Have you ever waited for something for so long that you began to doubt it would ever happen? The people of Israel waited centuries for the coming of their promised Messiah. In the birth of Jesus, that long-awaited hope was realized, showing that God is always faithful to His promises. The hope that sustained Israel during dark times is the same hope that can sustain us today. Just as they hoped for His first coming, we now wait for His second coming with the assurance that God's promises never fail. We are invited to trust in God's timing and to live in the confident hope that the future is secure in His hands. As we reflect on the hope fulfilled in the manger, we will be encouraged to cling to the promises of God, knowing that just as He was faithful then, He will be faithful now.

Jeremiah 17:9

“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?”

Philippians 2:6-8

You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges.

Micah 5:2 

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf.

Luke 2:7 

She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them. 

Luke 2:13-14 

Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others-the armies of heaven-praising God and saying, “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” 

Luke 22:24

Then they began to argue among themselves about who would be the greatest among them.

John 19:9-10

…but Jesus gave no answer. “Why don’t you talk to me?” Pilate demanded. “Don’t you realize I have the power to release you or crucify you?”