Share the sermon that you heard at church for the Christmas service. Discuss one another's sermons, etc.
We didn't have a sermon, but rather a message from our bishop:
Dear beloved Fathers, Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Since the 15th of November we had been in the Nativity Fast, this preparatory period for the celebration of the Nativity in the flesh of the Son of God. Three things must govern our life in this important time of the liturgical year: our spiritual longing to deepen our personal relationship with Christ; the duty of gratitude and love toward the Salvation that is offered to us, and finally the call of the Church who, as a mindful Mother to her children, invites us to prepare ourselves to welcome in our hearts the message of the Angel: "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger." (Luke 2:10-12)
The Incarnation of the Son of God delivers man from slavery and carries him toward Salvation. The divine love elevates man to the dignity of a son of God, called to inherit the Kingdom. What gratefulness should each man have when contemplating the humility of the Word and creator, laid down with love in a manger! "He, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Him." (Ephesians 2:4-6)
Every great feast of the Lord makes the Church dance with joy, offering Him a more solemn worship and adressing more fervent prayers to the One Who created man in His image and likeness. Christ becomes incarnate for the salvation of all, but He still awaits for us to be ready to welcome Him, to open our hearts to receive the Good News. We must always keep present before our eyes and our hearts this word of the apostle John: "He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him." (John 1:11) Are not the same blindness, the same insensitivity, to be found today among those who claim to be of Jesus Christ?
Taking inspiration from the Fathers and the spiritual ones of all times, we see that they highlight three advents of Christ: 1) the first, when He became flesh; 2) the second, when He is born and spiritually dwells in us; 3) the third, when He will return in the spark of his glory for Judgment.
We often agree with the first and third manifestations. As for the second - precisely the most important one - we forget too easily, even though it is the one which conditions our Christian life from baptism to death.
The apostle Paul wrote in a great burst of love: "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." (Galatians 2:20)
If we are the dwelling place of Christ, we become strong when faced with the many temptations to separate ourselves from Him, He becomes the master of our passions, our desires, and our evil will. With Him in us, we acquire love for our brothers, respect for others, discernment of words. In this time, let us petition that, for us and our brothers, we receive this visit and indwelling of the Savior, for if we do not receive Him in our hearts, it is to our condemnation that He will return. If we do not let Him be spiritually born in us, we lose the fruit of the Nativity and so the third advent will not be for us to be crowned in glory, but to be taken away from the joy of the banquet of Love.
This time of the Nativity must take us away from our daily tepidity. Let us look upon the Almighty God, the One in front of Whom the mountains shake, the One in front of Whom the Sun does not cease to shine, the One Who comes down from His throne of glory to wear our weakness, to humiliate himself in front of us to the point of becoming the sweepings of His own creation. In the cave rests the One of Whom the only objective is to dissipate the darkness of death that has accumulated between Him and us.
Let us prepare the way of the Lord, let us make straight the trails of our souls, let us fill the valleys of our passions, let us flatten the hills of our pride, for He is coming, the One Whom all nations expect. And so we will truly live the word of John the evangelist: "As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God." (John 1:12)
I wish to you all a good and holy feast of the Nativity of the Lord.