The Season or the Savior?

Opening - What is something that you really like about Christmas?

As Christmas gets closer we are going to take a look at 3 different reactions that people had to Jesus’ birth.
1) Mary’s Reaction - the Magnifcat, (Latin: [My soul] magnifies) Recorded in Luke 1:46-55.
Spoken by Mary on her visit to to Elizabeth
Several parallels to Hannah’s Magnificat spoken by Hannah after she gave Samuel to Eli.
1 Samuel 2:1-10 Exults in the lord, Holy, power over rulers, satisfies the hungry.

Who is mentioned? Mary, God my Savior, All generations, Rulers, Humble, Israel, Abraham.
What can we tell about how Mary viewed the child?

2) Josephs’ Reaction - Mathew 1:18-25
No words recorded (spoken by Joseph.).
V24 - Obedience
V25 - Love for Mary

3) The Shepherd’s Reaction - Luke 2:8-20
V15 - Go see
V17 - They made known what they had seen.

4) How will you react to Jesus birth?
Is your reaction to the season or the savior?
The Season - There are a lot of elements of the season that point us to the savior, but enjoying family time, worship, the tree, the gifts, the food, and the parties are far removed from the true experience that we can have during this time of year. If we miss the savior and celebrate the season, we miss out.

Of these people we have looked at this morning, what actions do you see that might model for us some ways to respond to the savior?
Praise God (Mary)
Obey God (Joseph)
Tell others about Jesus (Shepherds)