Sunday Sunday School Summary

Today in my SS class, we were posed the question: How do you feel RIGHT NOW about Christmas? Unfortunately most of the answers given (none by me....surprisingly) were along the lines of....stressed, overwhelmed, busy, etc. There was only one really positive answer....I like seeing it through the eyes of my children. Then Cathy, our teacher for the day, had someone read Luke 2:6-20

6While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.
7And she (B)gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
8In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.
9And (C)an angel of the Lord suddenly (D)stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.
10But the angel said to them, "(E)Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;
11for today in the city of David there has been born for you a (F)Savior, who is [a](G)Christ (H)the Lord.
12"(I)This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14"(J)Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men [b](K)with whom He is pleased."
15When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us."
16So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger.
17When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child.
18And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.
19But Mary (L)treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.
20The shepherds went back, (M)glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

We then discussed how shepherds were thought of lower class males during the time of Jesus' birth. How they were usually single males....oftentimes the last in a line of siblings who was not entitled to any land as inheritance. Shepherds were not held in high regard. But when you read the passage above, you notice that when the angel told them of Jesus' birth....they listened, they believed, they acted, they shared the news, then they GLORIFIED and PRAISED God! Hmmmm....don't sound quite so lowly now, do they?
Then we discussed the innkeepers especially during the time of Jesus' birth....they were all swamped due to the census, none of them had room in their inns, there was one innkeeper who took pity on Mary and Joseph and put them up in his stable....but he didn't actually allow them in. Now we were not saying that the innkeepers were necessarily unkind, but maybe they were stressed, overwhelmed, busy....sort of like our answers when asked how we were feeling about Christmas. Then Cathy posed the question....Who do you want to be this season: the shepherd or the innkeeper? WOW! I am definitely a little of both at this time of year, because the few weeks leading up to Christmas are always busy and overwhelming for me; BUT honestly once my children are out of school....things settle down and I start to relax a lot more. The point Cathy was trying to make was this....during this time....whether you're feeling stressed, overwhelmed, overjoyed, excited, whatever....take the time to remember your blessings, experience joy, and think about how you can share the story of the birth of our savior. At the end of our lesson, we each had to write down things we were feeling joy about....our blessings this time of year....and how we are sharing the story of the baby! Then she asked us to take one thing off of each of those lists and practice it every day for this next week....YES HOMEWORK! Actually although I never liked homework and still don't, I think this homework will be much more valuable than any homework I've ever had!