The shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. Luke 2:15-20 ESV
When you look up the definition of the word ‘Hope’ you will find; “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen”. When we put that definition of hope with the Christmas season, we see that The Hope of Christmas is the Christ child. That feeling of expectation was what the first visitors had as they followed the star to find Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus on that first Christmas.
Now we have that feeling of expectation as we await the coming of Christmas and the celebration of the birth of Jesus. It is beautiful to see the decorations and the excitement in the eyes of the children as they wait for that day when they can open their gifts. Our ‘Hope’ is in Christ and that is the ‘Magic of Christmas’. I remember how I felt as a young child, thinking that Christmas would never get here. It seemed like forever, yet it was only a few days. How excited we were to get to see what gifts we had received.
We have a feeling of expectation and a desire for the celebration of Christmas to begin and we know that the Magic of Christmas is because of the baby that was born in a manger so many years ago and that baby was the Son of God and his name is JESUS. Jesus is our Hope and Jesus is the Magic of Christmas. This year celebrate Jesus!
Pastor Dan