(December 20, 2023) Richard Winter challenges…

You can be anywhere in the world and know the essentials of the Christmas story. The basics are –

• Mary, merely a young girl engaged to be married to Joseph, is pregnant.
• Her explanation? It’s a miracle from God.
• Trouble explodes! Joseph wants out and plans a quiet divorce.
• God sends an angel to Joseph revealing it’s all OK – so go ahead with the marriage.
• This baby is His and will be the Saviour of Israel and the world!

Thought: Aren’t you impressed with those ‘Christmas-centred’ angelic messengers? Boy, were they busy! There was Mary, visited by the archangel Gabriel (Luke 1:26-35), Joseph (Matthew 1:20), and the astounded shepherds (Luke 2:8-15).

But let’s think about Mary… though she has always been considered one of the heroes of the Christian faith, I think it’s safe to say she was an unlikely hero. She just doesn’t exactly fit a hero profile. Why unlikely? you might ask.

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