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Christmas Messages of Leaders from Christian World Communions

Adventist World President's 2005 Year-End Message to the Adventist Communion

Silver Spring, Maryland/USA | 19.12.2005 | APD | Ecumenism

Dear friends, brothers and sisters in Christ,

Another year is ending. Time seems to pass so quickly. We've come to the Season when men, women and children around the world remember the birth of Jesus. Hopefully we take time to reflect on what that gift means to each of us. This is a time of peace, goodwill, and hope. And, yet, sadly these seem in short supply in so many parts of the world.

Inevitably we look back on 2005 and reflect on what it has given us. There are clearly things we wish were not there. At this season last year Southern Asia was devastated by a tsunami; and we hardly had time to recover from that destructive disaster and nature strikes again, this time as Hurricane "Katrina" in the Gulf of the United States; and just a few weeks ago an earthquake struck in the remote mountainous regions of northern Pakistan. Even though it is difficult to rebuild the lives of tens of thousands of families traumatized by these events, we are grateful for the generous support for the victims of these disasters - support which in our church are channeled through the Adventist Development and Relief Agency.

However, when I look back on 2005 I find much that brings me joy and thankfulness. I am thankful for colleagues and friends; for Kari and the children - yes, and the grand-children; for an opportunity to serve the Lord and his church; and I am thankful for God's continuous presence and for the strength that His presence gives.

I am thankful that the life of this church, which we love, does not depend on one person; it is God's to look after and we are privileged to partner with him in service. I am also immensely thankful for the large number of dedicated lay people who give of their best as they partner with the Lord and with those of us in leadership assignments to make the mission of the church effective. I honor you for what you do.

2005 was the year when several thousands of our church members met in St. Louis for what we know as the General Conference Session. We came away from that with a clear mandate to be even more deliberate in focusing on Mission; and I am especially delighted that we also gave a signal that women and youth must be full and equal partners in the life and witness of the church. We believe that the Spirit led us in this. It is now our responsibility to make sure that it works.

As we enter the New Year, evangelism, in all possible shapes and forms, will be high on the agenda of the church. "Tell the World" is the motto we chose to describe a vision of an inclusive, wide-reaching mandate for involvement in witness by the global church. We are not just a 'preaching' community. We are here to help and heal in practical ways.

I returned just a few days ago from Africa where I was confronted by the three huge challenges which humanity faces particularly in Africa: Poverty, HIV/AIDS and malaria. I visited several hospitals, and I think especially of one with 300 beds, but mostly filled with people who carried the HIV virus or suffered from malaria, but were too poor to pay for their service; they just had nothing to pay with. Our hospitals, working under the motto: "We care, but God heals" will take them in and give them the help they need, even the very poorest. Why? Because that is what Christ would do.

Whether they are poor, carry the HIV virus, or whatever, they are loved by our Lord. It is our duty to express that love, and to give them dignity and value as human beings. That is also our mission.

As we enter a New Year, not knowing how many more of these we will have, I urge you to stay close to the Lord and to look after your spiritual life. We are on a pilgrimage, and one day it will be over. "We have this hope", and we have His promises.

Let us remember to pray for each other. I need your prayers as I will give of my best to serve the Lord.

I pray that the Lord will give each of us much joy and many blessings in the New Year. And I leave you with His promise: "Behold, I am coming soon! And My reward is with me." (Rev. 22:12)

Pastor Jan Paulsen,
World president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church,
Silver Spring, Maryland, United States of America
15 December 2005


[ThisYear-end message was recorded for 14.3 million church members in more than 200 countries and territories around the world]

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The Salvation Army General's Christmas Article 2005

London/United Kingdom | 19.12.2005 | APD | Ecumenism

By John Larsson, international leader of The Salvation Army

'The Gift Beyond Words'

Are you behind with getting your Christmas cards sent off? If so, you will sympathise with the woman who rushed into the card shop just before Christmas, snapped up a packet of 50 identical cards, signed 49 of them, ran to the post office, and managed to get them into the last mail. It was only as she returned home that she looked more closely at the one remaining card in her hand. To her horror she discovered that the main text read:

This is just to say
A gift is on the way!
There were 49 disappointed people that Christmas!

But long before the first Christmas, God, through the prophets, had been sending out many such cards. Their message was always the same: 'A gift is on the way!'

'The virgin will be with child,' they proclaimed, 'and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel' (Isaiah 7:14) – God with us! 'For to us a child is born,' they said, 'to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace' (Isaiah 9:6). Rejoice! A gift is on the way!

