The Collect
Almighty God, who hast given us thy only. begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and as at this time to be born of a pure virgin; Grant that we being regenerate, and made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy holy Spirit; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit ever, one God, world without end. Amen.
Almighty God, who hast given us thy only. begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and as at this time to be born of a pure virgin; Grant that we being regenerate, and made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy holy Spirit; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit ever, one God, world without end. Amen.
Readings: (Titus ii. 11; St. Luke ii. 1)
Christmas Day - Message in a Minute
The proclamation of Christmas is that Jesus the Christ is born and that God himself was on earth; or as Saint Paul says, "God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself." Other religions and philosophies talk about the influence of God or the gods on the affairs of men, but only Christianity asserts that God himself walked among us at a specific time and in a specific place.
Micah wrote, "Thou Bethlehem out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel: whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." So even though Jesus was conceived in Nazareth where his mother lived, he had to be born in "the city of David, which is called Bethlehem."
The Gospel writers are definite about the importance of places. Jesus died and rose again in Jerusalem. He preached around the Sea of Galilee. He grew up in Nazareth. Those are all places well-known to other ancient writers, and we can still locate them now. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a town just south of Jerusalem, a shepherding centre in the first century and a focal point of strife in the West Bank today.
The Nativity of Our Lord offers each of us what it first offered the world two thousand years ago -- a new hope, a new beginning and a new life. The baby of Bethlehem is still Emmanuel, God-with-us. And he tells us, "Marvel not that I said unto thee, 'Ye must be born again." And he assures us, "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out...This is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day."
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