Strange Christmas

What could be more familiar than Christmas? And yet... what could be stranger than God's plan for salvation? We spend a month or more preparing for it every year and it is celebrated to varying extents in almost every area of the globe. But have the details of the nativity story ever struck you as being a little strange? After 400 years of silence from God, a baby is born into a family marked by poverty and scandal. He's born in a stable, not a palace and His first visitors are shepherds, not family... yet this is the promised Messiah?Although the birth of Jesus fulfilled every Scripture with divine precision, none of it happened in the way the Jewish people expected. Jesus, and the kingdom of God that He reveals, both have a habit of turning all our cultural norms and expectations on their head, transforming lives in the process. Each of these 31 reflections open with a Bible reading and a daily focus, followed by thoughts to ponder and questions to consider, then close with a prayer. Divided into four sessions, which are accompanied with group study notes, this guide is ideal for both small group and individual use, giving opportunity for seasonal thought, prayer and discussion.