FAITH STATION

  • DAY SEVENTEEN (17 DEC 2020) - COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS

    by King's Cross Training
    Joseph and Mary were probably not staying in the stable of an inn. I know that every nativity scene you've ever seen places Jesus and his folks amid straw and cattle, but was this actually the case? Ancient Jewish hospitality suggests otherwise. There is no way that Joseph would have gone to a town where he had family and not stayed with them – they would have made room.

  • DAY SIXTEEN (16 DEC 2020) - COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS

    by King's Cross Training
    The angel did omit a few details about the story. There was no mention of facing a possible divorce and having to navigate suspicion and gossip. I'm not sure Mary imagined having to travel on a donkey while very pregnant only to have to lay her newborn in a dingy manger. And I don't think she thought she would ever see her son ascend the throne of His father David by suffering violent torture and being crucified.

  • DAY FIFTEEN (15 DEC 2020) - COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS

    by King's Cross Training
    Christmas is about believing the message of the birth of Jesus Christ, and of its significance for mankind. God had to become a man so that He could take back what had been lost by Adam in the Garden of Eden. This gift of redemption is free to everybody, but not everybody wants to accept it. We want the freedom of choice without being willing to own the consequences of those choices.

  • DAY FOURTEEN (14 DEC 2020) - COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS

    by King's Cross Training
    Although this baby was treated like any other baby boy born to a believing Jewish couple, he was far from an ordinary child. This birth narrative is further expounded in John 1: 1-14 - “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God” and “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us”.

  • DAY THIRTEEN (13 DEC 2020) - COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS

    by King's Cross Training
    If Christmas is associated with giving of gifts then an historical figure who stands out in the text, must be Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus. To quote a cliché, ‘Joseph was the gift who did not stop giving’.

  • DAY TWELVE (12 DEC 2020) - COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS

    by King's Cross Training

    Was it a TV advert of flying reindeers and the song “Jingle Bells” being sung, or was it the “First Noel” they were playing in the mall when you went shopping? Whatever it was, it served as an announcement that Christmas was going to happen in a few weeks’ time. Wow, gifts and tinsel and a Christmas tree.

  • DAY ELEVEN (11 DEC 2020) - COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS

    by King's Cross Training
    Up to now, we’ve been looking at Jesus’ birth through the lens of Matthew, the Jewish tax collector, but today we move to Luke’s account. Luke, the Gentile doctor. What is it that makes the story of Jesus’ birth in Matthew and Luke the same, and yet so different? Why did Luke tell his story differently?

  • DAY TEN (10 DEC 2020) - COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS

    by King's Cross Training
    The Holy Family could very well have lived on happily in Egypt, amongst their own people. You’ll remember that there was another dreaming Joseph who also went down to Egypt and ended up prospering there (Genesis 39: 1). But Joseph hears from God again in a dream - and Hosea 11: 1 is fulfilled. Joseph is told that the person who wanted the child dead (Herod the Great) is himself dead.

  • DAY NINE (9 DEC 2020) - COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS

    by King's Cross Training
    This story does not celebrate innocence, a quiet Christmas night in Bethlehem, but a tragic situation with the father, mother and child in flight for their lives and Rachel weeping for her children because they were no more. A grieving mother is the image of Christmas. A family, full of fear, crossing a border in the dead of night is the image of Christmas.

  • DAY EIGHT (8 DEC 2020) - COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS

    by King's Cross Training
    As we saw in yesterday’s devotion, the Magi made the fatal mistake of confiding in Herod. Herod, being a highly unspiritual man, assumed his earthly authority was under threat and was soon on the trail. Once again, Joseph was warned in a dream and told to go to Egypt.

  • DAY SEVEN (7 DEC 2020) - COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS

    by King's Cross Training
    If we’re to believe everything we see on Christmas cards, then the Wise Men arrived on the night of Jesus’ birth and were there with the other visitors to the Holy Child, such as the shepherds. But a careful reading of Matthew 2: 1-12 shows that by now, Jesus and his parents were living in a house. Their visit probably only happened after Jesus had been presented at the Temple so he would have been at least 6 weeks old, but most probably between 1 and 2 years old.  

  • DAY SIX (6 DEC 2020) - COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS

    by King's Cross Training
    How did you arrive at the names you gave your children? In Joseph’s case, the same angel who told him to go ahead with his plans to marry Mary, told him what to name her baby.