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Dear Friends
Christmas is an ordinary event in the simple sense that it comes around every year and, apart from the different presents we expect - and may find - it is full of much the same experiences as year follows year. But, as we look deeper into it's meaning, each Christmas is an extraordinary time in world history. On the one hand we are drawn to consider expressions of love and thanks for others and, on the other, we are directed to reflect on an earth shattering, life transforming event that has changed the course of the world forever.
The story of that first Christmas is a clear reminder to us that God can use ordinary people - Joseph, Mary, the shepherds - to be part of something really special. It is also a clear indication to us that God cares about the world he created, because Christmas really is a love story of God breaking into ordinary people's lives to change them forever. The way he did it and the way he does it is through a gift:
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. (Luke 2:20)
However “samey”, ordinary or humdrum Christmas might look or have become in our 21 st century world, if we look beyond the here and now we find that same message of love and hope. Jesus came to the world not just to be the Saviour for His time but for all time; the baby in the manger became the man who lived, taught and died. Today we can still come to the stable like the shepherds as we hear the Christmas story and we can still leave filled with awe, praising God for what we have seen and heard. God has come to live among us and with us!
Every blessing
Steve Robinson
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