Today on renewing your mind, Dr. R.C. Spreld on the advent of Christ.

Unto us, a child is born, unto us, a son is given.

And this child who is to be born will receive vast honors and many titles.

He will be called wonderful.

He will be called counselor.

He will be called the mighty God.

He will be called the everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace.

And He will receive a government.

Welcome to renewing your mind with R.C. Spreld.

I'm your host Lee Webb and we're appreciative of the fact that you've taken time to spend a few moments with us as we consider the Advent story.

Most of us are familiar with the birth story as it's found in the Gospels.

Dr. Spreld today provides a perspective of the birth of Christ against the backdrop of Romans chapter 1.

Romans chapter 1 is not a passage of Scripture that we normally connect with Christmas but as you'll hear in this lesson, it's one that has great significance.

This lesson is part of the series called The Messiah is Born.

Here's R.C. Spreld.

It's the Christmas season.

And in the church, we speak of the Christmas season as the period of the church year that we call Advent.

Now the reason it's called the Advent season is because Advent coming from the Latin language means a coming to.

And so the coming of Christ into the world, the very first time at Bethlehem in the incarnation is called the Advent of Jesus.

Of course the church also looks ahead to the future to the return of Jesus which is often called his second Advent.

But during the Christmas season, what we're most concerned about of course is the initial Advent, his first coming into this world.

Now in this session, I'd like to direct your attention to a passage in the New Testament that is rarely, if ever, considered part of the Christmas message.

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