Dear Friends,

The excitement of Christmas is near. The build up and preparations is a busy part of the year. It becomes so busy that we forget why we are celebrating this time of the year. But let us pause, at the two simple words seen in John 1.11, “He came.” These two simple words are at the root of all truth.

Before Christ came in the incarnation, there had been only the eternal past. Then, from the time of creation, we have hints such as, “In the beginning He was God,” and “In Him was light,” and “all things were made by Him.”Now it says, “He came.”

All the mercy, love and grace, God is capable of showing is seen in those two simple words, “He Came.”

That’s why we celebrate Christmas, it’s as special this year as it always has been, because 2022 years ago, He came as fully God, fully man, to, “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1.21).

Because He is the true light, man’s long night of darkness is dispelled, we celebrate with Milton the delight that, “This is the happy morn wherein the son of heaven’s eternal King, of wedded maid and virgin other born, our great redemption from above did bring.”

I hope you will all have a blessed and happy Christmas, as we celebrate our Saviour’s coming.

Yours in Christ,
 
Pastor

Dear Friends,
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We would all have to admit that none of us knows the day on which Jesus was born. No one knows the time or the date.

According to tradition, the early Christian Church chose the 25th of December as the day to remember his birth because it coincided with the pageant festivals. The early Christians did not want all the pagan festivals to have all the say, so they chose the 25th of December to celebrate the incarnation.

Yet I believe December is a good month to celebrate Christmas. It’s the darkest month of the year when the days are short, and the nights are long. The lights that illuminate shopping centres and houses in an attempt to defy darkness.

Remember when Christ came into the world, Israel was suffering from real spiritual darkness. The religious leaders of the day were corrupt. The king was corrupt, and the people had little say. But the light came when Jesus was born. He came to bring light into this dark world, He came to destroy the forces of evil that enslave us in sin. In Jesus, light overcame darkness. And that is why Christians celebrate his coming at Christmas time. We rejoice that he became man to deliver us from darkness. He died in the place of sinners to bring us back to God.

Now Jesus says to all who will listen, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have eternal life.” (John 8:12) It is just as we sing it, in the words of the carols:

"Silent night, holy night! Son of God love's pure light. Radiant beams from Thy holy face With dawn of redeeming grace, Jesus Lord, at Thy birth"

I trust and hope that you will have a good Christmas,
Yours in Christ,
Pastor