“Do not be afraid, for see I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people, to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is the Messiah, the Lord.”
This is the true meaning of Christmas–that Christ came into the world for you and me! Whether you come to church frequently or not and especially if you only come on Christmas, pray for faith while you’re in the church. Pray that the Christ Child may come into your heart, transform it and give you a new life in Him. Pray for his Light to fill you with peace. Pray for his Light to have you reconcile yourself with estranged relatives, friends and neighbors.
Pray for this light to heal whatever ails you. When you receive Christ in communion tonight, pray for his grace and strength to do whatever he has called you to do. Pray this week that you may bring Christ’s light and love into other peoples’ lives, that you may reconcile with those you have had differences, that you may help someone through a difficult period in their lives or that you may be a “non-anxious” presence for those who worry constantly or are distressed.
Whatever your Christmas is like, Jesus understands it and you fill it with his presence. There is no joy so great that Christ cannot raise it to greater heights; there is no disappointment so bitter or sorrow so deep that he cannot come into it with his love right now, and the true hope he offers of eternal life and joy beyond all imagination. This is Christmas, the celebration of the birth of hope and joy in the Savior who is to come and no one and nothing can stop. You are seeing and experiencing a great light –let it shine in your heart and free your passion to be a Christian in a very broken world.
Merry or not at Christmas we always get a present: Christ’s presence where we really are, and our hope of being where he is.
This is a powerful message for Christmas. I have often been moved by the “simplicity” of the Christmas Story. That the baby Jesus who was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger in a stable because there was no room for them in the inn, would teach us humility. That Joseph and Mary simply obeyed Angel Gabriel, would teach us profound faith. That the Maggai brought gifts to worship the baby, would teach us generosity. That the shepherds who followed the star to seek the Lord, would teach us hope. Oh I am teary- eyed now because I learned all these so early on through my Dad’s Christmas messages.
With the frenzied celebration that we have often associated christmas with, many of us fail to see the real meaning of Christmas. “For unto us a child is born…He will be our Messiah….our Savior….King of kings….Prince of Peace….” I can’t imagine how else do we live our lives without this faith.