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Jesus is shown to the world! The first visitors we hear of are the shepherds. Here is Luke’s familiar telling of the powerful message of joy and praise: In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of...

Nearly there! All is ready. Mary and Joseph have arrived in Bethlehem. Our presents have been wrapped; cards have been sent and received. Just a final push… The actual birth was a very ordinary affair. Most families at the time lived very simply, often sharing their...

We think of Christmas as a time of peace and good will, and indeed that is what is promised. But it is not always an easy or comfortable message. God coming to earth shatters all expectations, challenges us, disturbs the accepted order, just as it did for those...

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Our final vision from Isaiah is that of a great light being brought into the world by the birth of a child. This prophecy, too, was taken later as a prophecy of the birth of Jesus, God incarnate – that is: God in human form. We celebrate Christmas with the lighting of...

Our second passage from the book of Isaiah again looks forward to a time of peace and justice. The opening phrase may appear rather strange: ‘A shoot shall come out of the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots’. Jesse was the father of King David,...