The Christmas holiday season can easily be filled with shopping, decorating
and cooking. Here is a wonderful excerpt from _About.com_
(http://christianity.about.com/od/holidaytips/p/keepchristmas.htm) about ways
to celebrate the
true meaning of Christmas.
10 Ways to Keep Christ in Your Christmas
The number one way to keep Jesus Christ in your Christmas celebrations is to
have Him present in your daily life.
Keeping Christ in Christmas means daily revealing the character, love and
spirit of Christ that dwells in you, by allowing these traits to shine through
your actions. Here are simple ways to keep Christ the central focus of your
life this Christmas season.
1. Give God one very special gift just from you to Him
Let this gift be something personal, that no one else need know about, and
let it be a sacrifice. David said in _2 Samuel 24_
(http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Samuel%2024&version=31) that
he would not offer a
sacrifice to God that cost him nothing.
2. Set aside a special time to read the Christmas story in _Luke
1:5-56_ (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%201:5-56;&version=31;)
;
_2:1-20_
(http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%202:1-20;&version=31;)
Consider reading this account with your family and discussing it together.
3. Set up a Nativity scene in your home
4. Plan a project of good will this Christmas
Do you have an elderly neighbor in need of home repairs or yard work? Find
someone with a genuine need, involve your whole family and see how happy you
can make someone this Christmas.
5. Take a group Christmas caroling in a nursing home or a children's
hospital
6. Give a surprise gift of service to each member of your family
Jesus taught us to serve by washing the disciples feet. He also taught us
that it is "more blessed to give than to receive." _Acts 20:35 (NIV)_
(http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2020:35;&version=31;) The
idea of
giving an unexpected gift of service to members of your family is to
demonstrate Christ-like love and service.
7. Set aside a time of family devotions on Christmas Eve or Christmas
morning
Before opening the gifts, take a few minutes to gather together as a family
in prayer and devotions.
8. Attend a Christmas church service together with your family
If you are alone this Christmas or don't have family living near you, invite
a friend or a neighbor to join you.
9. Send Christmas cards that convey a spiritual message
This is an easy way to share your faith at Christmastime.
10. Write a Christmas letter to a missionary
Many missionaries are unable to travel home for the holidays, so it can be
a very lonely time for them. [A letter] will mean more [to them] than you can
imagine!
To read the complete list and suggestions, visit _christianity.about.com_
(http://christianity.about.com/od/holidaytips/p/keepchristmas.htm) .
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Scripture of the Month
Even though the holiday season might seem to be everyone's favorite time of
year, there are many people who struggle at this time the most. This
devotional from _Our Daily Bread_ (http://www.rbc.org/odb/odb-11-29-06.shtml)
reminds us to reach out to those around us in love as Christ reaches out to
us.
Always Winter
_Psalm 30:4-12_
(http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2030:4-12&version=31;)
"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." --Psalm 30:5

Unlike some of my family—who can’t wait to go downhill skiing—I don’t
look
forward to winter. When the first snowflake falls, I immediately start
calculating how many months of Michigan winter are left.
Imagine C. S. Lewis’ fictional world of Narnia, where for a hundred years
it was always winter. Cold, wet snow—with no hope of springtime ever arriving
to wipe away the memories of icy temperatures and piles of white stuff. But
worst of all, in Narnia, Christmas never came. Always winter and never
Christmas! To me, the best part of winter is the anticipation, excitement, and
wonder of Christmas. Life is bleak when you have nothing to look forward to.
There are some whose souls are locked in winter. The hardness of life has
frozen their hearts. Disappointed with life, they find that each day is filled
with despair. “Weeping may endure for a night,” the psalmist tells us,
“but
joy comes in the morning” (Ps. 30:5). In the darkest times of our lives, God
longs to turn our “mourning into dancing” (v.11).
David wrote, “In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts
delight my soul” (Ps. 94:19). If you cry out to God in the midst of your “
winter,” you can experience the joy of the Christ of Christmas today.
—Cindy Hess
Kasper
Now none but Christ can satisfy,
None other name for me;
There’s love and life and lasting joy,
Lord Jesus, found in Thee. —McGranahan
Jesus can turn your sorrow into dancing.
