Summary
On Christmas eve and Christmas day we will be exploring how Jesus answers our fears, anxieties and worries. At the first Christmas Luke’s account tells us that the shepherds were in great fear when a bunch of angles appeared before them (Luke 2:9). Seems reasonable right? And yet they shepherds were told: “Do not be afraid” (Luke 2:10). Well what about us? We are under stress and great expectation: we have to manage the difficult family dynamic; getting the right presents (which has to be cool/fun/interesting, not too cheap, but not too expensive either); plus the food has to be good (like MasterChef) — with all of that, perhaps Christmas should continue to strike fear into our hearts. Actually it does, statistics show it’s the most common time for family break up, news paper articles talk of Christmas anxiety (here is an example).
And yet the shepherds were told not to fear… why not? The Christmas message rightly understood and applied to our lives is one that can have a deep impact today: Christmas speaks directly to our fears, far beyond just getting though December 25 each year. Come and share a Fearless Christmas.
