"For unto us a child is born,"

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

These are wonderful words that Handel uses in the oratorio The Messiah. This is Old Testament prophecy concerning the coming of the Messiah. Our Messiah did come. Jesus came into the world as the God-Man the incarnation of God. We've been spending this entire month remembering the coming of the Savior to the world by looking at the words of Handel's Messiah. First we looked at Isaiah 40 and the preparation for the Messiah. We learned that there would be the forerunner in the person of the John the Baptist. He would be there to prepare the way of the Lord. He did this with his message of repentance. Many people heard and responded. He truly did help prepare the way of Jesus. Then, the second message reminded us that Jesus' coming will purify us. Jesus came to save. He was born to die to be the redeemer of our sinful condition. We also were reminded that one day this great Messiah will purify Israel in His second coming. It will be a great day for all believers. Finally, this last Sunday we looked at the Christmas story from Luke 2. We were amazed at the angels song of "Glory to God in the Highest". We saw the example of the Shepherds who went and took the great message that Messiah had come to everyone they knew.

Brother and sisters in Christ may we take the example of the Savior to all around us. May we be like the shepherds and broadcast the gospel message to all those in need of a Savior. This Christmas may the season of the incarnation of God be real in our hearts.