Wishing you all a very happy Christmas from the Wokingham churches.
December 22 is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. Into this darkness is born Jesus the light of the world as a helpless baby.
His birth brings hope: hope of a brighter future, and this hope is for all people.
The first people to visit Jesus in Bethlehem were shepherds. They were poor people on the fringes of society. Later the magi, strangers from foreign lands, arrived.
Throughout his ministry, Jesus includes all people. He dines with both Pharisees and tax collectors. He especially welcomes children. He talks with women of ill-repute and it is a woman, Mary Magdalene, who is the first to announce his resurrection. He reaches out to the disadvantaged and those on the margins of society: widows, the blind, lepers, crippled, and those considered “unclean”. He does not reject the requests of a centurion or foreigners.
Even his closest disciples were a mixed bunch and weren’t noted for being religious. They often lacked faith and misunderstood what Jesus was about. They abandoned him in his hour of need, but he did not reject them, appearing to them after his resurrection and gifting them with the Holy Spirit.
All were welcome to follow Jesus in his lifetime and today, too, all are welcome to come and celebrate his birth. Do come and join us in the Wokingham churches as we rejoice at the birth of Jesus Christ our Light in our world.
Sue Cooper from Corpus Christi Church, Wokingham, writing on behalf of Churches Together in Wokingham
