Tonight my son and I made Tim Tam Balls, courtesy of Gae from Cherished ♥♥♥ at Home – thank you, Gae.

We had a wonderful time making these, and my son licked out the bowl with fervent vigour. My daughter loved cleaning up the excess sprinkles and my husband cleaned out the condensed milk tin – he said that it brought back memories of his childhood, visiting his grandpa and eating full tins of the stuff. Me, well I’m just happy to make them for everyone else, and maybe I might have one or two tomorrow. Some of these are going for gifts, so they’re not all for us, although they do sound delightful.

Well, what else would we be doing on Christmas eve? Tomorrow we will be singing and praising our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, remembering the reason why He came to be born. Kylie from Blog, Blog, Blog has written a beautiful post about Silent Night, and how the Lord was sovereign at His birth, how He is still Lord, now; and how He can be Lord of your life, too.

…Christmas

The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;
And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram; And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;
And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;
And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;
And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;
And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;
And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias;
And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias;
And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:
And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;
And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;
And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud;
And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;
And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.
But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Matthew 1

~JESUS is my Hope~

Hope of serving the Lord in heaven

the Hope of our Lord and Saviour returning to earth

AND

the Hope of a New Heaven and a New Earth

This is what our Christmas is all about – the Hope in our Saviour, the Lord, Jesus Christ. Let us forever praise His name!

• AM – Years of the world from Creation
• JP – Julian Year starting at January 1, 4713BC

After the year denoted by AM, one of four letters may be affixed

• a – autumn
• b – winter
• c – spring
• d – summer

4000a AM, 4709 JP, 5 BC

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born of the most blessed virgin Mary at Bethlehem in the fullness of time. Matthew 1:25; 2: 1,5 Gal. 4:4 Mary wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the inn. Luke 2:7

The birth of our Saviour was revealed by an angel of the Lord to shepherds who were waching their flocks by night in the neighbouring fields. They heard the words of a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and goodwill to men“. The shepherds hurried to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. They told everyone what they had heard concerning the child and came back praising and glorifying God. Luke 2: 8-20

4000b AM, 4710 JP, 4 BC

The child was circumcised on the eighth day after his birth and was given the name Jesus, as had been foretold by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. Luke 2:21

The wise men from the east were guided by a star and came to Herod at Jerusalem. When they were told that the birthplace of Christ was in Bethlehem of Judea, they went there and entered the house which was shown to them by the star that stood over it. They found the little child with his mother, Mary. They fell down and worshipped him and gave him their treasures of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They were warned by God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, and so they departed into their own country by another way. Matthew 2: 1-12

On the fortieth day after her delivery, Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem to the temple, to present the child to the Lord according to the law of the firstborn. She offered a pair of turtle doves for herself, or two young pigeons, for she could not afford to offer a lamb. This was according to the Levitical law. Luke 2: 22-24, 27; Leviticus 12: 2-4, 6, 8

According to Ussher’s, when the wise men presented their gifts to the infant Jesus, Jesus was between eight and forty days old; Jesus was born in the autumn.