Have you ever felt Theologically Challenged?

Waiting for something which is entirely out of your control can be so hard. We like to control things, we like to make things happen. And when we’re powerless to change or affect our circumstances we can be quick to become disheartened and disillusioned…

It sometimes feels like this part of Matthew's nativity story plays out a little like the original Christmas pantomime: Herod, as the archetypal panto villain (minus the drag), is unwittingly told of Jesus’ birth by the Magi. In an attempt to preserve his evil reign he hatches a cunning plan to have the baby Jesus killed (boo hiss!).

God didn’t want Jesus' birth to be a celebration reserved for the elite, the middle-classes, or the educated. Quite the opposite. The only people he chooses to publicly announce the moment too, via an enormous choir of angels no less, were the societal rejects.

I find the little detail that “Joseph was a righteous man” one of the biggest understatements in the Bible! At the encouragement of God he puts himself in an unenviable situation! He marries Mary, a girl who is essentially pregnant with someone else's child, in a culture where such a union would be shrouded by rumour and shame.

I love how Mary reacts to her inclusion in God's story. This random, insignificant, mostly uneducated young girl responds to God's message that she would be put in the incredibly awkward position of a pre-marital pregnancy with the faith-filled words “I am the Lord’s servant…”

It's that magical time of year… you’re stressed up to your eyeballs with planning a million and one Christmas events. You’re desperately trying to find the festive cheer and end the term well but at the same time you can’t wait to just get the next couple of weeks out the way and start your own holiday…