25th December 2013 Christmas Day

 The reading is from Isaiah 11:1-5 and looks at what is the true spirit of Christmas in all of our celebrations of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Reflected in the way the Spirit of the LORD is the spirit of wisdom and understanding, counsel and knowledge, the spirit of power and the fear of the LORD, establishing  a peaceful Kingdom. That Jesus would know how to rule because of the Spirit of the Lord is resting on him and in  Luke 4: 16 – 21 describes him claiming that he fulfilled the prophecy: “The Spirit of the sovereign Lord is on me!.” This Spirit was bringing in good news for the poor, liberty for captives and sight for the blind and setting free the oppressed. This is the Spirit of the LORD on Jesus that we celebrate this Christmas if we celebrate the true Spirit of Christmas.

Furthermore the Spirit of the Lord, the “Spirit of Christmas” can be seen each day: in the fruits of the Spirit that are outworked in our shared lives in acts of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control.

Notes will usually be available on the downloads section of the  website