Advent Calendar 2010: The Christ that is in Christmas..

No one knows for certain it seems really when Jesus Christ of Nazareth was born...in fact the 'old church' it seems never really celebrated his birth...his death and resurrection were seen as more important a celebration and we here at UCP have to say with agree with that! But regardless of not knowing the date for centuries Jesus Christ's birthday has been celebrated on the 25th of December and really all December long as the Advent.

Now don't get us wrong readers...there is actually a very good UCP reason to us saying all of this...you see really Christmas is already UCP at its finest because it is really already just a mis-mash of traditions from all over the world and really people from all over the world of all faiths and races and this and that celebrate it in their own special way. Yes at the centre of the montage for the festival is Jesus Christ of Nazareth who is a being of great importance here on UCP...on planet earth and Universe wide. But really he isn't doing much in Christmas except lending his name to as he is still a baby at the end of the Christmas story as most know it. And you see it is more than likely the case that most of the stuff about his birth that is celebrated for Christmas is fictionalized around some of these references in the Bible:

Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Luke 1:35
And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy–the Son of God.

Matthew 1:23
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

Luke 2:9-12
And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. (10) And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. (11) For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (12) And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

Luke 2:13-14
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, (14) “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Micah 5:2
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times. ”

Isaiah 9:6-7
(6) For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (7) Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

But what really is important is this:

Christmas is a time of good cheer...of sharing and giving...compassion and loving...
But we will let the writer that told Virginia that yes there was a Santa Claus tell you more here because really he did it so much better than we feel any of us on UCP can manage to chalk it up today so here he says it all...as he talks about the persona of one of the great fictionalized chracters associated with Christmas- Santa Claus who in spirit is Christ like and so in spirit for us here at UCP he does exist!


And really most of the goodness associated with Christmas is indeed behaviour that can be seen as Christ like...behaviour that Jesus Christ of Nazareth would have displayed throughout his life. Behaviour that we should follow as an example not just at Christmas time but all year true! So really we at Christmas time should not just celebrate his birth but his life and how he lived it and try to emulate it!