Community & Business
24 December, 2022
Pastor’s Viewpoint - December 20, 2022
Mark Calder - Anglican Bishop of the Diocese of Bathurst - covering central and western NSW

Christmas is the sure sign that God is
real and that he loves us.
That he’s real?
We know that because he turned up.
Jesus is none other than God in person.
That’s extraordinary. And he turned up not in
a palace, but in a food trough among farm
animals. Such was his humility!
That he loves us?
Only love would motivate the God of the
universe to step into the world he created
and be therefore vulnerable to humanity
which had already turned its back on him!
Why did he do it?
Because he loves us so much that he
didn’t want to leave us in the mess we’d
made of things by shutting him out. Through
his teaching, his life, and his death and resurrection,
he makes it possible for anyone
who wants to welcome him back into their
life, to be forgiven, and reconciled to him for
a great life now, and all eternity.
2022 has been another very tough year.
Our only hope is not that things will get better, or that next year will be free of sadness’s and challenges (though I hope it is!); our only hope and help is to welcome the love, strength, and new life that God turned up 2,000 years ago to make possible. Have a great Christmas!