is to King Jesus.