Christmas Day
by Rev Ivan Homer 25 December 2022
Reading: John 1: 1 – 5
Today, Christmas Day, we light all the candles on the Advent ring to remind us of the birth of Jesus.
Hark! The herald angels sing, glory to the new-born King.
May the peace, joy, comfort and hope of Christmas be yours today. Many are in need all around the world this year.
But I write this message after yesterday’s announcement that Nuclear Fusion has been achieved. Scientists have long speculated on the possibility and consequences. It is beyond my understanding but so is the miracle of Christmas – ‘our God contracted to a span incomprehensibly made man’ so wrote Charles Wesley.
Today’s bible message in John 1: 1-5 is a wonderful picture of this truth: ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.
What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.’ What a wonderful Christmas present for us all!
Now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)
Hymn: Hark! The herald angels sing
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Loving Father, Help us remember the birth of Jesus,
that we may share in the song of the angels,
the gladness of the shepherds,
and worship of the wise men.
Close the door of hate and open the door of love all over the world. Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting. Deliver us from evil by the blessing which Christ brings, and teach us to be merry with clear hearts.
May the Christmas morning make us happy to be thy children, and Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus' sake. Amen.
(A Christmas Prayer by Robert Louis Stevenson)
Alternatively a short daily bible study from the Methodist Church can be found here