Christian Parenting

Hello and welcome to the Truth Seekers podcast.

Today's episode is day seven of our Advent readings and reflections.

Bethlehem was a small town in Israel.

King David was born and raised in the town of Bethlehem.

And because Joseph was from the family of King David, Bethlehem was the city of his family, too.

Mary and Joseph were not living in Bethlehem at the time Jesus was born. They were living in

Nazareth, a different town. But Caesar Augustus, the Roman ruler who ruled all of Israel at that time,

called for everyone in the Roman Empire to return to the city of their family to be counted. And so it was that Mary and Joseph left Nazareth and set out on the long journey to Bethlehem,

the city of Joseph's family.

When Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem, the streets were crowded with others who had also

come to register.

The ends were so filled with people that there was no room left for Mary and Joseph.

Mary was expecting a child and while they were there, the time came for the baby to be born.

They searched for a place to stay, but there was no room anywhere. Finally, near the edge of town, they found shelter in a stable.

A stable is a building where animals are kept, animals like sheep, horses, and cows.

There, among the animals, Mary and Joseph were able to rest.

And in that stable, Mary delivered her firstborn child,

the son of God. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger filled with hay.

The prophets had spoken hundreds of years before of a Savior who would come and save his people

from their sins, a Savior whose kingdom would never end.

In fact, a prophet by the name of Micah prophesied hundreds of years before Jesus was born,

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