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23rd
December, 2006
Christmas
messages from some of the leaders of Australian churches...
The Most
Reverend Dr Phillip Aspinall, Primate, Anglican Church of
Australia.
"My prayer
for us all this Christmas is that we should know God’s
peace. In 2006 Australians have worked hard to bring peace.
Our troops have been deployed in such places as Iraq, Afghanistan,
the Solomons, and East Timor,
"God’s
response to violence and to fear is love. It is always
love. Celebrating Christmas helps us to remember God’s
love."
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trying to broker
peace and then to keep it. We have wept over efforts to find
peace in the Middle East. Locally, the Cronulla riots marked
a breach of a peace that we in this country can no longer
take for granted. Ironically, many of our images of peace
tend to involve guns and tanks and explosions. When we send
in ‘peace-keepers’, we equip them with weapons
and train them to deal with violence. God’s Prince of
Peace came to us as a new-born baby. God’s response
to violence and to fear is love. It is always love. Celebrating
Christmas helps us to remember God’s love. This Christmas
let us allow the story of the baby, of cattle lowing, of worshipping
shepherds and magi bearing gifts to remind us to greet our
neighbour, to smile at those we meet, to give generously and
to receive graciously. Let us all be makers of peace through
ordinary, everyday acts of loving kindness. May the love of
God and the gift of God’s son bring peace to your hearts
and lives this Christmas."
Richard Menteit, National President, Churches of Christ
in Australia.
"The Christmas story has survived the process of time
because it is more than a story. Christmas reminds us that
God in Christ intervened in the lives of humankind to announce
His gift of eternal love to all who would receive it. At a
time when the world is preoccupied in all types of conflicts
and threatened by natural and human crises we need the Christmas
story to remind us there is hope and in this hope there is
peace and love."
His Grace Bishop Daniel, Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese
of New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory,
Coptic Orthodox Church, Diocese of Sydney & Affiliated
Regions.
"The Gifts of Christmas.
For there is born
to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ
the Lord. (Luke 2:11) The birth of our Lord Jesus Christ over
2000 years ago brought three great gifts to humanity:
Light
He shone upon us who were sitting in darkness. By His light
we came to know light. He is the light of the world with His
unique example, Holy teachings, and life-giving guidance.
Man knew the path of light, and became light. Man’s
mind was enlightened, as well as his heart, through his continuous
living with the Good Saviour and Beloved Teacher. The Lord
left us a living example and a Bible: the example to follow,
and the Bible to learn from and be enlightened by its word.
Has not the Lord said to us when He came to our earthly world:
'I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not
walk in darkness, but have the light of life.' (John 8:12).
'The light has come into the world and men loved darkness
rather than light because their deeds were evil. For everyone
practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light,
lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does what is
truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen,
that they have been done in God.' (John 3:19-21).
Salvation
He is the 'Saviour of the World' of the New Testament. Pharaoh
gave Joseph the same title, for he saved the people from death
by physical hunger resulting from the famine. Likewise, Christ
saved us from death by spiritual hunger. He is the 'Second
Adam' by the First Adam we died, while by the Second Adam
we live and are saved. Our salvation was not easy, for it
cost Him His precious blood and His broken body. 'For there
is a Saviour born to you this day.' (Luke 2:11).
"May
the Lord Jesus Christ, born in Bethlehem, bless our
beloved country Australia, its people and Government."
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By the birth of
Christ, the Saviour was born…
Rather salvation was born…
For there is no salvation without incarnation…
And no redemption without incarnation…
And no incarnation without birth…
'Great is the mystery of godliness: He (God) was manifested
in the flesh.' (1 Timothy 3:16). There is a link between human
godliness and the manifestation of God in human flesh. It
is divine incarnation that enabled our loving God to manifest
amongst us so that we can say: 'We beheld His glory.' (John
1:14). 'Which we have looked upon and our hands have handled.'
(1 John 1:1). To die upon the Cross and to redeem us, offering
up His humanity, which is united to His divinity, as a sacrifice
in place of us. Then He arose from death into life, that by
Him we too might be reborn into a new life.
Peace
The Angels proclaimed, 'Glory to God in the highest, peace
on earth, good will towards men.' (Luke 2:14). Christ became
man to reconcile us to God the Father and bring peace to a
broken and disturbed world. Christ is our peace for He said,
'My peace I give. My peace I leave with you.' (John 14:27).
May the Lord Jesus Christ, born in Bethlehem, bless our beloved
country Australia, its people and Government."
The Reverend Michael P. Semmler, President, Lutheran
Church of Australia.