And at the first Christmas there was no disappointment. As the day dawned, the gift arrived just as the prophets had said it would.

But not only did the gift arrive. To those with the eyes of faith the gift exceeded all expectation. The prophets had created huge anticipation. But not in their wildest imagination had their hearers thought that the promises would be fulfilled in the way they were.

Gifts are doubly precious when they exceed our expectation. When my wife, Freda, and I served in Chile our two young sons attended an American school. They learnt American history and geography, their friends were American, and they even spoke like Americans! Their great dream was to visit the USA one day and see it for themselves. And – unbeknown to them – the opportunity for us to spend some days there as a family suddenly opened up when Karl was 11 and Kevin was 10.

Freda and I decided we would make the visit a special Christmas present that year. We wrote on a card: 'A special gift – a visit to the USA next summer', put it in a small box, and covered the box with Christmas paper. We then put that box inside a bigger box, padding out the space with crunched newspaper, then covered that box, too, with Christmas paper. We repeated the procedure with an even bigger box, and then again and again and again – until the final box was bigger than the boys themselves. We put the giant box by the Christmas tree some days before Christmas. It was clearly labelled 'To Karl and Kevin'. And the process of guessing its contents began!

We saw them lifting up the box, checking its weight, wondering what it could possibly contain, making wild guesses. Huge parcels create huge expectations – and we could see it happening. And then Christmas arrived. Ignoring all the other unopened gifts, at the appointed hour the boys headed straight for the monster box and began tearing off the Christmas paper. They were a bit surprised to find that inside the box was a smaller one that also needed opening – and another and another. But they soon got the idea. Their excitement and expectation kept growing – but as the boxes got smaller and smaller I began to detect a note of anxiety in their reactions. Perhaps the gift wasn't so special after all. I even wondered for a moment whether we had overdone the drama.

But then they reached the small final box. They opened it, took out the card, read it, looked at us – and then went wild! They let out whoops of joy! They jumped up and down! And as we told them of the places we would visit in the USA their joy and excitement knew no bounds. They wanted to share the news with their friends as soon as possible. Never in their wildest imagination had they thought that the box would contain such a gift. The gift had exceeded their greatest expectations!

It was just like that on the first Christmas morning when the gift of God to the world was revealed. Through their words, the prophets had built up immense anticipation. But that God's gift to the world would be his one and only Son exceeded all expectation. The angels went wild with joy. 'Glory to God in the highest', they sang. The shepherds glorified and praised God. And the world rejoiced. For the gift was literally 'Immanuel – God with us!'

Paul was not known for being short of words. But when he later reflected on what had happened on that Christmas morning, he could only exclaim: 'Thanks be to God for his gift beyond words!' (2 Corinthians 9:15 New English Bible). Jesus - God's indescribable gift! Jesus - God's gift that exceeded all expectation!

(Note. All Scripture quotations are from the New International Version except where indicated)

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The Archbishop of Canterbury's 2005 Christmas Message to the Anglican Communion

Lambeth(United Kingdom | 19.12.2005 | APD | Ecumenism

The Archbishop of Canterbury's 2005 Christmas Message to the Anglican Communion

Perhaps the two images most of us will carry away from the last twelve months are those of the devastation caused by the tsunami just after last Christmas and by the hurricanes that devastated the southern states of America in the autumn. The natural world became a place of terror and disaster.

The question never quite goes away of why God made a world in which such tragedy is possible. But Christmas reminds us of the one thing we know for sure - and that is God's way of responding to suffering. He doesn't wave a magic wand, or descend briefly from the sky to clean things up. He arrives on earth as a human being who will change things simply by the completeness of his love. Jesus is dedicated to the will of the one he calls Father, the divine source of his own divine life. Never for a moment does he put any obstacle in the way of that ultimate, total outpouring of love that is the wellspring of his own life. He gives himself to this transforming purpose in every moment, whatever it costs.

And the world changes - even the physical world: death is overcome and the material world reveals God's glory in its depths. So we are changed. New things become possible for us, new levels of loving response and involvement. As has often been said, the Christian answer to the problem of suffering is not a theory but the story of a life and a death, Jesus' life and death. And for that answer to be credible now, that story has to be visible in our story. We must give an answer to suffering and tragedy in what we do - because the one thing we know is that this is what God does. Faith is restored and strengthened not by talking but by witness in action. And one of the moving things that this year has brought for me is the awareness of how generously so many have responded to the desperate needs of the tsunami victims and those who suffered in New Orleans.

