The Birth of Jesus Christ, Part 1 – Luke 1:1-25

 

Since we don't observe Jesus Christ's birth in December as most Christians do, we occasionally hear comments regarding the observance of His birth that seem to imply that we don't appreciate it as much as we "should".  Consequently, this year I decided to do a Bible study dealing with the birth of Christ.  It seems quite possible that He was born in September (see The Star Research), which is why I picked this month to start this study.  Hopefully we’ll get through the whole of it over the course of this month, but no promises. :-) 

Even though it has been many years since my own family stopped celebrating Christmas, it has still been interesting to me to dig into this wonderful event without all the trappings of the "holiday season" to distract me and reinterpret things for me, and yet curiously I still feel the residual effect of all that.  It's really amazing to me how much the traditions of "Christmas" have influenced the celebration of Jesus' birth among Christians.  If you study it without any reference to all the "holiday spirit", it seems so different from the glitzy event that goes on in so many churches and homes in December.  This alone is reason enough to rethink how we deal with it, in my humble opinion.

This will be a basic verse by verse study, but not one where every word is detailed out. Because this is a long study, I am going to divide it up into sections to make it easier to read.

Read here: Luke 1:1-25

Evening Song – Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne (Medley)

 

Galatians 4:4-6  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

Sew Happy Friday – A Post by My Niece at Another Blog

 

I’m happy to share a link this week to a post written by my niece in Australia.  (I was going to call her “my little niece” but she is growing rapidly into a young lady!)  Jo at “Stop…have a Chat” is her cousin (actually her grandmother’s cousin) and she had Holly write this guest post for her.

In this post Holly shares some of her sewing and handiwork projects and tells about what she’s learned and how useful these skills are.  It’s a fun post from a young seamstress.

Guest writer: Miss Holly writes about handicraft skills

You may remember that I posted an item about teaching Holly to sew yo-yos last year after our trip to Australia.  (I can’t believe it’s already been a year!)

Australian Memories – Emus

 

At the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane, Queensland.

A seat in the shade.

Bad hair day.

Getting acquainted with the natives.

A close-up of the feathers.

Evening Song – Holy, Holy, Holy

 

Berry Fun Friday – Strawberry Shopping Bags

 

Photo courtesy Ikatbag.com

Here’s a link for a tutorial on how to make these cute shopping bags that “fold” away into one corner of the bag for easy storage.  I have some similar bags that I use for shopping, but they are plain, not decorative.  Still, they are very handy.  I recommend adding an inexpensive carbineer clip to the string to make it easy to clip onto your purse or another tote bag.

Strawberry Bag Tutorial at Ikatbag.com

These would make such cute gifts. :-)

Photo courtesy Ikatbag.com

Australian Memories – Pretty Plants

 

I don’t know what these two plants are, but they caught my eye and lens at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane, Queensland.