For Christians, Christmas is one of the most important celebrations of the year. This year, several local religious leaders have come together to share their messages of hope and joy for the special season and the new year to come.
“We will celebrate together the Incarnation, that God comes near to us as one of us (without ceasing to be God) so that through faith in Him we might experience the glory of his salvation,” said Pastor Jeremy Childs, of First Baptist Church.
Childs and his church will explore an entire Advent series, based on the simple question of one child in the congregation.
“Our whole advent series was inspired by a young girl in our church asking her dad if God created Jesus,” said Childs.
“That kicked off a whole month of meditating on the truth that Jesus is both fully and truly God and fully and truly human,” Childs said.
For his sermon, Childs will preach around John 1:14.
“Christmas is all about remembering that God so loved the world that he sent his only Son.”
This holiday season, Childs hopes that everyone can stop and remember the reason for the season and not get too wrapped up in the material side of Christmas.
“We all have so many different sentimental attachments to the season that are great to celebrate: family, friends, traditions, great food and giving and receiving gifts,” said Childs. “But if these crowd out Christ then our abundance has only made us poorer.”
Childs’ wish for the people of the Bradford area is to remember that hope is available even in the worst of times.
“You can only find hope in Jesus, but you can always find hope in Jesus,” said Childs.
At Grace Lutheran Church, Pastor Barry Keurulainen and his flock will meditate on the meaning of the swaddle that Jesus was wrapped in, according to the Biblical story.
“Twice in the story of the birth of Jesus the swaddling is mentioned and I found it curious that it was mentioned twice; that must be important,” said Keurulainen.
He said he sees the swaddle as a representation of limitations and restrictions.
“Imagine that the Son of God is restricted in the womb of creation, then He is born and swaddled and restricted again; even in the act of being made flesh, he is now restricted in this human body,” Keurulainen said. “Jesus knows what it is like to have these limitations and restrictions set upon him just as they are set upon us.”
In the Bible, Jesus is again “swaddled” when he is wrapped in his shroud and set into his grave.
“But in the tomb, he broke out of that restriction,” said Keurulainen.
“Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus all of us can be free of our limitations one day.”
In this darkest time of year, Keurulainen sees the love of Jesus as an inextinguishable light.
“That light in the darkness is hope, joy and peace that only Jesus can bring,” Keurulainen.
“There is strength in knowing that Jesus understands our struggles and promises to lift our burdens through a relationship with Him.”
Keurulainen hopes that the New Year will usher in an attitude of gratitude and a desire to serve others.
“I hope the dear ones at Grace Lutheran recognize how gifted and blessed they are by one another and Jesus Christ,” said Keurulainen. “I hope to lead them to go deeper in their prayer life and in the Word and go wider in their care and compassion for the community.”
Church of the Ascension will host a Christmas Pageant. The play, called “Christmas Interrupted” will explore the Christmas story. As the gospel is read, different characters in the narrative will “pop up” and add in their own commentary.
“The idea behind the pageant is that God doing stuff in our lives disrupts our everyday lives — sometimes causing things not to go according to our plans,” said Fussell.
She explained that she was inspired this Christmas by a comment made to her by a colleague. He mentioned the difference between a contract and a covenant, which got Fussell’s thoughts flowing. A contract is between two people and is a transactional relationship.
“But a covenant is a relationship that is not transactional, it is transformative,” said Fussell.
“We don’t do nice things because we are trying to please God because that is a transactional situation.” “When we do things that honor God, it is because God has transformed us and come into our lives.”
Fussell confessed that this is her favorite time of year.
“Christmas is the time each year when we have a chance to focus and prepare for the coming of Christ into our world and into our hearts,” Fussell said.
She hopes that people are able to slow down, even for a minute, and meditate on the meaning of the holiday.
“If the cookies are burned and the wrapping job is not that great, it doesn’t really matter because that is not what makes a perfect Christmas,” said Fussell. “Our relationship with God is what truly brings joy and peace.”
