I long to cling on to the Christmas message as I enter another New Year.  I want to take with me the message that those shepherds heard: “Peace on earth”.

I want to understand and treasure like Mary all the things that the coming of Jesus Christ can mean for us in this world.

I want to come to terms with the full significance of the birth of Jesus who is the Immanuel – which means “God with us”.

As I grapple with the implications of what it can mean to know God’s peace and his presence with us, other visitors arrive to celebrate Jesus’ birth.  Wiser ones than me, who have travelled such a long way, come to worship Jesus. 

Here an image is conjured up of people inspired to come and see the Jesus whose birth marks a new era. 

They bring presents and receive his presence.

They leave their gifts of gold, of incense and of myrrh, and then journey home with his presence in their hearts.

We too can carry a Christmas message within us into January 2006 and beyond.

It is message about God bringing his peace into our lives through Jesus.

It is about God offering us a relationship in which he has our perfect well-being at         heart.

It is about how God does this by being with us in Jesus.

To recognise whom Jesus is and to accept his presence with us in our daily living, can give us the confidence to move on knowing we are not alone.

Our personal encounter with Jesus and our acceptance of what Jesus brings can set us free. 

Here is the freedom that Paul writes about to the Galatians.  It is found in a relationship with God in which we can enjoy all the benefits of being one of God’s children.

It is to be understood in the light of all the events in Jesus’ life.  We place our concerns and our lives at the foot of the Cross and discover that in giving his life for us Jesus can set us free to inherit all that God offers us.

We see that Jesus is God’s way of being with us in all that life can throw at us.  In Jesus’ death and Resurrection all the injustice and forces that can deny us our birthright and freedom as God’s children are confronted.

Just as the risen Lord Jesus stood among his disciples and said “Peace be with you” so we too can know that peace today.

Now the risen Jesus is not confined in one place or one time.  God sends us out with the Spirit of his Son in our lives.

Our God-given inheritance requires us to live as those who have “God with us” today.

As a New Year has begun, here is an opportunity to forget what is behind, and know God’s forgiveness and acceptance of us - as we fix our eyes on Jesus and the life changing challenge he offers us.

God sent Jesus for a purpose. 

God is with us in Jesus for a reason.

The message of God’s love, peace and justice revealed in Jesus’ flesh and blood is a message we are also called to carry in our own bodies.

When we believe in this, whoever we are, wherever we are – whatever the limitations we think will hold us back from being God’s children, God in Jesus Christ declares that he is with us and through us will make his presence felt in this world.

Lord Jesus Christ – “God with us” – be born in us each day in this New Year. 

Amen.