Every year the Parkes Champion Post shares Christmas messages from our clergy around the Parkes Shire during the festive season.
Gift waiting for us all
Have you ever had to do a double take, thinking that your eyes were deceiving you?
One Christmas as a child, following dinner and the formal gift exchange of family and friends, as well as digging into the presents wrapped under and in the tree, I found myself gazing at our Christmas tree.
Maybe partly admiring, but partly hoping that there might be another gift, hidden amongst the lights and decorations, just for me.
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As I loitered, ignoring the calls of my siblings and cousins to come and play, I caught a glimpse of something wedged in a fork of the tree.
I wondered if it could be a forgotten gift.
The soft glow of the lights were reflecting off something shiny, and my first thought was wrapping paper!
Another look to check confirmed my first thought.
There was a single gift remaining in the tree which had been missed earlier, and it was for me - a Matchbox Cooper Mini.
Friends, I want to invite you as you select or decorate your tree, as you rip into the gifts under and in your tree this Christmas, to take another look, to double check for a missed gift.
For in Christmas, there is a gift waiting to be opened, given by someone we can trust, a gift that is especially for us personally.
This gift was searched for by wise men, was found in a manger by shepherds, was announced to the world by angels, and is in reach of us all.
This gift is JESUS!
Lorenzo Berry
Church pastor
Seventh-day Adventist Church
Where is that Christmas peace?
That very first Christmas in the hills around Bethlehem, angels declared to the shepherds “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests”.
As we come into Christmas in 2024 we might well be asking, “Where is that Christmas peace the angels offered”?
The war in Ukraine is headed into its third Christmas and the war in Gaza looks set to continue through this coming Christmas and yet our Christmas cards still offer the message of Hope, Joy and Peace.
This is because the peace being spoken of is not world peace, but rather, peace with God!
The Bible describes mankind as enemies of God, because of our tendency to reject his authority and to set ourselves up as ‘god’ in his place.
We like to think that we can decide what is good for us, what we’ll call evil, what we’ll call good. However, we’re not God and one day we’ll stand before the one who is God and we’ll answer for our rebellion.
Jesus came, that first Christmas, so that we could know forgiveness.
He came that we might turn back to God and know peace with him, a peace that enables us to dwell with him for eternity in heaven.
It’s the peace that we all need! It’s the peace that I pray you find this Christmas!
We’ll be celebrating the birth of Jesus on Wednesday 25th at 9am (and the Sunday's either side of Christmas at 10am) and we’d love for you to join us.
Merry Christmas from Parkes Presbyterian Church.
Craig Bland
Minister
Parkes Presbyterian Church
A time to come home to God
On a recent trip through one of the towns near Parkes I came across a sign on the Presbyterian Church noticeboard which read, “Christ does not need your presents this Christmas but your presence.”
This could be a timely invitation and reminder to attend church this Christmas season and thank Jesus for his presence in our life and world – a time to come home to God, family and friends.
This begs the question for we Christians, “Why did Christ come among us and grace us with his presence?”
Most would know the answers to such a question.
He came that we might find salvation, remission of our sins and the hope of eternal life.
Yet there is still more to that question as we are reminded that it is also about the outpouring of God’s love on a somewhat fragile and broken people and world.
God will not give up on us, even if we think we can give up on God.
Each of us, whether we know it or not, is made in the image and likeness of God, who is Love, therefore, to be like God we need to be loved and to love.
In a special way, Christmas is about giving thanks for such a great gift of love manifested in and through Christ.
We can’t be a Christian on our own, Christianity, like other religions and faiths, calls us into community.
What better way to celebrate this festive season than by gathering in church with like-minded believers, as well as with family and friends.
This Christmas at the 6pm Family Mass at Holy Family Church the children will perform a presentation of the Christmas story.
This is a restart of what was cancelled in the last few years because of Covid.
It is about bringing families together and a reminder of the role the Holy Family of Nazareth, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, continues to play in the life of the Church.
On behalf of Holy Family Parish, I wish you a very happy and holy Christmas, and a blessed and healthy New Year, and for those who are travelling, a safe journey.
