I have always known what Christmas is and why we celebrate it, but this week at church, we dug deeper into the Christmas story to really make it come alive, because, over time, the Christmas story has become just that: a story. The nativity scene is more than just cute decorations for your lawn; it is a true story.

It is not a day about us or our presents or Mary and the wise men. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of the Christ, our Savior and King. It deserves to be celebrated as such.

So, I wanted to share a quick summary of why we celebrate.

Mary was a young girl, probably around 13, who was engaged to Joseph, a man of about 18, when she found out she was pregnant; however, she was a virgin.

Joseph planned to divorce her until an angel spoke to him:

“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel." - Matthew 1:23

The couple was on their way to Bethlehem to be registered for taxes when Mary gave birth to a son, and he was named Jesus.

On this day, prophesies were filled, and God put himself on this earth in human form. The word Immanuel literally means, 'God with us'.

Take the time to read and understand the full story both in Matthew 1:18 - 2:12 and Luke 1:26 - 2:20. I hope it comes alive for you in a new way and that the truth of the story fills you with great joy every time you think about it.

If you are interested, this article was inspired by a message by Robby Lewis entitled, "The Nativity Story," and I highly encourage you to check it out.