Luke 2:8-14 (KJV)

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people..

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord..

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger..

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,.

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men..

"Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel. 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. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever." Isaiah 9: 6,7

A long, long, time before Jesus was born, the Lord told a man named Isaiah that a future king was coming. The Lord told Isaiah that a virgin would conceive this child and that He would be called, "The Mighty God." God also told Isaiah that this coming king's kingdom would have NO end.

Many years after Isaiah saw the vision concerning the coming king. . .

God sent the angel Gabriel to a virgin who lived in Nazareth, a town in Galilee. She was engaged to marry a man named Joseph from the family of David. Her name was Mary. The angel came to her and said, "Greetings! The Lord has blessed you and is with you."

But Mary was confused by what the angel said. Mary wondered, "What does this mean?"

The angel said to her, "Don't be afraid, Mary, because God is pleased with you. Listen! You will become pregnant. You will give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and people will call him the Son of the Most High. The Lord God, will give him the throne of King David, his ancestor. He will rule over the people of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end." Luke 1: 26-33

Mary said to the angel, "How will this happen? I am a virgin!"

The angel said to Mary, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will cover you. The baby will be holy. He will be called the Son of God."

Mary said, "I am the servant girl of the Lord. Let this happen to me as you say!" Then the angel went away." Luke 1: 34-35 and Luke 1:38

All of this happened to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah many, many years earlier!

At that time, Augustus Caesar sent an order to all people in the countries that were under Roman rule. The order said that they must list their names in a register. This was the first registration taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone went to their own towns to be registered.

So Joseph left Nazareth, a town in Gaililee. He went to to the town of Bethlehem in Judea. This town was known as the town of David. Joseph went there because he was from the family of David. Jospeh registered with Mary because she was engaged to marry him. (Mary was now pregnant.) While Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem, the time came for her to have the baby. She gave birth to her first son. there were no rooms left in the inn. So she wrapped the baby with cloths and laid him in a box where animals are fed." Luke 2: 1-7

That night, some shepherds were in the fields nearby watching their sheep. An angel of the Lord stood before them. The glory of the Lord was shining around them, and suddenly they became very frightened. The angel said to them, "Don't be afraid, because I am bringing you some good news. It will be a joy to all the people. Today your Savior was born in David's town. He is Christ, the Lord. This is how you will know him: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a feeding box." Luke 2:8-12

So the shepherds went quickly and found Mary and Joseph. And the shepherds saw the baby lying in a feeding box. Then they told what the angels had said about this child. Everyone was amazed when they heard what the shepherds said to them. Mary hid these things in her heart; she continued to think about them. "Then the shepherds went back to their sheep, praising God and thanking him for everything that they had seen and heard. It was just as the angel had told them." Luke 2:16-20

When the baby was eight days old, he was circumcised, and he was named Jesus. This name had been given by the angel before the baby began to grow inside Mary. Luke 2:21

Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea during the time when Herod was king. After Jesus was born, some wise men from the east came to Jerusalem. They asked, "Where is the baby who was born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east. We came to worship him."

When King Herod heard about this new king of the Jews, he was troubled. And all the people in Jerusalem were worried too. Herod called a meeting of all the leading priests and teachers of the law. He asked them where the Christ would be born. They answered, "In the town of Bethlehem in Judea." The prophet wrote about this in the Scriptures:

"But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, you are important among the rulers of Judah. A ruler will come from you. He will be like a shepherd for my people, the Israelites." Micah 5:2

Then Herod had a secret meeting with the wise men from the east. He learned from them the exact time they first saw the star. Then Herod sent the wise men to Bethlehem. He said to them, "Go and look carefully to find the child. When you find him, come tell me. Then I can go worship him too."

The wise men heard the king and then left. They saw the same star they had seen in the east. It went before them until it stopped above the place where the child was. When the wise men saw the star, they were filled with joy. They went to the house where the child was and saw him with his mother, Mary. They bowed down and worshiped the child. They opened the gifts they brought for him. They gave him treasures of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But God warned the wise men in a dream not to go back to Herod. So they went home to their own country by a different way.

