This is a copy of my talk given at Saint Stephen’s and Ayia Kyriaki in the Anglican Church of Paphos Carol Services on Sunday 21 December 2025. Their were sever4al different bible readings! 

Prayer

Heavenly Father,
I thank You for Your word.
By the power of Your Holy Spirit,
May You speak to my heart,
And change my life.
In the precious name of Jesus I pray.
Amen

Introduction

I wonder how many of you starred in a Nativity Play when you were a child? Did you get the chance to play Mary or Joseph or perhaps you weren’t good at acting and were relegated to the back end of the donkey? I can vividly remember being the Inn Keeper … but what I really wanted to be was a Shepherd with a tea towel stuck on my head, clutching a toy lamb and my granddad’s walking stick, falling theatrically to the ground with amazement when the Angel of the Lord ‘shone around!’

I heard this week that Kevin Costner began his acting career at 4 yrs old playing a shepherd in a Nativity play! From small childish beginnings! If you’ve not seen his documentary about the Christmas story, where he declares his Christian faith – it’s well worth watching.

I wonder how many of you stopped entering into the Christmas story when you left childhood behind? It’s easy to lose that innocent childlike wonder about the birth of Jesus, isn’t it? And, as we grow older, we no longer see that we have a part to play in the Christmas story – it doesn’t have the same appeal, does it? Oh yes, we celebrate with parties; time off work and family gatherings … but immersing ourselves in the Christmas story? Not anymore!

Perhaps you, like so many others, have fallen into the trap of believing that Christmas is really for the children. But the Christmas message of “Peace on earth and goodwill to all men” is for everyone. And the gifts of love, joy and hope are some of the best Christmas gifts you could receive … ever!

The angels told the shepherds: You’ll find the baby … lying in a manger. And they responded: Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this ‘thing’ that has happened … It seems to me that the shepherds found Jesus because they chose to participate in God’s great story of salvation. If you were to follow the shepherds lead, and realise that Christmas isn’t only for the children, what would you find?  I want to suggest you could find three things:

1: This Christmas you could find: Peace of Mind

When I was young, I remember asking my mum what she would like for Christmas, she always replied: A bit of peace and quiet!  I was never able to find that in the shops. Now that I’m older, I know exactly what she meant!

Ours is not a peaceful, quiet world. Not yet. And, in a year which has seen atrocities in Gaza, Ukraine, Nigeria, Syria an unprecedented wave of economic migrants and refugees flooding the EU. Continued instability in the Middle East and Iran; the continuing concern over climate change; and the world’s financial markets struggling (need I go on?) … Peace of mind is something which we desperately need! But how would you define peace of mind?

  • For many, peace of mind comes from drinking themselves into a drunken stupor. I know, because I’ve been there.
  • For others, peace of mind is found in moving from one relationship to the next, hoping that ‘somebody’ who will fill the void in their life.
  • For some, peace of mind comes from working as many hours as they can, so they don’t have to face the problems in their lives.

But none of these bring real peace of mind, do they? They only paper over the cracks. The dictionary describes peace as: the end of hostilities and the absence of tension. The Hebrew word for peace is Shalom and means wholeness and completeness that comes from God alone. It’s a peace that goes beyond what the human heart and mind can understand.

  • Real peace of mind is knowing that no matter what happens, God will always be with me.
  • Real peace of mind means that no matter what comes my way in my life, God gives me the strength to cope.
  • Real peace of mind is living by God’s Word, which enables me to avoid the needless pain and hang-ups that mess up my life when I do things my way.
  • Real peace of mind is knowing that no matter what I do, God will never stop loving me.

When God entered our world as a helpless baby that first Christmas, he was called ‘The Prince of Peace’ and he was taking that first step towards us, into the no-man’s land of our broken world, risking everything on the possibility of peace. “His government and its peace will never end,” Isaiah prophesied. “He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity.”

The angels know this; it’s why they sang: “Peace on earth and goodwill to all men.” And that’s why the Bible calls each of us to follow in Jesus’ footsteps and be peacemakers ourselves.

2: This Christmas you could find: Forgiveness

I don’t know if any of you have watched the TV show Back to the Floor? The idea it is that when managerial memos have failed, CEO’s and other high-ranking executives leave the splendour of their air-conditioned offices and turn up on ‘the shop floor’ to give an all-action demonstration of how things were meant to work – a brave thing to do.

Now Back to the Floor may not be a very helpful example of how God entered into our world to show us how life is to be lived – but that’s exactly what He did when he sent Jesus. God sent Jesus to be our Saviour, to bridge the gap between imperfect man and a perfect God.  A gap that we would never be able to bridge ourselves. An anonymous poet once said:

If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator.  If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent an economist. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist.  If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer. But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Saviour.

But how can Jesus save me, you might ask? It’s simple really. And the answer is found in that most famous of all Bible verses, John 3:16:  For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

And, because of Christmas, God offers you the chance to have your past forgiven so you can start all over again.  Now that’s the most precious gift you can ever receive: the gift of a clear conscience.  You can’t even buy that at Harrods or Amazon or in the Kings Mall. It’s priceless. It is, as the angel said to the shepherds … good news of great joy …

3: This Christmas you could find: Eternal Life

Jesus’ birth, as our poem reminded us earlier, is only half of the story. We must never forget that Jesus was born to die. Now, I know some of you may not want to hear about Jesus’ death at this time of year, but that’s part of what we celebrate at Christmas – Easter is inextricably linked with our Christmas celebrations.

And it wasn’t a pleasant death wrapped up in tinsel and glitter and bells and bows accompanied by singing choirs, but an agonising death of torture and crucifixion. The true miracle of Christmas isn’t found on 34th Street or under the Christmas tree. It’s found in the man on the cross.

Even though our time on earth is relatively short, we rarely find it easy to talk about death, do we?  Have you ever thought that we’re going to spend more time on the other side of death than we’re going to spend on this side?  It seems to me that only a fool would go through life totally unprepared for something he/she knows is inevitable.  It doesn’t make sense to know that we’re going to die and not prepare for it.  That’s why God sent Jesus: to give us hope in this life and for the life to come.

Conclusion

It’s easy to lose that childlike innocent wonder about the Christmas story, isn’t it?  But Christmas isn’t only for the children, it’s for us too. Many of you have celebrated Christmas for as long as you can remember. You know the carols and the pop songs and the stories inside out – but you’ve never unwrapped the gift to see what the celebration is really all about.

Can you imagine giving someone a present on Christmas morning this year and they don’t open it?  It would be silly, wouldn’t it?  What about if you gave someone a gift and this time next year, they still hadn’t opened it! “Why haven’t you opened your present?” You’d ask? And they respond: “Oh, the paper’s so colourful and it’s wrapped so beautifully, it seems a shame to spoil it. It looks so lovely on the table.  I’ll open it one of these days!”  You’d think they were losing the plot, wouldn’t you?

God’s gift of Christmas is worth opening and can be life changing – for people of all ages. And my hope and prayer for each one of you this Christmas is that you will receive God’s Christmas gifts of: Peace of Mind, Forgiveness; Peace of Mind and Eternal Life.

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER The text contained in this sermon (except where stated) is solely owned by its author, Revd Paul A. Carr. The reproduction, or distribution of this message, or any portion of it, should include the author’s name.