Birth Story - Dec. 24

Many anxiously awaited the birth of the Savior, just as we await his return. In America, the righteous watched for the promised signs. In the old world, wise men followed the star, the sign of his birth and humble righteous men, shepherds for the night of Passover, heard the angels proclaim his birth.

Tonight I read: The story of Christ's birth

Helaman 14: 1-8

1 And now it came to pass that ^aSamuel, the Lamanite, did prophesy a great many more things which cannot be written.

2 And behold, he said unto them: Behold, I give unto you a sign; for ^afive years more cometh, and behold, then cometh the Son of God to redeem all those who shall believe on his name.

3 And behold, this will I give unto you for a ^asign at the time of his coming; for behold, there shall be great lights in heaven, insomuch that in the night before he cometh there shall be no darkness, insomuch that it shall appear unto man as if it was day.

4 Therefore, there shall be one ^aday and a night and a day, as if it were one day and there were no night; and this shall be unto you for a sign; for ye shall know of the rising of the sun and also of its setting; therefore they shall know of a surety that there shall be two days and a night; nevertheless the night shall not be darkened; and it shall be the night before he is ^bborn.

5 And behold, there shall a new ^astar arise, such an one as ye never have beheld; and this also shall be a sign unto you.

6 And behold this is not all, there shall be many ^asigns and wonders in heaven.

7 And it shall come to pass that ye shall all be amazed, and wonder, insomuch that ye shall ^afall to the earth.

8 And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall ^abelieve on the Son of God, the same shall have everlasting life.

Luke 1: 26 - 38

26 And in the sixth month the ^aangel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

27 To a ^avirgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among ^awomen.

29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

30 And the angel said unto her, ^aFear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name ^aJESUS.

32 He shall be great, and shall be called the ^aSon of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the ^bthrone of his father ^cDavid:

33 And he shall ^areign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no ^bend.

34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I ^aknow not a man?

35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The ^aHoly Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the ^bSon of God.

36 And, behold, thy ^acousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her ^bold age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

37 For with God nothing shall be ^aimpossible.

38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

Matthew 1:18 - 25

18 ¶ ^aNow the ^bbirth of Jesus Christ was ^con this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick ^aexample, was ^bminded to ^cput her away privily.

20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a ^adream, saying, Joseph, thou son of ^bDavid, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the ^cHoly Ghost.

21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his ^aname ^bJESUS: for he shall ^csave his people from their sins.

22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

23 ^aBehold, a ^bvirgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his ^cname ^dEmmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his ^awife:

25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her ^afirstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

3 Nephi 1:8-15

8 But behold, they did watch steadfastly for ^athat day and that night and that day which should be as one day as if there were no night, that they might know that their faith had not been vain.

9 Now it came to pass that there was a day set apart by the ^aunbelievers, that all those who believed in those traditions should be ^bput to death except the^csign should come to pass, which had been given by Samuel the prophet.

10 Now it came to pass that when Nephi, the son of Nephi, saw this wickedness of his people, his heart was exceedingly sorrowful.

11 And it came to pass that he went out and bowed himself down upon the earth, and cried mightily to his God in behalf of his people, yea, those who were about to be destroyed because of their faith in the tradition of their fathers.

12 And it came to pass that he cried mightily unto the Lord ^aall that day; and behold, the ^bvoice of the Lord came unto him, saying:

13 Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the ^asign be given, and on the ^bmorrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be ^cspoken by the mouth of my holy prophets.

14 Behold, I ^acome unto my own, to ^bfulfil all things which I have made known unto the children of men from the ^cfoundation of the world, and to do the ^dwill, ^eboth ^fof the Father and of the Son—of the Father because of me, and of the Son because of my flesh. And behold, the time is at hand, and this night shall the sign be given.

15 And it came to pass that the words which came unto Nephi were fulfilled, according as they had been spoken; for behold, at the going down of the^asun there was ^bno darkness; and the people began to be astonished because there was no darkness when the night came.

Luke 2: 1-20

1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all ^athe world should be ^btaxed.

2 (And this ^ataxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called ^aBethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

5 To be taxed with Mary his ^aespoused wife, being great with child.

6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

7 And she brought forth her ^afirstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the^binn.

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the ^aglory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you ^agood tidings of great ^bjoy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is ^aborn this day in the city of David a ^bSaviour, which is Christ the ^cLord.

12 And this shall be a ^asign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 ^aGlory to God in the highest, and on earth ^bpeace, good will toward men.

15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

16 And they came with ^ahaste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

18 And all they that heard it ^awondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

19 But Mary kept all these things, and ^apondered them in her heart.

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

3 Nephi 1: 19-21

19 And it came to pass that there was no darkness in all that night, but it was as light as though it was mid-day. And it came to pass that the sun did rise in the morning again, according to its proper order; and they knew that it was the day that the Lord should be ^aborn, because of the ^bsign which had been given.

20 And it had come to pass, yea, all things, every whit, according to the words of the prophets.

21 And it came to pass also that a new ^astar did appear, according to the word.

Matthew 2: 1-12

1 Now when Jesus was ^aborn in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

2 Saying, ^aWhere is he that is born ^bKing of the Jews? for we have seen his ^cstar in the east, and are come to ^dworship him.

3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he ^ademanded of them ^bwhere Christ should be born.

5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,

6 And thou ^aBethlehem, in the land of ^bJuda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a ^cGovernor, that shall ^drule my people Israel.

7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.

8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.

9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

11 ¶ And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and ^afrankincense, and myrrh.

12 And being warned of God in a ^adream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

The song tonight - "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear"

In the past, tonight has been one of my favorite parts of Christmas. Many years (not every year), we have had a Bethlehem Dinner. We would spread out a blanket on the floor with pillows, candles, and traditional foods from Christ's time in front of the Christmas tree. We would eat a dinner of fish, pita bread, nuts, olives, goat cheese, with grapes and grape juice. Afterward, we would read the the story of Christ's birth by the candlelight and Christmas tree lights and then watch this video.

I have loved the Bethlehem dinner Christmas Eves. It felt like the celebration was complete and Christmas day hadn't even arrived. I loved sitting in the glow of the lights and letting the story replay over my mind and reflecting on the gift of Savior.

Tonight I had a wonderfully rare opportunity. I am at my sister's home and tonight my nephew & nieces acted out the Nativity story. We have always read the story but acting it out was a bit of a one man show with Ryan trying to be all the parts. Needless to say, we rarely acted out the story. I was impressed to see my 8 yr. old nephew Caleb follow the story in his scriptures. 5 yr. old Lexi was so sweet as Mary and 3 yr. old Ella was beside herself with excitement and joy as the angel & shepherd. Caleb served double duty as Joseph and the Wiseman. 7 mo. old Thomas was sitting in his walker so he participated as the donkey with Mary "riding" on his walker.

I am very grateful to have this opportunity. To be with family and to share the Spirit of this Christmas eve. I pray that each of you will feel the spirit of this holy night.

Merry Christmas~