Every nativity scene has some common characters included - obviously the Baby Jesus, his mother Mary, and his father Joseph. You might also see an angel and maybe some farm animals nearby as well. But there are also some characters that probably shouldn't be there...or at least we wouldn't expect them to be. And yet they are vital to the story of the birth of Jesus and vital to our full understanding of God's acceptance and grace that he offers to all of us.
Christmas time has the potential to give us lots of surprising moments. We might receive a gift we didn't expect, the weather can change on us almost instantly, a relative may show up unexpectedly at a family gathering. When we look at the story of the birth of Jesus, we see lots of unexpected moments as well. At Flagstone this Christmas, we are going to discover (or re-discover) some of the surprises surrounding the arrival of a newborn baby in the small town of Bethlehem.
