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Welcome to Day 2304 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom The Characters of Christmas-7\xa0 Seeking and Finding - The Wise Men \u2013 Daily Wisdom Putnam Church Message \u2013 12/10/2023 The Characters of Christmas \u2013 Seeking and Finding: The Wise Men Last week, in our first message of Advent, we continued from last year and investigated some of the Characters of Christmas.\xa0 The First to Know: Shepherds. This week, we are going on a two-year expedition as we travel with a caravan of visitors from the east in a message titled,\xa0 Seeking and Finding: The Wise Men Let\u2019s read Matthew 2:1-12, starting on page 1497, in your Pew Bibles. The Magi(Wise Men) Visit the Messiah 2\xa0After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea,\xa0during the time of King Herod,\xa0Magi[a]\xa0from the east came to Jerusalem\xa02\xa0and asked, \u201cWhere is the one who has been born king of the Jews?\xa0We saw his star\xa0when it rose and have come to worship him.\u201d 3\xa0When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.\xa04\xa0When he had called together all the people\u2019s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.\xa05\xa0\u201cIn Bethlehem\xa0in Judea,\u201d they replied, \u201cfor this is what the prophet has written: 6\xa0\u201c\u2018But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.\u2019[b]\u201d 7\xa0Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.\xa08\xa0He sent them to Bethlehem and said, \u201cGo and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.\u201d 9\xa0After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.\xa010\xa0When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.\xa011\xa0On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.\xa0Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts\xa0of gold, frankincense and myrrh.\xa012\xa0And having been warned\xa0in a dream\xa0not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. \xa0 When you grow up in the church like I did, one of the enduring symbols of Christmas is the wise men and their camels. Every year, some larger churches put on multi-day Christmas pageants. These are elaborate affairs, complete with live animals, original music scores, and, yes, church members dressed up in satin gowns as wise men. (Hold up Blue Robe) \xa0 Picture in your mind a stately-looking man singing...