The faith of the early church was grounded in the message of Christ’s resurrection. The preaching of the cross and the announcement of the resurrection was and has always been, central to the Gospel of our salvation. It is so essential to our faith that Paul wrote, “Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead” (1 Cor. 15:12–14, 20). Because of the importance of emphasizing the cross and the resurrection, it was not until the 4th century A.D. that the church began celebrating the birth of Christ on an annual basis. Since the church did not have an actual record of the day when Jesus was born, the church Fathers decided that Christ’s Mass, or Christmas as it is called today, would be celebrated on December 25th. There are different reasons for the date of December 25th. One reason that some of the early Church Fathers chose that date was based on a computation of information that the early church had at the time, and they felt that December 25th was the actual date of Christ’s birth. Another reason is that the church wanted to Christianize the pagan holiday of the Sun god that Rome had set up. Despite the two main reasons for December 25th as the day for Christmas, the most important reason we celebrate Christmas is that Christ, Who is the Light of the World, came from heaven, entered into the womb of Mary, and was born to save us from our sin. The message of Christmas is more than the historical birth of a baby; it is also the incarnation of the Savior. It is more than cattle and kings kneeling in a stable, it is the entire world on its knees before the Lord of life and death. It is more than angels singing glory, it is beholding the glory that is full of grace and truth for us. No one can argue about the fact that the story of our Lord’s birth is meaningful, even stimulating, but this gospel that the world needs to hear now is the dynamic, demanding, and at times, offensive gospel of the Word made flesh. Christmas is when Christ has come into a dark world to save us and give us the gift of life. Christmas also reminds us that He will also come again. So we wait, prepare, and give to Him our worship, while we continue to proclaim the Love of God. Amen.”