No, Jesus was not born on the 25th December
Yes, some people think Christians adopted a pagan festival (although there is no actual historical evidence of a mid-winter celebration before Christians started celebrating Christmas!)
Yes, Christmas is hugely commercial and Jesus can get lost amongst the tinsel
No, not everyone loves Christmas
Nevertheless, Christmas still represents a huge opportunity for the local church and for all of us here in the Jubilee Community.
The birth of Jesus, “the incarnation,” is clearly of huge significance to every believer. Christmas presents us with the opportunity to celebrate together the incredible love of God expressed in the sending of Jesus. It gives us an opportunity to re calibrate our lives and remind one another that our God is not distant or abstract, but that God became flesh and dwelt amongst us. Jesus lived through the day to day of life on earth with all its hopes and dreams, victories and disappointments.
Christmas also presents us with an amazing opportunity to share our faith. At this point in our history, people are still open to an invitation to church at Christmas. Who knows how long this opportunity will last? Whilst it does last let us grab hold of that opportunity with all the evangelist energy we can muster.
We have invitational events running throughout December and we have tried to cater for a range of ages and tastes. At all of these events, we will present the gospel in word and deed. Nothing heavy, just a gentle invitation to come and find out more about this baby we are celebrating. Opportunities to join an Alpha group will be available throughout December.
Our goal this year is to invite 1000 people to hear the gospel at Jubilee in December. We are excited about the stories of transformation we will hear in 2019 that will start with the words “My friend invited me to one of your Christmas events…”
