A Christmas Message from the Pastor

By Pastor Simon Tham



Image Source: connectnigeria.com

Christmas is here today. It is celebrated by Christians and non-Christians alike. However the non-Christian version of celebration is very much commercialised.

Christmas is actually a Christian celebration. Only Christians can celebrate it in a way that is genuinely meaningful and purposeful – the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. But even Jesus’ birth has been distorted and misrepresented.

However the Christmas celebration that we know of today has its origins in paganism. Precisely because of this, many Christians don’t care to celebrate it. The other reason being that Christmas is not authorised by the Bible. Hence where Scripture is silent concerning Christmas traditions, it forbids.

John 10:22-23 refers to a festival that is not mentioned in the Old Testament. It is not a festival laid out in Scripture by God — the Feast of the Dedication. What is this feast about?

It goes back to the time of the Maccabees in the inter-Testament period, when, in 165-164BC, Judas Maccabeus evicted the Syrians who, in profaning the temple, erected an idol within it. The temple was then cleansed and rededicated to God.

There are many reasons given as to why it is alright for Christians to celebrate Christmas but I will not go into them here.

It is the conviction of the heart that matters that is, to celebrate or not to celebrate. Be that as it may, allow me to underline this point – those who celebrate Christmas aren’t necessarily better Christians and those who do not, aren’t always worse.

Apart from the festivities, Christmas ought to be celebrated in the heart. Needless to say, the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem is of historical importance but the “birth” of Jesus in your heart is of even greater spiritual importance.

Whether you are a Christian or not depends on where Jesus is born – in Bethlehem or in your heart. When Jesus is in your heart, Christmas becomes a daily and not a once-a-year event, with or without the festival lights, the pomp and the paraphernalia that we’ve come to identify them by.

Let me conclude with this song composed and written by Jimmy and Carol Owens. Part of the lyrics goes like this:

Christmas isn’t Christmas

Till it happens in your heart.

Somewhere deep inside you is

Where Christmas really starts,

So give your heart to Jesus,

You’ll discover when you do

That it’s Christmas,

Really Christmas for you.

Have a truly blessed Christmas.

Pastor Simon Tham