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Bible History
Early History of Bethlehem
Excerpt from _www.bethlehem-city.org_
(http://www.bethlehem-city.org/historyofbethlehem.htm)
Three thousand years before the birth of Christ, Bethlehem was already known
as a Canaanite settlement. Canaanite tribes who settled in Palestine, built
small cities surrounded by walls for protection against the attacks of
raiders. One of these cities was Beit Lahama known today as Bethlehem. So, the
word Bethlehem is derived from Lahmo the Chaldean god of fertility, which was
adopted by the Canaanites as Lahama. In accordance with the Canaanite practice
of building temples to their gods, they built a temple for Lahama on the
present mount of the Nativity which overlooks the fertile valleys of the
region.
Walls, ramparts and other structures in different sites in Bethlehem clearly
establish its Canaanite origin 3000 years before the birth of Jesus.
Bethlehem was mentioned around 1350 BC in the Tell al-Amarna letters, from
the Egyptian governor of Palestine to the Pharaoh Amenhotep III. It was
depicted as an important staging and rest stop for travelers from Syria and
Palestine going to Egypt. The letters also signify that it was a border city
of
mid-Palestine and an outpost looking out towards the desert. The Philistines
had a garrison stationed in Bethlehem because it was a strong strategic
point. They entered the land of the Canaanites, mingled with its people and
settled in the southern coasts between Jaffa and Gaza. The Philistines had
achieved
military supremacy over the greater part of the country around 1200 BC, and
called it Palestine.
The narrative of the Old Testament mentions Bethlehem in the first book of
the Bible when Jacob, son of Abraham, and his family were journeying to the
city of Hebron passing by Bethlehem (Ephrata) (Genesis 35: 16-19). There, his
wife Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin, and he buried her by the side of
the Bethlehem Road where her tomb has been a shrine to this day: "And Rachel
died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem." In that
time, Bethlehem was a small, walled town erected on a hill in the northern part
of the present town of Bethlehem. The name of Bethlehem (Ephrata) "the
fruitful" itself suggests a pastoral and agricultural life. The tale of Ruth,
the
Moabite, and Boaz suggests an atmosphere of idyllic rusticity that is still
obvious today (Ruth 2-4). Ruth's grandson was King David of whose lineage
Christ was born.
A decree of Caesar Augustus, ordering the taking of a census in all the
provinces of the Roman Empire, brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, thus
fulfilling the prophecy of Micah, spoken 750 years before: "And thou, Bethlehem
Ephrata, art a little one among the thousands of Juda: out of thee shall he
come
forth unto me that is to be the ruler of his people"(Mikha 5:2). When Jesus
was born in Bethlehem, Herod the Great was a vassal of Rome and in 6 AD
Palestine was incorporated in the imperial province of Syria. Emperor Hadrian
in
135 AD profaned the sanctity of the Grotto of the Nativity and turned it into
a pagan shrine.
From Hadrian's time until the reign of Constantine, the population
worshipped Adonis in the cave where the infant Jesus was born. Palestine,
consequently, was officially pagan as was the whole Roman empire until 313 when
Constantine proclaimed Christianity as the religion of the state. In the year
325
the Bishop of Jerusalem, St. Maccarius, took the opportunity of acquainting
the Emperor Constantine with the neglected condition of the Holy Places in his
diocese. Thus, the Emperor ordered the construction, at public expense, of
monumental churches to commemorate the three principal events of Jesus' life:
Nativity, Crucifixion and Resurrection. One of these was a church enshrining
the scene of the Nativity. Christian traditions were so clear and deeply
rooted that there was no problem in locating the correct place. Among the
trees,
not far from the village, was a cave which the local people and their parents
had known for generations to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ. The cave was
made the center of a scheme for the church and work began the following year
(326 AD)
To read the rest of Bethlehem's history from the 4th century to today,
visit Bethlehem's official website, _www.bethlehem-city.org_
(http://www.bethlehem-city.org/historyofbethlehem.htm) .



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