CHRISTMAS
The entrance of hope into the world
For Christians, Christmas does not begin on Thanksgiving and end on Christmas Day. Beginning with the celebration of Christ's birth on December 24, Christmas is a twelve-day celebration that celebrates Christ, the light of the world.
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During Advent, we prepared for the feast of Christ's Incarnation—the mystery that God chose to enter human existence and become "one of us." Advent and Christmas focus both on the past—the coming of Jesus as an infant born into poverty in Bethlehem, and the future—the coming of Christ in glory to fulfill God’s loving purposes for humanity.
Christmas this year comes at a time of anxiety and hope. Many of us are struggling and are afraid for our future. It's not easy to hope when times are bad. Mary, as she waited for the birth of her child into an uncertain world, knew how to live with hope—to believe the promises of God.
Christmas is a reminder that God chose not to abandon humanity but to enter fully into human experience. "Incarnation is the still turning point of the ministry of Christ's church," writes Lutheran bishop Stephen Paul Bouman in The Christian Century. "It means we never 'move on' from the dance of human life. It means we are ever moving more deeply into this battered yet holy humanity in which Jesus was pleased to dwell. It means moving in to humanity at its most vulnerable." Christ, in the words of John Milton
forsook the courts of everlasting Day,
And chose with us a darksome house of mortal clay.
During this holy season, we invite you to celebrate Christmas with our growing online community here at i.UCC. Download our free Christmas Kit. Subscribe to our Stillspeaking Daily Devotional, which will help you live thoughtfully through the season. And know that you're always welcome at our daily online service of evening prayer in our real-time Prayer Chapel.