IMAGINE (Candle lighting)

Today we light this candle to make ourselves available to you. We light this candle that your love might shine bright in our lives. It is easy for you to get lost in the midst of all the other things in which we participate. If only for a few moments, we long for this day to be different. We light this candle so that when you call to us we will be ready to answer.

(The person lighting the candle can say, Jesus is here. Everyone else, by his spirit he is here.)

STORY

*As you read, instruct everyone present to listen for a word, phrase, or idea that captures your attention. Especially look for the imagery present and how the arrival of Jesus is depicted through everyday life. After reading, take a few minutes to share.

Matthew 1:18-24 (NIV)

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.  

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.