Message
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A Christmas Message
Christmas greeting from all of us at Culcavey Hall.
It's that time of year again! Crowded shops, parcels,
loaded food trolleys, carols, decorated trees and coloured
lights. We go through the annual ritual once again, only to
sink down on Christmas night, exhausted and overfed.
We then, renewed with energy and bored with television,
head out for the winter sales looking for bargains we don't
need.
How much, I ask, do we really think about the true meaning of Christmas.Sad to say we don't. For many, it's all about food and drink,
a time with the family and giving to each other.How little do we think of God's great gift to each of us in the sending of his Son, to be our Saviour? Let's pause for a moment and reflect in our minds of that night scene outside Bethlehem. The shepherds on the hillside were real, not just figures on a Christmas card or Nativity Scene. It was to the humble shepherds, on the Judean hills, that God's 'breaking news' came - A Saviour had been born!
The story is recorded in the Bible in Luke Ch. 2 Vs 8-18. To appreciate the story let us consider it in a 3 - fold way.
1 The Salutation Vs10-11
When the angel, possibly Gabriel appeared to the shepherds that night, they were terrified. He told them not to be afraid, for he was the bearer of good news from heaven. This was the greeting he gave "I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord"
How amazing that this heavenly news wasn't delivered to the high Priest or the religious leaders of Israel, but to the humble shepherds. They were the first to hear it - how amazing are God's ways! The 400 years of silence between the Old and New Testaments had been broken. God once again had spoken words of comfort to his people - the promised Saviour was born.
2 The Sign Vs 12
How would the shepherds find him? God gave them a sign of a way to identify him. So they left their sheep, headed for Bethlehem, looking for a cattle shed where a baby boy had just been born and who would be wrapped in swaddling clothes.
The shepherds followed the sign and searched for the baby until they found him. In the same way, the Saviour is there for each of us. When we truly search for him with all our hearts, we'll find him too.
3 The Song Vs 13-14
When the angel gave the Salutation and the sign, the heavens were filled with a great a great multitude of angles who burst into song, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward man"
Angels love to sing and praise God. So should we. Our Christmas Carols are full of great theology. Don't just listen to the tune. Stop and think of the words and how they tell us of God's wonderful gift to each of us.
May each of us ponder the meaning of Christmas as we busy ourselves in all the hectic activities. God's son has arrived to be our saviour. Is he your saviour today? Receiving him will make the greatest gift you'll ever receive.
The members of Culcavey hall wish you all a merry Christmas, as we worship the saviour born into the world, to save us from our sins.
J.G.
