There are two ways to live this life. You can live it by the long list of rules that you need to keep to be loved, or you can live it by the big gift that God is ready to give you, no matter how many rules you have broken. Although not a traditional Christmas text, John 3:16 is all about Jesus coming to save us from our sin, which is, truly, what Christmas is all about.

In this part of the original Christmas story, we see three distinct responses to the birth of Jesus. King Herod responds in anger at the news that a new king has been born, the religious leaders are mostly indifferent, but the wise men bring gifts and fall down in worship and amazement. How are you responding to the new of Jesus' birth this Christmas season?

Jesus wasn't the only king of Israel to be born in Bethlehem. David, Israel's greatest king, was also born there and was a foreshadow of what Jesus would be when he arrived. David brought a temporary, earthly peace that was tainted by sin, but Jesus brought and eternal, heavenly peace, untainted by sin.

In our first Advent sermon we hear the story of a man named Simeon who had been told he would not die until he had met the coming messiah. He oriented his whole life around this fact, with a posture of "waiting forward". We should have this same attitude as we look toward Jesus' second coming.