Soon as will be Christmas Day, and I know for many of you, especially those of you who are moms, this is just one of the busiest weeks of the year.

And some of us revel in the holiday season and all the events, but there are others of us who

rather dreaded.

And what we feel is not Christmas anticipation and joy, but pressure and then exhaustion.

And no matter what others say in telling us that we can do without all the fuss and keep things simple, we

still hear an accusing voice telling us that we've not done enough. We need to do more,

and we need to do it better. And both kinds of people, indeed both kinds of Christians,

will this Christmas be listening to their minister's sermons.

And when it comes to Christmas, there are also two kinds of preachers, those who love it and those who dread it.

For the truth is, the more familiar the story, the greater the pressure most ministers and pastors

and preachers actually feel when preaching it.

The way of the occasion can crush them rather than carry them.

But if you think about it, underneath these different feelings we have, we actually all

need one and the same thing.

We all need the real message of Christmas.

Ministers sometimes, probably often and maybe even every Advent season, tell their congregations

that Christmas is perhaps the most secularised time of the year

and warn them not to fall into that trap.

Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather suspect that's really a council of despair

because law never works.

It's grace that does it.

What we need is more than a warning.

...