Christmas

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INTRODUCTION:

            Have you noticed how early people began decorating for Christmas this year?  When it is not raining, I walk to the church and when I leave it is dark and I was amazed at how many Christmas trees I could see through house windows right after Thanksgiving.  We had one house in our cul-de-sac that had their tree up before Thanksgiving.  Why?  I think partly because people are home more, but more than that I think because they want to focus on something that brings them happiness and memories of happier times in the midst of this pandemic.

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INTRODUCTION:

INTRODUCTION:

            Last Sunday we began to look at a passage in Luke 2 that I only got partially through and I promised that I would finish it up this morning.  We began looking at an often-overlooked portion of the Christmas record, the circumcision and presentation of Jesus.  Within this passage we have three human witness to confirm the truth of who Jesus is, that He is the promised Messiah, that He is the Savior, that He is the Son of God, that He is Immanuel, God with us.

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INTRODUCTION:

INTRODUCTION:

            Luke the writer of this Gospel writes for us the parallel events of a couple in the Judean hill country and of Mary from the town of Nazareth, though they are parallel they are also intertwined.  Luke begins with the birth announcement of John, then he writes of the birth announcement of Jesus, then he goes back to Zacharias and Elizabeth and writes about the birth of John and then after writing about the birth of John he writes about the birth of Jesus.  Two parallel paths one about the forerunner of the Messiah and one about the Messiah.

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INTRODUCTION: