It’s Really About Jesus.

Christmas is a time of celebration. It’s actually one of the longest celebrations we have. For a full month there will be houses lit up with thousands of lights. Stores will hang tinsel and offer Christmas specials, Christmas music will be played over shopping centre PA systems. Children will wake Christmas morning to presents. And which one of us won’t indulge just a little extra with our favourite food and drinks? In fact, it will be impossible to escape this month of celebration. Most of us will get a few days off work, and some may even get a bonus in their wages. All of this to remember and celebrate the birth of a baby two thousand years ago. The baby was of course Jesus, born in the small town of Bethlehem, in the Middle East. Jesus’ birth marked a cosmic shift in the way we humans were able to relate to God. Previously we had been separated from God by sin and rebellion, now God Himself had become one of us. He did this because He loved us, and knew that left to ourselves we would be unable to bridge the gap between God and man. So God’s solution was to come himself, to be born as a human. His solution was to live an exemplary life and then to sacrifice that life so that our relationship with Him could be restored. It all begins with the birth of a baby. The physician Luke, writing in the first century records the words of an angel sent to announce the birth of Jesus to those who had gathered in the countryside of Bethlehem. “Behold I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” Jesus’ birth was great news. It was personally for each of us (the you) it was positive (great joy) and it was universal (all the people). In the midst of this month of celebration, let’s not forget that it’s really all about Jesus. Jeff Frankham C3 Church Ballina.