More than two thousand years ago, God sent the angel Gabriel to Mary who lived in a town called Nazareth in the province of Galilee in Israel.  The angel said to Mary, "Don't be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God.  You will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus.

Mary was very puzzled and asked, "How will this be, since I am unmarried?" The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, so the baby will be called the Son of God".  "I am the Lord's servant", Mary answered, "May it be just as you have said".  And then the angel left her.

At that time, the ruler Caesar Augustus ordered everyone register in the town where they had been born.  And so Joseph and Mary travelled to Bethlehem, the little old town where David had lived long ago.  While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born.  Joseph urgently searched the town looking for a place for Mary to have her baby.  But, everywhere was full because the town was teeming with visitors.

In desperation he banged on the door of the last inn, but it was also full.   "I need a room", he shouted, "My wife is having her baby!  The inn keeper took pity on them and said, "All I have left is the stable".  "We'll take it", exclaimed Joseph and so they stayed the night in the animal stable!   It was here that Mary gave birth to Jesus, and wrapped the baby in cloths and laid Him in the manger.

The sun had set on the plains near Bethlehem, and the fields were covered with sleeping flocks of sheep.  Their shepherds sat at the doors of the folds, listening to the tinkling sound of a little brook that ran down from a nearby hill.  Suddenly a brilliant light shone all about them and as they looked up in fear and amazement, they saw a beautiful angel who spoke to them saying, "Don't be afraid, for I bring you good news!  For today a Saviour was born in Bethlehem.  He is Christ the Lord and you will find Him lying in a manger."

When he finished speaking, all at once the whole sky and earth seemed to be filled with many more angels.  And they praised God, saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and peace to men on earth."  Gradually, the beautiful music died away and the shining vision faded, and nothing could be heard or seen except the little stream, and the dark slumbering forms of the sheep.

The shepherds turned to each other in wonder.  "We will go to Bethlehem", they said, "And see what has happened.  And so they took their staffs, and set off up the rocky hill-paths towards where the white houses of Bethlehem glimmered under the sky.

They came to the stable where a feeble light came from a small clay lamp, and shone on the face of a tiny baby, who lay fast asleep in the manger.  The shepherds knew that they had found what they had come to seek, and that the little baby in swaddling clothes was the Saviour, Christ the Lord.

They looked at the sleeping face of the baby in great awe, and told Joseph and Mary what had happened on the plains just below Bethlehem.  They told of angels and the song that had echoed through the night.  Then they went back to their sheep, praising God for the things that they had seen and heard that night, and spread the news to all they met.  Mary kept all these things deep in her heart as she watched her little sleeping child.

You are young, but many of you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour.   It was for you that Jesus was born here on earth, and died and rose again.   Jesus knew from an early age that God had chosen Him to die for the sins of all mankind, so that whoever believed in Him could have eternal life.

You were not born by chance.  God was present when you were formed in your mother's tummy.  God knows all about you and like Jesus, He wants you to grow up, increasing in knowledge and wisdom, and pleasing God and people.   And Jesus wants boys and girls to accept Him as their Saviour and Best Friend.

God bless!