Fr Barry Dwyer OAM, PP
Holy Family Catholic Church
Love and hope
The Christmas story is one of love and hope.
The birth of Jesus brought about the clear manifestation of God's rescue plan for mankind.
Humans have tried and failed to reach God via their own righteousness and actions, and so God comes down to earth, not only to establish His plan of salvation, but to be the way of salvation.
Luke 2:10-14 says, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
"And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!"
God's love for mankind, brought Him to earth to live as a human for the sake of all people.
Jesus came to bring peace - peace with God and the peace of God.
In a world so unpredictable and challenging, isn't it comforting to know that we have a God who cares for us?
He has even promised us his peace during times of trouble.
Why not take some time this Christmas, to think about how much God loves you?
Consider speaking to him about your struggles and invite Him into your life.
Let's end this year with lives full of God's peace and presence, so we can launch into 2025 confident that we are safe in His hands.
Neil Walford
Lead Pastor
Generocity Church Parkes
Let Christ be the perfect gift
As a child, Christmas was all about presents.
Part of my problem was that I was born extremely close to Christmas, and so, all year I would be without presents while I saw friends and other family members receiving gifts on their birthdays throughout the year.
I placed a significant amount of worth on these gifts.
Over the years, my drive for both Christmas and birthday gifts has decreased.
While I still love receiving gifts, I recognise that the joy and happiness they bring is only temporary.
A gift might provide an experience or an item to use, but experiences are short, and things get worn out, broken, or even lost.
As I have grown, I have realised that my satisfaction in life cannot be provided by material things.
I think God had a great sense of humour in my birth being so close to the day on which we celebrate Jesus’ birth.
In sharing my birthday with Jesus, I started to realise that the whole world does not, in fact, revolve around me, that gifts were not the be-all and end-all to life.
God didn’t want us to be satisfied with material things. Instead, God wants for us something entirely more precious.
When God created our universe, he didn’t create us randomly, he created us as people to be in relationship.
Relationship with each other, but more importantly, relationship with God himself.
Adam and Eve walked with God in the garden. When mankind sinned, our ability to walk in relationship with God became much more difficult.
Since creation, that is what God has wanted.
This brings us back to the idea of receiving gifts.
At Christmas time we spend time with those we love, fostering those relationships, and we give and receive gifts.
But the reason we celebrate Christmas is this: because God wants relationships with us all, he sent Jesus, the Son of God, to deal with the problem of sin, the cause of our separation from God, in order to reestablish our relationship with Him.
Jesus walked this earth, some 2000 years ago. He taught many important lessons on how to live life.
But more importantly, Jesus was crucified for our sins, and three days later, he rose up, defeating sin, and allowed us to be reunited with God, the creator of the universe. Let Christ be the perfect gift this Christmas; the only gift that satisfies!
Paul Brown
Elder
Parkes Assemblies of God
Who Defines Christmas?
If you wanted to find out what Christmas is all about, where would you go? It can be hard to work it out.
If you look around the world, you see so many different traditions associated with Christmas and various ways of celebrating the occasion.
How is it that this one event evolved into such a diversity of expression?
If you listen to the Christmas songs, you hear a similar variety of ideas.
Some talk about dashing through snow and riding in sleighs (can't imagine that in Parkes in December!). Others mention holly and ivy and ringing bells and three ships sailing into Bethlehem.
It's a bit hard to put all the things you hear in the songs into one coherent narrative.
And then there's all the people who have a vested interest in selling you their idea of Christmas – the advertisers, the retailers, the social-media influencers.
I think the best solution is to go back to the source.
Christmas – the coming of Jesus Christ – is the reason we have this celebration.
You can read about the events of the first Christmas for yourself in the Bible.
You'll find them recorded in the first two chapters of Matthew and the first two chapters of Luke.
You can find them easily enough online.
Or you could visit a church at this time of year and hear the event explained.
You'll quickly discover that what God says Christmas is about is only a part of what He has done for us.
Yes, Jesus was born as a baby in Bethlehem. And yes, angels announced that this was good news.
But that isn't all there is to God's plan to make the way for people to be able to relate with Him.
Rod Macready
Pastor
Parkes Baptist Church
