As we approach the holiday season it seems we are overwhelmed with Santa Clause, Reindeer, presents under the tree, and all the other things that have come to define Christmas in our culture. 

Some of us will attend church services and maybe even a Christmas program with little kids dressed up like shepherds and angles, yet I think the great majority of people miss the point.  Even if you get beyond all the gifts and Santa Clause stuff and realize that Christmas is about Jesus' birth do we really fully understand what that means.

I was thinking about that lately and this question was asked to a group that I was with, "Is it hard for you to believe in the virgin birth?"  To me it was one of those things that I never questioned.  Yes, Mary was a virgin and Jesus is the Son of God.  But there were people in the group that did question the reality of a virgin birth which made me think even harder.  Whether or not Jesus is who the Bible claims he is hinges on the virgin birth, because if he was conceived like you or I he wouldn't be God, which means that ultimately his death wouldn't be enough to cover the sin of the world.

So what do you think?  Was Mary a virgin, is Jesus the Son of God, did Jesus' death and reserection enough to cover all of our sins?  These are big questions that can change the way you look at the world and that is what Christams is really about.  So over the next week or so as you are engulfed by the holidays and all the stuff that goes with Christmas in our culture take a moment and think about what it means if God really did come to earth as a little baby of a poor teenage girl.  What does that say about the nature of God?  How awesome it is to serve a God that loves us so much that He would leave his position in Heaven and come endure all the problems and hardships of this world.

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