This story is a TRUE story and it REALLY happened some 2,000 years ago. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to this earth to suffer for OUR sins so that we may live forever in heaven with Him. The prophets Isaiah and Micah both wrote about the birth of Jesus Christ a LONG time before the events actually took place. No ONE can predict the future unless God gives them the vision. God shared these events in the future with Micah and Isaiah for a reason. God wanted EVERYONE to be able to identify the savior of the world when He was born. God left NO room for error. It would be impossible for Jesus to have chosen his own birthplace wouldn't it! We should thank God for giving us so much evidence to prove that Jesus Christ is the ONE and ONLY Son of God!

Ben Stein was born to American Jewish parents and grew up in the neighborhood Woodside Forest in Silver Spring, Maryland. He graduated from Montgomery Blair High School, where his classmates included journalist Carl Bernstein and actors Goldie Hawn and Sylvester Stallone. He went on to major in economics at Columbia University's Columbia College. He graduated with honors in 1966, and then enrolled in Yale University Law School, graduating as the valedictorian in 1970.

If they know of him at all, many folks think Ben Stein is just a quirky actor/comedian who talks in a monotone. He's also a very intelligent attorney who knows how to put ideas and words together in such a way as to sway juries and make people think clearly.

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on a CBS Sunday Morning Commentary....

Herewith at this happy time of year, a few confessions from my beating heart: I have no freaking clue who Nick and Jessica are. I see them on the cover of People and Us constantly when I am buying my dog biscuits and kitty litter. I often ask the checkers at the grocery stores. They never know who Nick and Jessica are either. Who are they?

Will it change my life if I know who they are and why they have broken up? Why are they so important?

I don't know who Lindsay Lohan is either, and I do not care at all about Tom Cruise's wife.

Am I going to be called before a Senate committee and asked if I am a subversive? Maybe, but I just have no clue who Nick and Jessica are.

If this is what it means to be no longer young? It's not so bad.

Next confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a cre'che, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution, and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way,: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him?

I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking. Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this Happen?" (Regarding Katrina)

Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?"

In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.

Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell.

Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.

Funny how you can send jokes through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.

Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it...no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

Editors note: At the bottom of EVERY newsletter you will see a tab titled "Forward email" If you agree with this issue of GFN please use that function. Get a "backbone" and stand up for what you believe in.

Dear children,

It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are "taking My name out of the season." Maybe you've forgotten that I wasn't actually born during this time of the year. Some of your predecessors simply decided to celebrate My birth during a pagan festival. Although I do appreciate being remembered anytime, don't worry about someone taking the "Christ out of Christmas." No one has that power.

Truthfully, I don't care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth just LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

If your town doesn't allow a scene depicting My birth, then just get rid of Santa's and the snowmen on your own front lawn and put in a small Nativity scene.

Stop worrying about if someone calls the tree a holiday tree instead of a Christmas tree. I made all trees. You can remember Me whenever you see any tree. Decorate a grape vine if you wish. I actually spoke of that one in John 15: 1 - 8.

If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of My birth, here is my wish list:

1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know, they tell Me all the time.

2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don't have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them. Tell them Jesus sent you.

3. Instead of writing Bush complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, tell him that you'll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up. It will be nice hearing from you again.

4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can't afford and they don't need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My birth, and why I came to live with you. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.

5. Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her.

6. Did you know someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless? Since you don't know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile... it could make all the difference. Also, you might consider supporting the local Hot-Line: they talk with people like that every day.

7. Instead of nit picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren't allowed to wish you a "Merry Christmas" that doesn't keep you from wishing them one.

8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary, especially one who takes My love and Good News to those who have never heard My name.

9. There are individuals and families in your town who not only will have no "Christmas" tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. Buy some food and a few gifts. Give them to the Marines, the Salvation Army or some other charity that believes in Me. They will make the delivery for you.

10. Finally if you want to make a statement about your belief and loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. That is...Christ-Like. Don't do things in secret that you wouldn't do in My presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine.

P.S. Don't forget; I am God and I can take care of Myself. Just love Me and do what I have told you to do. I'll take care of all the rest.

Check out the list above and get to work; time is short. I'll help you, but the ball is now in your court. And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those whom you love. And, remember, I LOVE YOU.

The entire staff, whom are all volunteers, wish you and yours a blessed and joyful Christmas.

Click Here To See How "Merry Christmas" Is Said Around The World.

This site does not advocate or endorse any activities that are in violation of Federal, State, or Local laws.

In compliance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, GFN is distributed free, without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

All logos and trademarks in this site are property of their respective owner. FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.