"The newborn child bound in swaddling clothes at birth
is unbound as a man in his resurrection. The Christmas birth
of Christ is not just a matter of life before death, but finally
of death before life. The celebration of the birth of a special
child, the event we call Christmas includes the wood of the
manger being exchanged for the wood of the crucifixion cross;
not much more than 30 years later. The celebration is for
a Saviour. It is a time of hope and meaning in our lives because
of what God has done for us, rather than a focus on what we
can do for ourselves or for Him. God enters time and our history
and offers us life in the Child we know as Jesus. He has taken
care of us so that we can spend time caring for others."
The Most Reverend Philip Wilson, President, Australian
Catholic Bishops Conference, Roman Catholic Church in Australia.
"The face of a mother or father holding a child in their
arms reveals the graciousness of God. Christmas recalls these
moments for many in the mystery of the birth of Jesus. It
reminds us that these experiences can touch our hearts and
fill us with happiness and joy and reveal to us the presence
of God in our everyday lives. Christmas is a time when we
have the chance to stop and reflect on the gifts that children
bring to our world. The busy days that
"In
the bigger picture, the spirit and meaning of Christmas
provides us with the opportunity to reassess individual
and communal responses to those around us."
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lead to the holidays
and the celebrations of the day itself can blind us to what
moves and inspires the children around us, and their openness
to love and acceptance is a challenge that can be missed.
In our heart of hearts we recognise that not to respond with
open hearts and greater generosity of spirit towards them
is to belittle them and sell ourselves short. Those who follow
Christ are called to recognise as he did, as Mary his mother
did, the presence of God’s love in the faces of those
around us. This is a way of discovering meaning and direction
in our lives not as a burden but as a response to the graciousness
of God. In the bigger picture, the spirit and meaning of Christmas
provides us with the opportunity to reassess individual and
communal responses to those around us. It is a time to bring
to our families, friends and neighbours a spirit of acceptance,
understanding, forgiveness...or 'peace and goodwill to all'."
His Eminence Archbishop Mor Malatius Malki Malki,
Archbishop of the Syrian Orthodox Patriarchal Vicarate of
Australia and New Zealand, Syrian Orthodox Patriarchal Vicarate
of Australia and New Zealand.
"Some 2,000 years ago, a young descendant of King David
and her honourable husband travelled from Nazareth to Bethlehem.
This trip was, in all likelihood, a difficult one for Mary
as she was in the late stages of pregnancy. However, she bore
this burden with joy saying that, 'My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for He has looked
on the humble estate of his servant'. It was in her suffering,
that she carried the hopes of the world. So this Christmas,
let us remind ourselves of the simplicity and humility into
which Jesus was born: at an inn, in a manger and wrapped in
swaddling cloth. At the same time, let us recall the majesty
with which He was greeted: a multitude of angels harking 'Glory
to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with
whom He is pleased!', the rich gifts presented to him by foreigners
from afar and the worship of him by local shepherds. Christmas
should be a reflection on Christ, his birth, his life and
his purpose. Let the celebrations, baubles and presents be
a reflection of our joy at being reminded of God's love for
us: in that He sent his only Son for us."
The Reverend Gregor Henderson, President, Uniting
Church in Australia.
"The Christmas event speaks to us more than 2000 years
later because it is not just a story about divinity. It is
a story which is most deeply about what it means to be human
- a story of human vulnerability, of hopes, fears and
"(T)he meaning of Christmas continues to break
into our world and challenge us all, but especially
Christians, to live lives that reach out in the world
without fear or favour."
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dreams, family and
culture, exclusion and acceptance. And because of this, the
meaning of Christmas continues to break into our world and
challenge us all, but especially Christians, to live lives
that reach out in the world without fear or favour. My hope
this year is that Christmas will remind us that so-called
‘Australian values’ are human values and that
the birth of Jesus Christ teaches us that they are part of
God’s gift to us, for what kind of world would it be
without the gifts that lie within us all - compassion, forgiveness,
prayerfulness, justice, inclusion, and the celebration of
life. May this Christmas bring you joy and peace, fresh purpose
and new life."
The Reverend John Henderson, General Secretary, National Council
of Churches in Australia.
"' Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that
has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.' The
story of Christmas begins with a divine choice, but it happens
in the lives of ordinary human beings. A baby is born, and
generations have gone on to call him the Son of God. The event
demands a response - is this really God with us, or is Jesus
just another human martyr? Many Australians do not like questions
of faith, preferring instead a vaguely agnostic world of privatised
religion. It makes sense in a sort of post modern way, but
we now know that such a world doesn’t exist. Religion
is a very public business. We are more aware than ever of
its importance, and the centrality of faith to so much of
what we do. The Christmas holiday is popular, but so far the
question of faith isn’t. What is our response to this
Christian festival and the story on which it is founded? If
this child is the Son of God you can’t just walk away
from him. He changes everything. The Christmas event could
have happened to any one of us. It does happen to all who
believe that in Jesus God came into the world to live a human
life to the full. Christian faith, and Christian living, means
living out that belief, day by day, week by week, month by
month, among real people, in real places, and at real times
in our life."
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