Christmas, A Personal Promise (Pack Of 25)

What do you consider most significant about Christmas? Many people would say visiting with relatives, attending parties, or giving and receiving gifts. Christmas is far more than a December holiday with time off from work. It is a personal promise from God to mankind.The significance of this special day is embodied in two scriptural names. In the first chapter of Matthew, an angel of the Lord told Joseph that Mary, his fiancée, would bear a son conceived of the Holy Spirit. He instructed Joseph to name the child ?Jesus? (v. 21). He also announced that the birth would fulfill Isaiah?s prophecy: ??They shall call His name Immanuel,? which translated means ?God with us?? (verse 23, referring to Isaiah 7:14).The name ?Jesus? is a transliteration of the Old Testament Hebrew word Joshua, meaning ?the Lord is salvation.? When the angel said, ?You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins? (verse 21), he was pointing to the significance of that original Christmas: God provided a solution for your sin and mine, as well as for the sin of the entire world?past, present, and future.Seven hundred years before Christ?s birth, Isaiah?s prophecy was a word of hope and encouragement to Judah as it faced a great crisis. The prophet?s message was an indication of what God was about to do then as well as what would ultimately be fulfilled in the Messiah?s advent.