When a baby is born, it is Good News for all people. Read Luke 2:10. “Song of the South” was the highest-grossing film of 1946, selling twice as many tickets as “Notorious,” which settled at #2. But it was “The Best Years of our Lives,” the #3 movie, that took best picture at the Oscars. Most people today wouldn’t recognize these movies or any other movie in the top 20. It’s hard to create a movie that is timeless and loved by people in future generations. The same goes for songs, stories, and history. There is one event that happened over 2000 years ago that remains a part of the lives of millions of people today. That event is the birth of a baby in Bethlehem. This baby was promised by God for thousands of years before his arrival. The baby was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin. The baby was called Jesus and was placed in a manger because there was no room for Mary and Joseph in the inn. The story of Christmas is celebrated each year by people all around the world. The birth of Jesus will be told in homes, churches, and on television specials. The Christmas holiday will bring families together. Families will bake cookies, open presents, eat together, and attend a Christmas Eve worship service at a local church or on TV. Some families will keep the tradition of watching “It’s a Wonderful Life.” George Bailey wanted to be an architect, but instead ran his father’s Savings and Loan after his father’s untimely death. George dreamed of going to college and becoming an architect. He never did. Instead, he got married, had kids, and was a slave to “the ol’ Savings and Loan.” During the Christmas season, when $8,000 came up missing, his world came crashing down. He decided to take his own life, but was saved by an angel who wanted to earn his wings. George got to see the world as if he never existed, and by the end decided he wanted to live. The movie ends with George surrounded by people who love him and have bailed him out of his financial dilemma. Then a bell rings, which is the signal that the angel Clarence earned his wings. The movie never made it at the box office in 1946, but has become a beloved Christmas story of redemption that reminds us that life is a gift. The angel appeared to the shepherds to announce that a Savior had been born to all people. We are in the third week of Advent. Advent is a time of preparation. This week, we are preparing our hearts to receive Jesus with joy. May the joy of the Christmas season be yours. Your life is worth living. The world is a better place because you are a part of it. 

Prayer: God of Christmas, fill us with your joy as we celebrate this Christmas season. May each tradition that we keep and each tradition that we start fill our hearts with joy. Amen.