Dear Rose Park,
As you celebrate the birth of Jesus with family and friends, may the words of Luke 2 from the Jesus Storybook Bible bring you comfort, hope, joy, and peace.
That same night, in amongst the other stars, suddenly a bright new star appeared. Of all the stars in the dark vaulted heavens, this one shone clearer. It blazed in the night and made the other stars look pale beside it. God put it there when his baby Son was born - to be like a spotlight. Shining on him. Lighting up the darkness. Showing people the way to him. You see, God was like a new daddy - he couldn’t keep the good news to himself. He’d been waiting all these long years for this moment, and now he wanted to tell everyone.
So, he pulled out all the stops. Now he was going to send a big choir of angels to sing his happy song to the world. Now where would you send your choir? To a big concert hall? A palace? God sent his to a little hillside, in the middle of the night. He sent all those angels to sing for a bunch of shepherds watching their sheep. In those days, remember, people used to laugh at shepherds and say they were smelly and call them other rude names (which can’t be mentioned here). But God must have thought shepherds were very important indeed, because they’re the ones he chose to tell the good news to first.
While the shepherds were warming themselves by a fire, suddenly the sheep darted. They were frightened by something. What was that…a wing beat? They turned around. Standing in front of them was a huge warrior of light. “Don’t be afraid of me!” he said. “I haven’t come to hurt you. I’ve come to bring you happy news for everyone. Today, in David’s towns, in Bethlehem, God’s Son has been born. You can go and see him. He’s sleeping in a manger.” Behind the angel, the shepherds saw a choir of angels singing a beautiful song: “Glory to God! To God be Fame and Honor!” Then as quickly as they appeared, the angels left.
The shepherds stamped out their fire, left the sheep, and raced down the hill. They sped through the gates of Bethlehem, down the narrow cobble streets, through a courtyard until, at last, they reached a tumbledown stable. They caught their breath. Then quietly, they tiptoed inside. They knelt on the dirt floor. They had heard about this Promised Child and now he was here. Heaven’s Son. The Maker of the Stars. A baby sleeping in his mother’s arms.
This baby would be like that bright star shining in the sky that night. A Light to light up the whole world. Chasing away darkness. Helping people to see. And the darker the night got, the brighter the star would shine.
Merry Christmas.
Grace & Peace,
