However, for preachers and pastors, just to survive one Christmas is demanding, with one service after another during the Advent season – and to have something new to say from one Christmas to the next can be a real challenge. It is not easy, year after year, to find fresh approaches to the Christmas story for numerous and varied events.

From his own experience Paul Beasley-Murray appreciates this need, and his main aim in this stimulating book is to help Christian preachers in their God-given task of telling the story of how God sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world. He expounds a range of familiar texts from the Old Testament, the Gospels and the New Testament Epistles, offering valuable resources and insights for those who seek to proclaim the meaning and significance of the birth of Jesus Christ, ‘God with us’, and also for those who hear the message of ‘joy to the world’ at Christmas.