A Christmas message for children and families from Bishop Rachel

Please share this video Christmas message for 2023 with children and families that you know. The words that Bishop Rachel says are written below the video.

I hope you’re getting excited about Christmas — and I’m sure some of that excitement is about presents and hoping there’s going to be one or two with your name on.

And your name is really important because it’s about who you are. There’s no one else in the world the same as you. And when a baby is born, just as you were, people always want to know what the baby’s going to be called.

Christmas is all about a baby, and his name and who he is. There’s lots of mystery and adventure too.

You might know the story of Mary giving birth to the Son of God hundreds of years ago — amazing mystery — Mary and Joseph were far from home when the baby was born and had nowhere to stay, so the new baby’s cot had to be an animal feeding trough. And the baby was given the name Jesus which means ‘God rescues’. That’s amazing too. And Jesus was also referred to as Emmauel which means ‘God with us.’ God with us even when we’re sad or upset or scared, as well as when we’re happy.

I hope you’ll learn more about that first Christmas — perhaps at home, or school, or church…

But Christmas wasn’t the end of the story… I hope you’ll go on to learn about Good Friday and Easter and then days with strange names such as Ascension and Pentecost. There’s so much adventure to discover.

And the story’s still going on and the story involves you — because Jesus Christ is still with us — no longer a baby and we can’t see him anymore — but Jesus is still God and amazingly Jesus knows your name and loves you.

And whilst I do hope this Christmas that you will feel loved and special because people who love you have put your name on presents; I also hope that you will discover how much you are loved by God and known by name.

And the amazing truth is that your name was actually on that first Christmas present, the baby Jesus Christ. It might sound strange, even unbelievable, but your name was mysteriously and invisibly written within him because Jesus Christ was born for you. He loves you and he knew you even before you were born… It’s amazing.

I hope you will discover more about Jesus Christ as your friend this Christmas… Jesus who loves you and knows you by name. Happy Christmas.

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