I’ll close out this year of sharing nativity sets and reflections with a new nativity that I received as a gift at Christmas from a mother and daughter in the congregation. It is a wonderfully complete set which has characters that remind me of all the parts of the story. And all the figurines are standing on an open Bible. Beautifully, the word of the God is the foundation for the story of God’s unending, saving love for us.

Isaiah 66:12-14

¹² For thus says the Lord:
I will extend prosperity to her like a river,
and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream;
and you shall nurse and be carried on her arm,
and dandled on her knees.
¹³ As a mother comforts her child,
so I will comfort you;
you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

¹⁴ You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;
your bodies^[d] shall flourish like the grass;
and it shall be known that the hand of the Lord is with his servants,

Prayer

Wonderful God, let the story of Christmas, and your gift of love to us, be the basis for every story we tell this year. In Christ’s precious name we pray. Amen.