I have had moving letters describing the sacrificial work of Anglicans in the Province of South-East Asia, and in the diocese of Kurunagula in Sri Lanka, to name only two instances, clearly witnessing to the willingness to respond first and ask theoretical questions afterwards. And only a few days ago, I listened to a woman from Texas speaking of her work day and night over many weeks in Houston with those who had been made homeless by Hurricane Katrina. Here are stories of people who know how to answer the challenges of terrible suffering in God's way - by obedience and service and love.

There is something about Christianity that always pulls us back from imagining that everything will be all right if we can find the right things to say - because for God, the right thing to say at Christmas was the crying of a small child, beginning a life of risk and suffering. God shows us how, by his grace and in his Spirit, we can respond to the tormenting riddles of the world. And, as we agonise over the future of our beloved church, with all its debates and bitter struggles at the moment, it does us no harm to remember that God will not solve our Anglican problems by a plan or a formula, but only by the miracle of his love in Jesus. If we want to be part of the solution, we must first be wholly and unconditionally pledged to that love, with all its costs. May God who works in the weakness and smallness of the Christmas child work in our weakness and smallness; may he bless and strengthen you all at this season.

+Rowan Cantuar

Lambeth, 15 December 2005

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Christmas Message 2005 from David Coffey (President) and Denton Lotz (General Secretary) of the Baptist World Alliance

| 19.12.2005 | APD | Ecumenism

Christmas Message 2005

from David Coffey (President) and Denton Lotz (General Secretary) of the Baptist World Alliance


Dear Baptist Friends Worldwide:

Greetings in the name of our Lord! The Christmas Season reminds us that the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ is indeed good news of great joy for all people! He alone brings light to a darkened world.

Andrew from Russia knows the difference between light and darkness. When he was a young boy, Andrew stole a bicycle and was sentenced to four years in prison. Upon his release, he stole a car and was sent to prison for another four years. During his incarceration, a Baptist brother witnessed to him and Andrew gave his heart to Christ. Now he and his wife, Tanya, are missionaries in the Ukraine. Andrew describes the difference Christ has made in his life:

“The past was dark, but my future is light.”

Our world desperately needs the light of Christ. This year’s natural disasters — tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes and floods — have brought untold suffering to many thousands of people. The perennial manmade disasters of war and terrorist attacks continue to inflict misery upon countless people. Daily we are reminded that life hangs by a flimsy thread.

The world asks, “Is there any hope?,” and we reply, “Yes! There is good news in the Light of the World, Jesus Christ. The God of the universe has clothed himself with human flesh. The One who is the Light of the World brings hope to every human heart and relief to every hurt.”

The Baptist World Alliance reflects the light of Christ through its ministries:

• In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Baptist believers supported by the BWA served over 90% of the hot meals to the victims of this natural disaster.

• Hungarian Baptist Aid, aided by the BWA, was “fi rst feet on the ground” in Pakistan when a massive earthquake killed 87,000 people.

• Baptist believers are mercilessly persecuted around the world.

Three little girls were beheaded in Indonesia. Turkmenistan forbids believers to exercise their faith in Christ. Azerbaijan does not allow Baptists to evangelize. The BWA brings light to these oppressed people by promoting religious freedom and human rights.

• Thousands of Baptists left the BWA Centennial Congress with hearts overfl owing in praise to God. There is now a renewed determination to work for the unity of Christ’s body and to proclaim the Good News of Christ, the Light of the World, to a broken and hurting world.

• Living Water, a strategic movement of the BWA to encourage evangelism and leadership development around the world, had its fi rst conference in St. Petersburg, Russia. Over 300 delegates from the Russian-speaking countries in Eastern Europe were inspired and encouraged.

Jesus Christ is the Light of the World. We invite you to refl ect His light to our darkened world by making a generous gift to the BWA this Christmas season.

Your gift to the ministries of the BWA will:

• Encourage our brothers and sisters around the world to remain faithful to the Gospel;

• Create a renewed unity within the Baptist family;

• Liberate our brothers and sisters from oppression;

• Provide opportunities for many to respond to claims of Christ; and,

• Meet the physical and material needs of those who are hurting.

This Christmas season, will you send a generous gift to keep the light of Christ burning brightly? We ask for your prayers that God will bless our efforts to serve Him. May the joy of Christ be with you!

