Christmas? What's that again?

My pastoral note for this week...

Only one week until Christmas! The poor posties are overburdened with catalogues, cards and packages. The tv, radio and newspapers are packed too, with ads encouraging us to buy this or that for Christmas. The wallets are emptying. The fridges are filling! Plans are being made to
get together, and in some cases the get-togethers have already happened.

What a busy time!

In all the busyness, it's possible for us to forget why we're doing all these things. So let's take a moment to sit down and think about the true meaning of Christmas.

It's not about having big parties or end of year break-ups. It's not about giving or receiving presents. It's not about letting family and friends know that you haven't fallen off the face of the earth quite yet. or about telling them what's happened in the past year, or about letting them know you still love them.

At it's heart, Christmas is about Christ. It's about the God who so loved His elect people - not just the physical descendants of Abraham but people from every tribe and tongue and nation - that He gave His one and only Son, so that those people, putting their faith and trust in His perfect atoning sacrifice, might not perish but have eternal life. It's about the fact that without Christ, we were and are completely helpless, dead spiritually, enemies of God. It's about God's grace toward us.

In the fullness of time, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. That's the true message of Christmas!

At this time, let's not forget those around us who are less fortunate than us. Some will be particularly lonely because of separation from loved ones. Some will go without because of poverty; this week I received a letter from Compassion highlighting the plight of those in
the Philippines who are still suffering after the recent typhoon. Some will celebrate the season without ever thinking of Christ.

Christmas is not just a time to celebrate what God has done for us. It is also a time to proclaim what He has done to those who don't yet know or believe.