<ul>
<li><b>Promise</b> - Isaiah 9:6
<i>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.</i>
<li><b>Virgin</b> - Isaiah 7:14
<i>Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel .</i>
<li><b>Announcement</b>
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<li><b>Mary</b> - Luke 1:26-35 <br>
<i>26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
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 27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin`s name was Mary.
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 28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
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 29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
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 30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God .
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 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS .
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 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
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 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
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 34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
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 35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God . </i>
<li><b>Joseph</b> - Matthew 1:20
<i>But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost .</i>
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<li><b>Birth</b> - Luke 2:1-20<br>
<i> 1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.
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 2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
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 3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
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 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
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 5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
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 6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
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 7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
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 8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
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 9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
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 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
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 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour , which is Christ the Lord .
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 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
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 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
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 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
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 15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
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 16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
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 17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
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 18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
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 19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
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 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. </i>
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</i>
Matthew 2:1-11
<i>
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 1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
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 2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
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 3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
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 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
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 5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,
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 6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
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 7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
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 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
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 9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
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 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
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 11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh. </i>
<li><b>Reason</b> - John 3:16<br>
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For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son , that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
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<li><b>When</b>
<ul><i>
<li>Zacharias, a priest, performed his duties during the course of Abijah.
<li>After he returned home from Jerusalem, Elizabeth conceived.
<li>Mary conceived in the sixth month of Elizabeth`s pregnancy.
<li>John was born approximately six months before Jesus.
<li>With this information we can calculate Elizabeth`s sixth month as December, during which Mary also conceived (Luke 1:26-38). It is probable, because of the circumstances shown in Luke 1, that Mary conceived during the last two weeks of Elizabeth`s sixth month. Thus, John was born in the spring of 4 BC, probably between March 18 and 31. By projecting forward another six months to Jesus` birth, the most probable time for His birth occurred between September 16 and 29. It is an interesting sidelight that Tishri 1, the Feast of Trumpets, is one of the two middle days of this time period.</i>
<li>Let`s celebrate Jesus birth on the last Sunday of September.  Why?
<ul>
<li>It approximates the actual birth date
<li>It makes it closer to the Feast of Trumpets
<li>It divorces this wonderful event from its pagan roots<br>
<i>
Nearly all aspects of Christmas observance have their roots in Roman custom and religion. Consider the following admission from a large American newspaper (The Buffalo News, Nov. 22, 1984): “The earliest reference to Christmas being marked on Dec. 25 comes from the second century after Jesus’ birth. It is considered likely the first Christmas celebrations were in reaction to the Roman Saturnalia, a harvest festival that marked the winter solstice—the return of the sun—and honored Saturn, the god of sowing. Saturnalia was a rowdy time, much opposed by the more austere leaders among the still-minority Christian sect. Christmas developed, one scholar says, as a means of replacing worship of the sun with worship of the Son . By 529 A.D., after Christianity had become the official state religion of the Roman Empire, Emperor Justinian made Christmas a civic holiday. The celebration of Christmas reached its peak—some would say its worst moments—in the medieval period when it became a time for conspicuous consumption and unequaled revelry.”
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