Will the real Christmas please stand up!

Season’s Greetings…..Happy Holiday’s , Happy Xmas or my all time favourite Winterfest (courtesy of Birmingham City Council!!) …these today are a few of the ways we announce our celebration of Christmas, or more accurately Christmas without the Christ.
As we know Christmas for Christians is about celebrating and remembering the birth of Jesus but for the majority of the world Christmas is about everything but the birth of Jesus…over time the meaning and message of Christmas has been eroded, lost almost to another generation.
Over the last 100years our nation has undergone a huge cultural and spiritual change, to a point now that many scholars and social commentators now regard the UK as being Post Christian ie) our Christian heritage is exactly that ..something confined to the history books, no longer relevant to the present or the future.
As I write this two major high street retailers have gone into administrative receivership, thousands of workers potentially face Christmas or the New year unemployed wondering how they will pay the bills. We hear everyday how there is now not just a UK recession but a worldwide recession. Banks once considered one of our cornerstones of society have crumbled, bailed out by Government handouts!
Our nation and the world is rapidly changing, often exampled very well by the annual snapshot that is Christmas. The question for each of us is how do we respond to these changes?
I believe my answer can be summed up by referring to a song written by a friend some 25 years ago simply entitled ’ Let’s put Christ back in Christmas’… but how do we do that?
Christ was born to give mankind hope, to provide a way back to the arms of the Father, to provide salvation.
We can put Christ back into Christmas through hope, not just a 'once a year hope' but a hope that is relevant for everyday. More than ever lives are more touched by a feeling of hopelessness than of hope. Christ came to turn that around, and Christians have been called to carry this message of hope...salvation to our world.
All our lives have been touched by recent events but as scripture declares we have an eternal assurance. Unfortunately about 95% of our nation does not. Our nation more than ever needs to be reintroduced to the real Christmas. We all need to see ourselves as missionaries to our own backyard. We need to acknowledge the state of our nation, a nation that needs the message of Christ, the message and reality of hope, the need of salvation more than ever.
This years lets challenge ourselves once again as to how we can spread a little hope, reintroduce people to the true meaning of Christmas…Emmanuel - God is with us.

Andy

World Changers Pt 2

The world is changing rapidly, events no longer change by the day or the hour, change evolves continually. The pace of this change can often leave us feeling bewildered and vulnerable. How do we see change? Is it something we embrace or run away from. Part of our answer will depend on the type of change that confronts us, but for me there is a reality that a change is needed in the church, especially in the Western world. But sometimes when we talk about change in the church we can view it remotely, when what we are talking about is the need for you and me to change. What type of change is needed in you and me…that we all become world changers. You are not called to change the world by your self but you are called to change your part of the world. Not only does God help us change but we change with the help of each other, I help you change you help me change!

Please read again the previous post entitled world changers, great encouragement about how we all need to be!

Andy