Bible, Advent, Quizzes and Christmas

Christmas is a well-known holiday, celebrated worldwide. But how did it start? How should people approach the original story of Christmas and its traditions? Keep reading to find out!

Now, you may have heard (or not) about the Christmas story before.

It revolved around the city of Bethlehem, between 4 BC (stands for 'before Christ'. Hm... I wonder why?) to 1 AC. It starts when the Virgin Mary was visited by an archangel named Gabriel, who announced that she would conceive a son without having known man. After that, she got pregnant, through the Holy Spirit of the kid who will be known as JESUS.

Then, her husband, Joseph, went along with Mary for a census to Bethlehem, the birthplace of King David, who was both Mary and Joseph's ancestor. Sadly, there wasn't any room in the inns, so Jesus came to the Earth in a stable, surrounded by farm animals and shepherds, lying in a manger.

There were Magi who followed a star, and visited Jesus when He was very young, gifting him gold, frankincense and myrrh; before Herod (the king of that time) sought to kill Jesus due to jealousy; however, since some time had passed from Jesus' birth, he commanded to kill all male children two years or younger. The Archangel Gabriel visited Joseph, and told him to fled with Mary and the baby to Egypt; where they lived until Herod died.

This is the story of Christmas and Jesus' birth according to the Book of Matthew, and the origins of this really beloved holiday.

Even as Christians, it is quite easy to be carried away by the fun of Christmas, but it is important to remember that it is the day where we celebrate Jesus' birth.

It is Jesus who voluntarily came down to an earth full of pain, suffering, temptation and sin, living there and preaching to us so that we may be saved, dying for atonement of our sins. He suffered for our sake, nailed to the cross for our transgressions.

As Christians, we shouldn't be using our time to purely relax and enjoy getting gifts and eating: we should use it as an opportunity to reach more people and tell them about Jesus, sharing God's love with them. Always remember to pray for others; and when making choices and decisions, ask yourself "What would Jesus do?" (after all, it is Christ who's the centre of Christmas) "Would He be receiving presents upon presents without giving anyone anything? Or, would He be using that time to serving, helping others and proclaiming the Word of God?"

So, in advance to this year's Christmas, I've prepared more than 25 quizzes, one for each day in advance to Christmas (and yes, I've prepared it fully this time).

Oh, and all of them are Bible-related!

Oh, and the day it starts is my birthday! :) I can't believe I've only gotten one advent calendar before, given that it's the perfect day to get them... (that's not the point thought...)

1/12: Isaiah 9:6

2/12: Easy Bible A-Z

3/12: What Happened in That Bible Event?

4/12: Fill the Bible Verses #1

5/12: Genesis A-Z

6/12: Genealogy of Jesus

7/12: Books of the Bible - No Vowels #1

8/12: Food in the Bible

9/12: Biblical Places A-Z

10/12: Names of God

11/12: Fill the Bible Verses #2

12/12: Moderate Bible A-Z

13/12: Books of the Bible in Length Order

14/12: Body Parts in the Bible

15/12: Bible Pairs

16/12: Fill the Bible Verses #3

17/12: Biblical People A-Z

18/12: Four-Letter Bible Answers

19/12: Books of the Bible - No Vowels #2

20/12: Name the Book of the Bible After... (+Randomised version)

21/12: Name a Valid Book of the Bible A-Z

22/12: Difficult Bible A-Z

23/12: Three-letter Bible answers

24/12: Animals in the Bible

And on Christmas day...

25/12: Biblical Christmas A-Z!

These are the planned (and finished quizzes), I might make a few more over the month, and the will be released on Christmas day as well (I'll schedule them to 4:00PM AEST Daylight saving time, around 0000 in New York, so it's on the same day everyone (on JetPunk))

These quizzes were made with the help of a few people in the JetPunk Christian group!

Feel free too join it now, whether you're a a Christian, or want to learn more (preferably not just to argue) and feel free to ask questions in the group or here.

Link: Join the JetPunk Christian Group now! (please tell me if the link has expired. I'll put up a new one)

Used for information and research

https://livingwaters.com/how-should-christians-view-christmas/

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%202&version=ESV

Written by MeMeMe333

Edited, formatted and revised by BautyArg