Posts tagged Christ
The Christmas Story of the Birth of Jesus
Dec 24th
His power knows no limits. For those who call his name profound miracles have happened even in this day. The following is the story of the first miracle.
The Christmas Story of the Birth of Jesus – Paraphrased from the Bible:
This Christmas story gives a biblical account of the events surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ. The Christmas story is paraphrased from the New Testament books of Matthew and Luke in the Bible.
References:
Matthew 1:18-25; Matthew 2:1-12; Luke 1:26-38; Luke 2:1-20.
The Conception of Jesus Foretold
Mary, a virgin, was living in Galilee of Nazareth and was engaged to be married to Joseph, a Jewish carpenter. An angel visited her and explained to her that she would conceive a son by the power of theHoly Spirit. She would carry and give birth to this child and she would name him Jesus.
At first Mary was afraid and troubled by the angel’s words. Being a virgin, Mary questioned the angel, “How will this be?” The angel explained that the child would be God’s own Son and, therefore, “nothing is impossible with God.” Humbled and in awe, Mary believed the angel of the Lord and rejoiced in God her Savior.
Surely Mary reflected with wonder on the words found in Isaiah 7:14 foretelling this event, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” (NIV)
The Birth of Jesus:
While Mary was still engaged to Joseph, she miraculously became pregnant through the Holy Spirit, as foretold to her by the angel. When Mary told Joseph she was pregnant, he had every right to feel disgraced. He knew the child was not his own, and Mary’s apparent unfaithfulness carried a grave social stigma. Joseph not only had the right to divorce Mary, under Jewish law she could be put to death by stoning.
Although Joseph’s initial reaction was to break the engagement, the appropriate thing for a righteous man to do, he treated Mary with extreme kindness. He did not want to cause her further shame, so he decided to act quietly. But God sent an angel to Joseph in a dream to verify Mary’s story and reassure him that his marriage to her was God’s will. The angel explained that the child within Mary was conceived by the Holy Spirit, that his name would be Jesus and that he was the Messiah, God with us.
When Joseph woke from his dream, he willingly obeyed God and took Mary home to be his wife, in spite of the public humiliation he would face. Perhaps this noble quality is one of the reasons God chose him to be the Messiah’s earthly father.
Joseph too must have wondered in awe as he remembered the words found in Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” (NIV)
At that time, Caesar Augustus decreed that a census be taken, and every person in the entire Roman world had to go to his own town to register. Joseph, being of the line of David, was required to go to Bethlehem to register with Mary. While in Bethlehem, Mary gave birth to Jesus. Probably due to the census, the inn was too crowded, and Mary gave birth in a crude stable. She wrapped the baby in cloths and placed him in a manger.
The Shepherd’s Worship the Savior:
Out in the fields, an angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds who were tending their flocks of sheep by night. The angel announced that the Savior had been born in the town of David. Suddenly a great host of heavenly beings appeared with the angels and began singing praises to God. As the angelic beings departed, the shepherds decided to travel to Bethlehem and see the Christ-child.
There they found Mary, Joseph and the baby, in the stable. After their visit, they began to spread the word about this amazing child and everything the angel had said about him. They went on their way still praising and glorifying God. But Mary kept quiet, treasuring their words and pondering them in her heart. It must have been beyond her ability to grasp, that sleeping in her arms—the tender child she had just borne—was the Savior of the world.
The Magi Bring Gifts:
After Jesus’ birth, Herod was king of Judea. At this time wise men (Magi) from the east saw a star, they came in search, knowing the star signified the birth of the king of the Jews. The wise men came to the Jewish rulers in Jerusalem and asked where the Christ was to be born. The rulers explained, “In Bethlehem in Judea,” referring to Micah 5:2. Herod secretly met with the Magi and asked them to report back after they had found the child. Herod told the Magi that he too wanted to go and worship the babe. But secretly Herod was plotting to kill the child.So the wise men continued to follow the star in search of the new born king and found Jesus with his mother in Bethlehem. (Most likely Jesus was already two years of age by this time.) They bowed and worshiped him, offering treasures of gold, incense, and myrrh. When they left, they did not return to Herod. They had been warned in a dream of his plot to destroy the child.
By Mary Fairchild, About.com Guide
Easter in Boulder what does it really mean? Jesus still Number one.
Apr 7th
Jesus of Nazareth lived for 31 years. He is roundly considered by Boulder to be the son of God of Abraham. With all the powers of the creator of the universe Jesus is widely proclaimed here to be God. Boulder has over 20 Christian churches and Christianity is the prominent religion in the city. Followers of Jesus say that he communicates with them through prayer and meditation. Jesus is considered the Christ which is to say he is God.
Easter is the day he rose from the dead and then ascended through the clouds into heaven to be with the God of Moses. The event shook the world to its core. His crucifixion was a sacrifice to absolve all of humanity from sin, sins of the past present and future. Sin is the act which separates humans from love, the love of God and integration with God at the end of this life. Jesus is considered to be alive today and has the power to integrate humans with the universe.
With out freedom from sin humans are destined to “the void ” at the end of this life, so a connection with God is essential for a completed life. This is the one condition God place on human kind when he created us.
King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
“Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;” from the holy scriptures Deuteronomy 7:9
Jesus was the last person sent to earth with this message. He also said that he will return to carry the message again. What was so profound about Jesus is that he was so real, had such an impact on humanity, that those who call upon him , even in this day and age seem to have a miraculous transformation.
Jesus is also the number one Guru in Boulder. He is Jesus the teacher, the Rabbi and the risen Christ. He has always held the number one spot because of the profound effects he has had on the life of Boulderites.
To find out more about Jesus ask at any Christian church in Boulder.
Boulder atheists protest Christmas! Embarrass city again
Dec 1st
Boulder Atheists embarrass city by launching unpopular protest of Christmas!
BOULDER, Colo. — Members of a Boulder atheist group is joining an umbrella organization to sponsor billboards protesting the nativity scene outside the Denver City and County Building.
Boulder Athiests is joining the Colorado Coalition of Reason to put up three billboards within a half-mile of the municipal building. They say the nativity scene belongs at a church, not a government building.
But the atheist group have drawn the ire from 9 out of 10 people polled by Boulder Channel 1 News who believe that atheism itself is a religion of anti love and intolerance. Atheism is a tenant of totalitarian political movements such as communism . Boulder has the highest registered number of communists in the USA per capita.
The Christmas holidays started out as the celebration of the birth of Christ as a Christian holiday celebrated all over America as an official government holiday. In recent years political correctness have found a way to make the holiday more inclusive by including similar holidays for Moslem’s, Jews and blacks. Some of this is questionable since Hanukkah is a minor Jewish holiday and Kwanza is a black non religious family day artificially created in Texas to coincide with Christmas.
Boulder Athiests will not alter the Christmas celebration at the Denver municipal building. Countless court cases have all come down on the side of the city. At this point Boulder atheists have only served to embarrass Boulder as anti Christmas. This of course is not true. The number of churches in Boulder also register in the top 10% of churches per capital for America. Though Boulder Atheists seem to grab headlines and other religions proliferate here, Boulder is still overwhelmingly a Christian community.
But Denver officials say the display on the City Hall’s front steps is a holiday tradition that has survived several legal challenges over the past 40 years. The Colorado Supreme Court ruled in 1986 that the decorations, which include nonreligious displays, were constitutional.
Associated Press contributed to this story