Welcome to Jill Hamming, a friend of mine from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, and a regular participant on this web page. She will share her reflections on the readings from Luke 1-2.

SCRIPTURE: Luke 2:8-20

OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
How amazed those shepherds must have been. What a surprise and privilege! God sending an angel to them to announce the birth of the Messiah! Not to the temple, nor to the leaders or the people snug in their homes, but to the low class shepherds out on a hillside. God is validating them. I wonder if they changed in how they thought of themselves. Did they already know how God treasured them? Did seeing the Savior commit them to God in a different way? Did they go to see Jesus when He was teaching and healing?

Yet this isn’t about the shepherds. It’s about Jesus. Our Awesome God coming to earth for us.

On my wall I have a group of angels with the words, Praise Him! I want people to remember what Christmas is about. Imagine seeing that heavenly host in the sky. Imagine hearing them singing praises.

Can you picture the shepherd’s faces when they see the tiny baby in the manger? Of course it was as the angel had told them. Then they ran about town waking people up, “come and see!” “The Messiah is born!” “Praise God!”

PRAYER:
Again Jesus, thank-you that You came. You are Awesome, splendid, magnificent. We honor You and thank-you. We praise Your Name. You are the great Creator yet You came down to us, for us. Glory to God in the highest! We praise You forever, Amen.