Collect:

Lord Jesus Christ,
your birth at Bethlehem
draws us to kneel in wonder at heaven touching earth:
accept our heartfelt praise
as we worship you,
our Saviour and our eternal God.

Comment
Christmas is definitely at time for rejoicing! It was God’s D-Day, the decisive invasion of earth by heaven. God came down to earth from heaven, the King came into his kingdom to begin his reign of peace, a reign that will last for ever. ‘Immanuel’ means ‘God with us’, and that is echoed in the Christmas Eve gospel reading when we are told that ‘the Word became flesh (‘incarnation’) and made his dwelling among us’. God is not distant and disapproving. He entered our world as one of us, and he remains with us. The baby became a man who taught us what God was like and how we should live, and showed us God’s love in word and deed. He died, and we are told that he died for us, to remove every barrier between us and God so that truly we can be at peace with God. He rose from the dead, and lives for ever as King and Lord of all. Everyone who believes in him, who follows his teaching and accepts his authority over them, is forgiven and at peace with God, and enters God’s service in extending his reign of peace, with the assurance that one day we’ll be part of the perfect world God is bringing about. And it all began at Christmas! "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests."