A December without Christmas

It’s hard to imagine December without Christmas. For many, it truly is one of the most wonderful times of the year with all the festive sights, sounds, and scents of the season. A December with no carols playing in the background or lights decorating streets and homes, and where the 25th is just another day, is inconceivable. 

I remember my first Christmas in the Middle East. It felt so foreign and disorienting. The familiar traditions of Christmas that make this time of year so special were nowhere to be found. But that first December on the Arabian Gulf was also clarifying. The people in that cultural context don’t need a beautifully decorated tree with twinkling lights, nor neatly wrapped presents underneath. They need to hear of a Saviour wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger.

Christmas is about God’s mission to send His Son to seek and save the lost (Luke 19.10). It is about the good news of great joy that will be for all the people (Luke 2.10) and the true light that has come to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death (Luke 1.79). Christmas is ultimately all about God’s mission, which compels us to consider how we may commit our lives to that mission. The reality is that there are two billion people with no access to the gospel who have never heard of the grace of God in Christ that we celebrate this season.

Will you consider the trajectory of your life this Christmas season? Will you hold your dreams and desires for your life open-handed before the Lord? Will you pray bold, gutsy prayers about your future? Will you consider crossing a culture and learning a language to make disciples among a people group where Christmas doesn’t exist?
 

“God is pursuing with omnipotent passion a worldwide purpose of gathering joyful worshipers for Himself from every tribe and tongue and people and nation…let us bring our affections into line with His, and, for the sake of His name, let us renounce the quest for worldly comforts and join His global purpose.” John Piper

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” Romans 10.14-15

When God Feels Far at Christmas

Christmas is supposed to be “merry and bright”, full of warmth, family, and joy. Yet for many, this season only magnifies what is missing. Empty chairs. Broken relationships. Lingering grief. Unanswered prayers. And in the quiet beneath the celebration, a question sometimes rises: Has God forgotten me?

One of the most honest prayers in the Bible opens this way through David:
 

“How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?” (Psalm 13.1-2)

This is not polished worship. This is raw. David names the full weight of his pain. He talks about emotional distress, anxious thoughts, enemies, shame, and sorrow that return day after day. He wonders if his suffering means God has forgotten him. Many of us feel that same tension at Christmas. We see lights everywhere, but inside it feels dark. We hear songs of joy, but inside, there is grief. We hear about hope, yet we feel stuck in cycles of despair. We wonder if God still sees us. David goes on to say,
 

“Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death.” (Psalm 13.3)

This is more than a prayer for relief, it is a prayer for clarity. “Light up my eyes.” In other words: Help me see You rightly. David understands that while feelings are real, they are not always reliable. Our emotions can describe our experience, but they do not define God’s reality. Feeling forgotten does not mean we are forgotten. At Christmas, this truth matters deeply. We may feel abandoned, but the manger declares otherwise. God does not move away from our darkness, He enters it.

Finally, I love David's resolve at the end.  He says,
 

“But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.” (Psalm 13.5-6)

Notice what has not changed. The enemies are still there. The feelings are still heavy. The waiting is still hard. And yet David discovers something that remains within his control: he can choose to trust, to rejoice, and to sing, even before circumstances change. His worship becomes an act of holy resistance against despair.

And this is where Christmas speaks most powerfully into the fear of being forgotten. The world waited four hundred years in silence between the last prophet and the first cry from the manger. Many must have wondered if God had abandoned His promises. But at just the right time, God did not send a message, He sent His Son (Gal 4:4). The birth of Jesus is heaven’s unmistakable answer to our deepest fear of being forgotten. So when Christmas feels heavy, when joy feels forced, when God seems silent, we can still ask our honest questions. We can still pray for light. And we can still sing!

Carol Service – Sunday 10th December

You are very welcome to join us for an evening of carols, readings, mince pies and mulled wine. Our annual carol service is the perfect way to start the festive season!

Come to Coin Street Community Centre (5 mins walk from Waterloo station) at 5.30pm on the 10th of December.

You may be a sceptic or just undecided about Jesus, so please be assured that we want you to feel completely at ease to come and be part of the church and enjoy the event.

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