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2014 Worship Guide
A Lincoln Daily News.com Publication
Gift giving is one of the marks of each Christmas
season for several reasons. Some suppose
it’s from the stories of the benevolence of St.
Nick, or the giving of gifts from the Magi after
Christ’s birth (Matt. 2:1-11). But, many look to
this tradition as coming from God’s personal,
wonderful gift to us all in sending His Only
Begotten Son to be born into this world of the
Virgin Mary. Scripture tells of an angelic visit to
Joseph, the supposed father of Jesus,
“20
But after he had considered this, an angel
of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and
said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to
take Mary home as your wife, because what is
conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
21
She will give birth to a son, and you are
to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
22
All this took place to fulfill what the
Lord had said through the prophet:
23 “The virgin will conceive and give
birth to a son, and they will call him
Immanuel” (which means “God with
us”). (Matt. 1:20-23 NIV)
He came gift wrapped. Wrapped in His
mother’s arms, His Heavenly Father’s
Love, and significantly, wrapped in
swaddling cloths. Nearby, on hillsides
around Bethlehem, lowly shepherds were
tending to their flocks. They were about
to receive a heavenly birth announcement
about the Great Shepherd of the sheep.
The announcement would come with
special instructions. Instructions as to
where and how this gift to them, and
the world, would come wrapped. The
wrapping had not only identifying marks,
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