Obviously, Christmas is a time of joy and family and generosity but something that cannot be taken out of the story is the amount of violence and evil. I understand why this is often overlooked because you don't want to tarnish or minimize the amount of joy that we can experience in this time as we celebrate the birth of our savior. But our world is not clean now, nor was it in the time of Jesus and we should never attempt to fully sanitize it. Jesus comes on to the scene during a time of intense violence and confusion. I'm not trying to end the advent season on an overly sad note, but I need you to understand that the conditions that existed during the time of Jesus are remarkably similar to the conditions that our world is experiencing right now. Violence and chaos and confusion do not forbid a movement of God. In fact I would argue it allows God to gain more glory when he moves in difficult circumstances. So for our last advent week, let's talk about Herod.