Yours faithfully in Christ,

David Coffey, President

Denton Lotz, General Secretary

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Christmas Message 2005 from the World Council of Churches General Secretary

Geneva/Swiitzerland | 19.12.2005 | APD | Ecumenism

Christmas Message 2005 from the World Council of Churches General Secretary

"This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger."
Luke 2:12

It was in the midst of last year's Christmas season that the December 26th tsunami killed thousands of people on the shores of the Indian Ocean. Who can forget the images of the killer waves, the many victims and traumatized survivors on the shores of Indonesia, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and even Somalia? All around the world, these images prompted an unprecedented response to appeals for emergency relief, an extraordinary expression of solidarity with the victims by people from all walks of life.

The year that followed has renewed our awe of nature's power, with an unusual frequency of violent storms, floods and hurricanes such as Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico, and the terrible earthquake that devastated whole villages and cities in Kashmir. In Brazil, where the World Council of Churches will hold its 9th Assembly in February 2006, the national weather service recently used the term "hurricane" for the first time following an unprecedented storm in 2004. Vast areas of the country suffer from a terrible drought, as if our physical environment will no longer tolerate the careless and merciless attack on its integrity, demonstrating its power to humanity and reminding us of our vulnerability. Repeatedly, it has been the poor and marginalized who were most vulnerable and, thus, the most severely hit. The gap between rich and poor, the traces of racism and casteism, the ills dividing humanity were exposed in these situations of crisis.

As we prepare ourselves again to celebrate Christmas, the story of the birth of Christ speaks in new ways against the background of this experience. We see before us the image of a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger that was, according to the tradition of the early church, hewn into the rock of a cave in Bethlehem. Throughout history, this image has comforted victims of oppression and violence in many parts of the world. It has led humans to realize that Jesus was one of us, indeed: someone down-to-earth. It has encouraged some to believe that God's presence with us in Jesus is powerful enough to transform this earth. It has motivated others to accept their own responsibility and to stand in solidarity with all who work for change and alternatives to existing conditions. Through Jesus Christ, the incarnation of the divine, God has invested love in humanity. God became a human being, born of a woman, who suffered as we suffer and died as we shall die.

"Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:5-11). Dare we invest less in humanity than God has done? Dare we invest less in ourselves than God has deemed appropriate?

When we pray in the words of the theme of the forthcoming WCC Assembly, God, in your grace, transform the world, we confess our readiness to proclaim the good news that the Triune God has acted to dignify humanity through God's incarnation in Jesus Christ and to begin the transformation of a world that knows little of grace and mercy. With the birth of the child in Bethlehem, God is at work within creation to bring about needed change through grace. Churches and their members world-wide stand on the side of the poor; this is especially true of Christians in Brazil who engage in struggles for the landless, the right to water for all, and the care of creation. Brazilian churches are working together, in the power of the Holy Spirit, with the hope of overcoming violence and helping to establish justice and accountability in politics.

When we ask you this Christmas to draw nearer to the suffering and marginalized in your thoughts, prayers and deeds, we ask you to pray especially for the people and churches in Brazil. Called to be co-workers with God, our participation in God's mission begins where we live, yet our common responsibility leads us to work together for the sake of the whole world.

May the blessings of Christmas bring you peace and joy.

Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia
World Council of Churches general secretary

December 2005

Notice:
A free high-resolution photo is available at:
http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/photo-galleries/christmas2005.html

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Lutheran World Federation President's Christmas Message 2005

Geneva/Switzerland | 19.12.2005 | APD | Ecumenism

Fear Must Not Become Our Defining Reality

By Mark S. Hanson

Dear Sisters and Brothers in the worldwide Lutheran communion,

"Do not be afraid." So began the angel's announcement of Jesus' birth. It was also Gabriel's greeting to a bewildered Mary, "Do not be afraid." To the grieving women at Jesus' tomb, angels again declared, "Do not be afraid." To exiles in Babylon who felt forsaken by God comes the announcement, "Be strong, do not fear!" (Isaiah 35:4)

To be human is to have fears. Fear has permeated life in this past year and haunting images will remain with us. Children fear abandonment as their parents die from HIV/AIDS. Parents clutch their children, terrified there will not be food enough to keep death and disease away. People struggle for survival in the midst of natural disasters. Others seek safety from violence. All know the reality of fear.

We know the reality of fear, but fear must not become our defining reality. When fear becomes our orientation to the world, we either withdraw in isolation or lash out in acts of aggression. Fear hardens lives, dares not acknowledge failures, and closes borders. Fear leaves us cynical, immobilized, and turned in upon ourselves.

The angel says, "Do not be afraid. For see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord."

