Keith shares his thought for the week; Christmas hope.

There are many myths surrounding Christmas. One of them would be that Coca-Cola invented Father Christmas, Santa Claus. Well, the truth is they didn’t. They depicted him drinking coke in the 1930s and it’s just been that way ever since. About 60 years before that, he was first shown wearing a red suit. Prior to that he was wearing a green suit.

Boxing Day, some people think is the day when we simply take our unwanted presents boxed up back to the shop and get a refund or an exchange. When I was growing up I thought it was due with actual boxing. But the truth is this was the day when annually churches would open their arms boxes, the gifts to the poor, and they would distribute that amongst the poorest in their parish. So, Boxing Day is actually the day when we’re supposed to remember those who are less fortunate than ourselves.

And then we have the old chestnut Merry Xmas. Some people get very upset by this. They say it’s an abbreviation brought in by the world. They’re trying to wipe Jesus out of Christmas. But the truth is it came around in about the 15th century when church bishops started to abbreviate Christmas to Xmas. And they did this as a kind of shorthand. And the reason they felt they could do this was simply that in the Greek text, which is how most of the New Testament is written, the Greek word Christos begins with, you guessed it, the letter X. So it’s not the X factor of Christmas, it’s Jesus at Christmas.

See Jesus we say is the reason for the season. Now we know he wasn’t actually born on Christmas Day, but he is the reason that we get a bank holiday where we get time off, where we get to spend time with family. He’s the focus of Christmas. No historian debates and disputes his actual existence. And so we begin to discover that he is the hope. He’s the real God, the true and living Saviour. And so my prayer for you this Christmas is that you will be able to join with the angels who sang in Luke chapter 2,

Peace on earth and goodwill to all those upon whom God’s favour rests.

Luke 2:14

Jesus is the only gift you actually need this Christmas. And he’s the only gift you really need to give. May you have a wonderful week and a wonderful Christmas. God bless

Every week one of our members shares a short thought aiming to inspire you for the week. You can watch previous Thought For The Week videos by clicking here.