These words come from the “Contact” leaflet we distributed in the Christmas of 2019. To see the whole leaflet, please click here: Contact – Christmas 2019 (PDF)
Are there any conversations you’re looking forward to this Christmas, such as catching up with a friend? What about awkward conversations? Somebody you’ll have to see – like a parent, a child or an ex – but you don’t know what you’ll say? How about troublesome Christmas conversations? Are you nervous of bad exchanges of words which might take place, possibly fuelled by alcohol?
But what about the ‘Big Conversation’ we all need to have? The conversation at the heart of the original, true Christmas story. A conversation with God. Have you made any time for prayer this Christmas?
At the first Christmas, new lines of communication opened up between God and humanity. Before then, people had been mostly ignoring God for a very long time, as we still do today. Having walked away from God to live their own way, they’d lost contact with him. If they prayed, it was often talking to an imaginary figure: a god of their own making. But the birth of Jesus – celebrated every Christmas – changed everything.
Jesus is God’s Son. There is no-one else like him. Read his story in the Bible and you’ll see that for yourself. This unique person came to bring us back to God. Without him, we’re lost forever since the path away from God leads only to death. But thanks to him, there’s a way back to God, which gives us back a full life, set free from death.
So will you have a ‘Big Conversation’ this Christmas? Will you make time for God? Will you learn from Jesus how to pray?
You’ll have to begin by admitting how cold you’ve been to God, how badly you’ve treated him. He’s absolutely willing to forgive your sinful behaviour, but that doesn’t mean you can make excuses or bypass saying sorry. Jesus teaches us to begin our praying with real regret for the rotten ways we’ve treated God. He also says that we need to add in sorrow for how badly we’ve treated other people since they were created by God and our sins against them are also sins against him. We’ve so much to feel ashamed of.
But prayer isn’t only about apologising. Also ask God to make himself known to you through Jesus. If you really, truly want to know God and the eternal life he can give, then he will show you. That’s the whole reason he sent his Son into the world: to save us from our sin and bring us back to himself. So ask God to bring you to know and love him through Jesus. He will help you. He has done so for countless people before.
Start your ‘Big Conversation’ this Christmas; make time to pray. To help you do that, below are some well-known words from the Bible which are often heard at this time of the year. Read them. Make time to think about them. Pray about them.
Then come to hear more about Jesus and how he can bring us back to God. At our Christmas services, we’ll talk about some of the conversations which took place at the first Christmas and what they teach about God. We’d love to have you come along.
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 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.” All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”– which means, “God with us.”
The Bible (NIV, Biblia Inc.): Matthew 1:18-23