Curates Blog
December is upon us! How the term has flown by. The nights are longer and colder, the fire is on, and the fuel bills rocket!! But that’s all ok isn’t it? Because we are looking forward to something amazing! Something that is worth waiting for... the end of X-Factor! (Some of us are!!)
But of course, what we are really waiting for is Christmas. Now, for some shops and toy adverts it seemed like Christmas began in October (trust me, I watch a fair amount of kids tv). But as we know, we begin to countdown at the start of December and look forward to Christmas day.
What does your Christmas look like? Is it one of laughter, fun and games? Is it an occasion that involves time with friends and family? Are there feasts, presents, decorations? Do you sit down to enjoy the Queens Speech, or the Doctor Who special? The day is different for each of us. For some people Christmas is a real time of celebration, and for others it can be a harder time. However, there is a question all of us need to consider as we look forward to December 25th; “Where is Jesus in our Christmas?”
With all the busyness, the shopping, the travelling, the breaking up from school, it can be easy to miss what is central to the whole celebration of Christmas – Jesus. We can very easily fall into the trap of rehearsing the story without engaging with it. We sing the carols, we put up our nativity, but we are not allowing ourselves to worship with wonder at what God has done for us. Or we might leave Jesus there in the manger as a baby, beautiful and innocent, forgetting his life and ministry on earth. We may even ignore Him completely as we rip open our presents!
Whatever our Christmas looks like, amazingly, the story of Jesus’ birth is just as profound today as it ever was. God came to earth as a baby, born in poor conditions, but born as a King. And God invites us afresh to engage with this story - His story. And he does this by meeting us in our story. Jesus longs to come into our lives, to give us real life; better than anything we can hope for – full of love, joy, and peace. Jesus knows us and knows what it is like to be us. The New York Pastor Tim Keller puts this well when he says “Jesus was God come in the flesh...he was God yet suffered. He experienced weakness, a life filled with cries and tears. He knew firsthand rejection and betrayal, poverty and abuse, disappointment and despair, bereavement, and death.”
We may feel far from God, but he is nearer than we can imagine, loving us more than we can hope for. Wherever we are, whether we know God well or not, I pray this Christmas we all celebrate the incredible news that a Saviour was born, and we let him out of the manger and into our lives. That is God’s present for all of us. What a gift Jesus is!
If you or someone you know wants to know more about Jesus as you enjoy Christmas, why not come along to our Alpha course which begins on 20th January 2016. Please also join us at one of our Christmas services to celebrate Jesus’ birth, and rejoice that for us a Saviour has been born!
With love and prayers this Christmas,
Gary
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