How It All Started

    It all started before Jesus was even born. God wanted to send Jesus to earth so that by His death we could be forgiven and spend eternity with God in Heaven.

                      For God so loved the world that he
                        gave his one and only Son, that
                       whoever believes in him shall not
                            perish but have eternal life.
                                        John 3:16

     God sent the angel Gabriel to Mary who was engaged to a carpenter named Joseph. Gabriel appeared before Mary and said, "Hail favored one! The Lord is with you."
     Mary was taken aback by this and didn't know what Gabriel meant. Mary didn't know that she was different from any other woman.
     He continued, "Don't be afraid Mary, you have found favor with God. You will concieve in your womb and have a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of God, and the Lord will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end."
     Of course Mary was confused because she had never had sex before, so how could she have a son? So she asked him, "How can this be since I have had no relations with a man?"
     Then Gabriel said, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of God will overshadow you. Therefore the child will be called Holy and the Son of God."
      Gabriel then told Mary that her previously barren cousin, Elizabeth, was to have a baby in a few months. Elizabeth had the baby, and he became John the Baptist.