Star of Wonder/ Christmas Giving

Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash

The Star of Bethlehem appears only in the nativity story of the Gospel of Matthew where "wise men from the East" are inspired by the star to travel to Jerusalem. There, they meet King Herod of Judea, and ask him: 

 "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him."

Herod calls his scribes and priests who quote to him a verse from the Book of Micah which states that the Jewish Messiah would be born in Bethlehem to the south of Jerusalem. The star leads them to Jesus' home in the town, where they worship him and give him gifts. 

The Greek word, generally translated as 'star' (αστερα - astera/astra from which we get 'astronomy') can also mean planet, or could refer to other objects such as a comet. There is no mention that the star is particularly bright, and it doesn’t have significance for anyone other than the Magi. However, over the years there have been many possible explanations suggested for this element of the Christmas story, including a comet, supernova, conjunction of planets... but the Star of Bethlehem has become a symbol used across the world.

Make your own Christmas Star decoration

For this you will need to download and print this template. You can then trace around the template on card, and decorate with anything of your choice. The small slits enable the star to be slotted together to make a 3D star.

You can find many more star craft ideas here on Hub Pages. 

Giving gifts at Christmas

One of the reasons we have the custom of giving and receiving presents at Christmas is to remind us of the presents given to Jesus by the Wise Men: Frankincense, Gold and Myrrh. Whilst it is really exciting receiving gifts, thinking of presents to give others can be extremely rewarding, and doesn't need to cost much more than your time. Make some Christmas star biscuits, have fun decorating them and give them to a loved one or friend? 

An even more important reason for giving presents is that we should remember God's gift to us at Christmas. God's gift to humanity was the ultimate gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, and it came in the simplest and humblest of wrappings. One of the most famous Bible verse says: 

"God loved the world so much, that he gave his one and only Son, so that whoever believes in him may not be lost but have eternal life." John 3:16

Giving should be so much more than an exchange of gifts, and gratitude is such an important part of Christmas.

You can download this template here to create a Gratitude Acrostic - think of all the things you have to be grateful for, and either list them - one for each letter of the word "Christmas"; or write a gratitude poem starting each line with a letter from "Christmas". 

Do send us pictures of your star creations and your poems, we would love to see what you have been doing and share your efforts with our community! Please send them to socialmedia@stmaryletower.org.uk