Christmas Day Eucharist Service
Christmas Day is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, is celebrated by the vast majority of Christians.
"Christmas" is a shortened form of "Christ" and "Mass". It is derived from the Middle English Cristemasse, which is from Old English Crīstesmæsse, a phrase first recorded in 1038 followed by the word Cristes-messe in 1131. Crīst (genitive Crīstes) is from Greek Khrīstos (Χριστός), a translation of Hebrew Māšîaḥ (מָשִׁיחַ), "Messiah", meaning "anointed"; and mæsse is from Latin missa, the celebration of the Eucharist. The form Christenmas was also historically used, but is now considered archaic and dialectal; it derives from Middle English Cristenmasse, literally "Christian mass". Xmas is an abbreviation of Christmas found particularly in print, based on the initial letter chi (Χ) in Greek Khrīstos (Χριστός), "Christ", though numerous style guides discourage its use; it has precedent in Middle English Χρ̄es masse (where "Χρ̄" is an abbreviation for Χριστός).
根據福音書 (The Gospels)，聖母馬利亞 (Virgin Mary) 受聖靈感孕後，在伯利恆 (Bethlehem) 生下耶穌；祂是舊約 (Old Testament) 預言中的彌賽亞 (Messiah) ，祂來是要實現上帝的救贖計劃。猶太人一直相信彌賽亞出自大衞家，而馬利亞的丈夫約瑟 (Joseph) ，正是大衛家族的後嗣，伯利恆是他的家鄉，所以耶穌在伯利恆出生，是要應驗舊約先知的預言。
其實聖經並沒有記載耶穌的出生日期，要到主後二百年教會才開始關心這個問題，並嘗試找出耶穌的出生日期。早期基督徒嘗試採用當時非常盛行的密特拉教所信奉的密特拉神的誕辰 (The birth of Mithra) ，即12月25日，作為記念耶穌基督的誕生。密特拉原是波斯太陽神──又稱「光明之神」，是羅馬國教眾神之一。
當日羅馬人普遍守奉薩圖爾努斯農神節 (Saturnalia, the Roman festivals to celebrate Saturnus) ，是一個異教節日，又是羅馬曆書的冬至 (winter solstice on the Roman calendar) ，故此崇拜太陽神及農神的異教徒十分重視這節令，認為這一天代表了春天的來臨和它所帶給人的希望，為萬物復甦的開始。基於這重意義，教會便選擇了這天作為聖誕節，並力圖把異教徒的風俗習慣基督教化 (Christianize) 。後來，雖然教會普遍接受這天為聖誕節，但因各地教會使用的曆書不同，具體日期未能統一，於是就把十二月廿四日到第二年的一月六日定為聖誕節期 (Christmastide) ，而各地教會可根據其具體情況，在這節期內慶祝聖誕節，記念基督的誕生。
然而聖經告訴我們上帝只有一位，就是「創造宇宙萬物的造物主」，祂既然是創造主，就不是被造的，而是自有永有的；祂是靈，不受時間和空間的限制，也因此是無限的。微小有限的人如何才能找到這位無限至高的上帝呢？原來上帝過去曾多次多方介入人類的歷史、向人 說話，啟示祂自己，正如聖經所說："God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets." (Hebrews 1:1)
不單如此，上帝更親自「道成肉身」，降臨在我們中間；"Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself pruged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." (Hebrews 1:3) 祂要把上帝和祂的真道啟示出來，使世人因信祂而認識上帝。祂親嘗了人間的苦難，為的是要成就上帝救贖世界的恩典，而這正是聖誕日崇拜的主題。
我們聚集一起，崇拜上帝，是要見證這位我們一直仰望拯救世界的「道」── "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)。救恩已經實現了，所以今天我們慶祝這個偉大而神聖的聖誕節。在普天同慶的日子，讓我們加入天使的行列，歡欣快樂地唱頌這首讚歌：
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." (Luke 2:14)
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