Christmas is about more than trees and gifts. Mary, a virgin, was living in Galilee of Nazareth and was engaged to be married to Joseph, a Jewish carpenter. An angel visited her and explained to her that she would conceive a son by the power of the Holy Spirit. She would carry and give birth to this child and she would name him Jesus. Being a virgin, Mary questioned the angel, “How will this be?” The angel explained that the child would be God’s own Son and humbled and in awe, Mary believed the angel of the Lord and rejoiced in God her Savior.

While Mary was still engaged to Joseph, she miraculously became pregnant through the Holy Spirit, as foretold to her by the angel. God sent an angel to Joseph in a dream to verify Mary’s story and reassure him that his marriage to her was indeed God’s will. The angel explained that the child within Mary was conceived by the Holy Spirit, that his name would be Jesus and that he was the Messiah, God with us.

When Joseph woke from his dream, he willingly obeyed God and took Mary home to be his wife. At that time, Caesar Augustus decreed that a census be taken, and every person in the entire Roman world had to go to his own town to register. Joseph, being of the line of David, was required to go to Bethlehem to register with Mary. While in Bethlehem, Mary gave birth to Jesus. The inn was too crowded, more than likely, due to the census, so Mary gave birth in a stable. She wrapped the baby in cloths and placed him in a manger. Out in the fields, an angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds who were tending their flocks of sheep by night. The angel announced that the Savior had been born in the town of David. Suddenly a great host of heavenly beings appeared with the angels and began singing praises to God.