‘She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’
(Matthew 1:21)
‘Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”’
(Genesis 3:8-9)
‘And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.’
(Ephesians 3:17-19)
‘Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: rejoice!’
(Philippians 4:4)
As well known as the Christmas story is, one of the things we need to be reminded of is that God had a choice. He chose to become weak and human; he chose to come to earth as a baby with the purpose of showing humanity what he is like and being our redeemer.
We can decorate this truth with tinsel and twinkling lights, but the real gift of Christmas is that Jesus came to suffer and to die so that we can have eternity with him and be restored to a fully intimate relationship with him – the relationship that was shattered in the beginning when God then needed to call out to Adam and Eve, ‘Where are you?’
We can know without doubt that when we are suffering, grieving, feeling low, feeling lonely, feeling materially poor, that God has experienced those struggles himself.
The Christmas story is God himself leaving Heaven to save us. It shows us who God is and what Jesus was willing to do to create a way for all those of us in hiding to be found and covered in righteousness. It is the ‘rooting and grounding’ we need when we are tempted to believe that our peace and joy comes from other people, material goods and wealth and a big lavishly decorated Christmas tree.
As you get ready for Christmas Day, be aware of the times when you feel strong and confident, as well as the times when you are sad or are struggling and finding things more difficult. Remember your friends here in this group and the gifts and experiences you have shared together, not just during this session but throughout the year, as you have celebrated the ups and downs of real life with real people. The Christmas adverts might try to sell us an image of what it should be like; but we know differently – we know the gift that keeps on giving and we can ‘rejoice in the Lord always’.
PRAYER
End with this prayer, reflecting the activities that have been enjoyed during the session. You can make it a responsive prayer with the words ‘we celebrate’ being said out loud by everyone – perhaps joyously!
Father God,
Unwrapping the layers of life that can stop us experiencing the essence of your love which makes sense of everything else … we celebrate.
Being surprised again by the small, fragile, precious gift that makes no sense – a baby … we celebrate.
May the joy in our hearts stand up defiantly to the worldly expectation of celebration; because while glitter and glow, lists and laughing, tinsel and turkey dinners are amazing, they can’t say ‘love’ like you can.
As we embrace this Advent time in preparation to remember Jesus’ birth, however we are feeling, help us to say … we celebrate.
If we are grieving … we celebrate
If we are excited … we celebrate
If we feel lonely … we celebrate
If we feel happy in a crowd … we celebrate
If we are overwhelmed … we celebrate
If we are tired … we celebrate
If we feel anxious … we celebrate
If we feel peaceful … we celebrate
May the times we choose to celebrate teach us something about you and enable others to see you in us.
Thank you for Jesus.
Amen.
