Living by the Book/Living by the Book Workbook Set (79 page)

• What is happening in these passages? By what various means is God working?

• Where is the action taking place? (If you were going to create a play out of this story, how many sets would you need?)

• When is it taking place? (Again, the year may not be as significant as knowing what’s happening during this particular historical era.)

• Why do you think God put this story in the biblical narrative? (Why not just begin with Jesus’ baptism and public ministry?)

• What difference should this story make in your life? (Is it just a warm account of the first Christmas, or is God trying to tell us something?)

With the large roster of people involved in the birth of the baby Jesus, might this first Christmas be an example of the wide inclusion of people Jesus would later call to Himself as an adult? If so, how?