Christmas cards and carols speak of joy and peace - joy and peace in the birth of a baby in a troubled land.

The joy, which flows from Jesus, born in Bethlehem, fills the painful circumstances in which so many people find themselves today, for Jesus brings hope of peace and of a just and better world.

Christmas can be challenged by the pace, pressures and pain of ordinary life, but reflecting on Jesus Christ and how he fulfilled the promises of God, inspires us.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, trusted in God and his promises. Perhaps she glimpsed what we can glimpse this side of Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection: a vision of a world restored, made whole. 

Jesus came for all humanity. More than ever, the world we live in needs a saviour, for deceit and violence are not just in the arenas of political, ethnic and ideological conflicts, they have become commonplace in our workplaces, our schools, on our roads and in our homes.

We welcome Christmas and the good news that is for all people - that the Saviour has been born to us; he is Jesus Christ the Lord. May we celebrate this Christmas with joy and thanksgiving, by sharing and living this wonderful news with the community, may your Christmas be joyful, peace filled and happy. 

By Simon Risson, Horsham Church of Christ  

We can point to the decorations, or the songs on repeat. We could point to the money spent and the giving of gifts. Maybe there is no money to spend, nothing to give, no one to give to.

We can point to family and friends gathering; to the kindness of strangers, the generosity of friends or to the fights our family had in 1963. Maybe the truth of Christmas is the grief felt, or the tragedy experienced. 

We can point to the stars, but they are only revealed in the night sky. The sun is only revealed in the day. We can point you to the earth, the rivers and the sea, revealing the beauty, wonder and toil of creation.

Still, Christmas reaches beyond all of this.  

The truth of Christmas is in the person of Jesus. In a person who showed us the depth of what it is to love. In Jesus is fullness of life, not ignoring or hiding any of it. What about the messy parts of life? Yep, even there, Jesus is 'God with us’, bringing light into darkness.

Jesus is the truth that heals the brokenhearted, lifts the oppression of shame and condemnation of our disappointment, mistakes and failing. The truth of Christmas is not comparing lives, but discovering the fullness of life in the person of Jesus. May you discover the truth of Christmas this season.

By Pastor Darryl Schwarz 

As I thought about a message, I wanted all who read it to understand more about Christmas.  The following, prepared by U.S.A. Pastor Brian Bill, blessed me greatly as I read both his brief summary and Bible verses.  I repeat it here for the people of Horsham and Wimmera to be blessed also.

Christmas means ...

He (Christ) descended that we might ascend.  John 14:3

He was born that we might be born again.  John 3:16.

He was forsaken that we might not be forsaken.  Matthew 28:20.

He died that we might live.  John 5: 24.

Have a happy, blessed and safe Christmas and new year.

By Rev Luke Isham, Horsham Presbyterian Church

​Annunciation is the celebration nine months before Christmas of Jesus’ conception as described by the Gospel of Luke.

Mary was engaged to Joseph the builder, who would later become Jesus’ adopted dad. An Angel appeared to Mary and said “you have found favour with God, will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.”

Mary wondered how this would work given that she and Joseph were waiting until they got married before being intimate. So the angel explained: “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”

This is the moment Christianity begun. God the Son took on a broken human nature to live a sinless life that ended in death and resurrection.

And it all started with God experiencing human life first as a zygote, then an embryo, then as a baby, then as a builder for a decade or two and finally for the last three years, as the Messiah, the one who rescues us from sin and death.

Jesus, on the other side of his Resurrection, has a new refreshed human body that doesn’t get sick, tired or feeble. And that’s the main hope of Christianity, that if we belong to Jesus we’ll have bodies like that. And it all began nine months before Christmas.

By Pastor Gus Schutz, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church

Have you seen the different lights around Horsham as we approach another Christmas? I did that recently. There are some truly wonderful displays.

But how many actually reflect the true message of Christmas? We embrace the holidays of the Christmas season. We love the days of Easter to catch up with family and friends on camping trips. But we avoid the birth of Christ. We reject the death and resurrection of Jesus, as if we have no need for a Saviour. Yet darkness covers our lives, our homes and our town. Through poverty and want. Sickness and death. Anxiety and mental illness. Abuse and neglect. Unhealthy and broken relationships.

Then for some of us, our lives are full of ‘stuff’, but empty of meaning. Sadly the lights of our town are not able to shine healing and hope into peoples’ lives. Are we missing the true Light of Christmas because of the artificial Christmas lights?

Jesus came into the world as the ‘Light of the World’. He came to rescue us from ourselves. By offering the forgiveness of sins, bringing healing to lives and relationships and giving us hope and a future. Let the light of God’s love in Jesus shine into your life this Christmas and forever. Don’t miss the light of Jesus for the lights of Christmas. A blessed Christmas to you all through the light of Jesus’ love.

By Rev. Linley Liersch, Horsham & District Uniting Church 

Traditional Christian symbols of the festive season are going up all over the countryside.  

The ‘Christmas tree’, always a green fir tree, is the symbol of the living Jesus - who came to bring life forever while holly and ivy are filled with meaning too. The sharp holy leaves and the blood-red berries remind Christians of Jesus’ crown of thorns and suffering on the cross, tying Christmas and Easter together.  

The star represents the star in the east that the wise men followed to the place where the King of the Jews was to be born [Matt 2:1-1].  Lights representing Christ as the Light of the world were perhaps first used by  Martin Luther who put the lights/candles on the Christmas tree to represent the beauty of the stars above Bethlehem on the night of Christ’s birth. 

As you decorate your house share the stories of Christ with someone you love and hold the meaning of these symbols in your heart.