God sends messengers to hold back the walls of fear. We can then hear the good news of God's love in Christ Jesus for the whole creation. We entrust our lives to God's promise. Faith rather than fear defines us.

Faith frees us to confess our bondage to sin and to accept God's gift of forgiveness. Faith calls us to take up our cross and follow Jesus into our suffering world. Faith compels us to bear witness to the signs of God's reign of justice, mercy, and peace. As one writer said, "Faith quells our fears, but never our courage." We receive the future, trusting in the power and promise of Christ's death and resurrection.

May our voices in the communion of the Lutheran World Federation be joined with the chorus of every time and every place as we joyfully sing:

Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom [God] favors.

In God's grace,

Bishop Mark S. Hanson
President, The Lutheran World Federation

November 2005

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Christmas message of the General Secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches

Geneva/Switzerland | 20.12.2005 | APD | Ecumenism

Dear friends,

“…and His name shall be called Emmanuel (which means God with us)”

Merry Christmas. We pray that celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ this year will bring you and your family and your church a fresh sense of God’s presence with us. This season gives us an opportunity to stop, reflect and receive new inspiration from God as we face life in a world which is filled with many daunting challenges as well as evidence of evil, suffering, violence and death around us.

The last twelve months since December 26, 2004, have been filled with devastation caused by natural disasters, poverty and hardship caused by unjust economic structures, injuries, torture and death in the context of senseless wars and acts of terror, and violence suffered in many homes. This is the short version of a rather long list of signs of bad news in our world today. It is in this context that churches have been offering words of hope. Even this is often a struggle because we have too often allowed ourselves, as churches, to be divided.

In a world such as this it helps to know that the promise of a child being born and named Emmanuel was given at a time when people were very discouraged and facing difficult challenges. Matthew quoted these words at a time when the people of Judaea were under oppression from the empire of the day. The original version in First Isaiah was at a time of discouragement and oppression. Those words, a child shall be born whose name shall be called Immanuel, which means “God with us”, came with refreshing, reassuring meaning to a people who may have wondered whether He was indeed with them. We who live today can also hear these words in our troubling times and be reassured of God’s presence with us. This is the hope that the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ brings.

While we have this assurance, the season also challenges us to proclaim this good news in word and deed to those who have not been able to hear it because of the circumstances surrounding them. As we prepare gifts for our loved ones this Christmas season, how can we offer the gift that will reassure the many victims of injustice and violence that God is with them? Our actions as churches and individual Christians, to bring life where death and injustice reign, can be the means through which our communities can experience God’s presence. Indeed with the birth of our Lord Jesus we can celebrate - Emmanuel – “God with us”.

May this year's celebration of Christmas bring to you blessings of hope that our Saviour’s coming offers.

Our President, the Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick, the Executive Committee, all of the WARC staff and my family, join me in wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a fulfilling new year 2006.

May God bless you.

Sincerely yours,

Setri Nyomi (Rev. Dr.)
General Secretary
Geneva, December 20, 2005

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Adventist Euro Africa President's New Year Message

Berne/Switzerland | 05.01.2006 | Ecumenism

Dear Brethren and Sisters:

This year, now drawing to its close, has brought us closer to our goal and to the fulfillment of our hope. Grateful for all that the Lord has already done for us, we may face the coming year and the future with confidence, close our ranks, unite our efforts and overcome all obstacles through an unreserved commitment to His service and to the fulfillment of the mission He has entrusted to us.

Our society is caught in a gigantic maelstrom produced by social, cultural and spiritual phenomena, most of them unknown. We are living in a transitional period. The past is disappearing, and nobody knows what will happen in the future. All traditional values appear to be crumbling. Doubts are instilling themselves in the soil of our society, producing fear in the hearts of men and women. But, as committed Christians, we carry a message of hope. This message is the answer to the doubts and fears of 21st century man.

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearance of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:11–13, N.I.V.).

Let this new year be, for each of us, an opportunity to soberly evaluate the quality of our understanding of our message of hope in Jesus Christ and of His soon coming; to coordinate our efforts to be able to express this hope efficiently to our neighbors; and to commit ourselves unreservedly to His service.

“Journey of Hope”: such is also the motto chosen by the general Conference as a motivation for the year 2006.

Let us follow together this wonderful “Journey of Hope” in Jesus Christ and invite our friends and acquaintances to join us.

I wish you a safe journey on this path; let the Lord bless you abundantly.

Ulrich Frikart
President
Euro-Africa Division
General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

Berne, December 27, 2005


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