Walking Backwards to Christmas

Congregations are often confused or uninspired by the emphasis on Old Testament themes during Advent and too "over" Christmas by December 26 to pay much attention to the gospel stories that follow Jesus' birth. Walking Backwards to Christmas starts at the end of the story, with Jesus' presentation to Anna and Simeon at the temple, and moves backwards through Herod's slaughter of the innocents, the wise men's visit, Jesus' birth in a stable, Mary's pregnancy, and finally to the much-earlier ...