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The 180 Church Podcast with Dr. Sammy and FriendsAuthor: 180 Church
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Reimagining Christmas From the First to Today - From the Path of the Greatest Resistance to the Least
Episode 390
Monday, 15 December, 2025
Reimagining Christmas invites us to see that while we seek ease, calm, and the path of least resistance—especially during a stressful season—heaven chose the opposite, entering our world through hardship, vulnerability, and resistance. The Nativity reminds us that when God is at work, things are often hard on purpose: Jesus was born into danger, Mary and Joseph faced confusion and fear, and the cross itself became the path of greatest resistance. When we ask, “Is it supposed to be this hard?” we learn that God’s mission holds both rest and resistance, darkness and hope, and that difficult seasons are real—but always temporary. We can remain steadfast because God never leaves us alone in the struggle, and even in hardship, He gives signs—small touches of heaven—that remind us He is with us. Scripture: Matthew 2: 1-17 The Magi Visit the Messiah 2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi[a] from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: 6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’[b]” 7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” 9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. The Escape to Egypt 13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” 14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”[c] 16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
