A seed of light was planted in this world and it has been growing ever since. Jesus who was born in a manger would grow up to be the man who would tell the stormy waters to be still, who would promise us that He was the way, the truth and the life, and that if we believed in Him we would gain eternal life.

The life of Jesus started in such a small and fragile way. When he was born he was placed in a manger, the feeding trough for animals. Yet far from inconsequential, that birth was the ultimate manifestation of God's victory over the darkness of this earth. History began again and the strongest of lights pierced through the darkness and nothing was able to put it out again.

In spite of the many attempts by evil to snuff out that light, the victory of God's love in Jesus Christ - His birth in a manger to His death on a cross - is continuing to spread throughout this whole world and each of our lives. What started as a mustard seed is bearing marvellous fruit throughout this world.

That is why when the wintry gloom starts to feel like a metaphor for our lives or when the world around seems too chaotic, we need not despair because we remember and rejoice in God Immanuel - God who has been with us from the very beginning and who continues to be with us today through our resurrected Lord Jesus Christ.

There are many in this world looking on at all the earth's problems - the violence, the consumerism, the social breakdown in some parts - who do not realise that God has already began the work of restoring this earth through the birth of Jesus Christ. There are many who are looking on at the problems in their own lives wondering when help is going to come.

Earlier this month, the Home Office announced it was going to take greater measures to counter the rise in domestic violence that typically occurs over the Christmas period. Christmas is the celebration of Christ being born on earth and of God's unchanging love for man. Yet the announcement from the Home Office was a shattering reminder that 2,000 years on, some people are still living lives untouched by this promise of love.

Without Christ at the centre, Christmas will bring only a temporary joy and influence that peters out when the New Year comes and brings with it the same problems and burdens. That is not what God intended. His dream is to see lives transformed by the realisation of what it means to have sent His one and only Son into the world to save us.

Clearly, there is a lot of work to be done in bringing the birth of Jesus to the hearts and lives of people suffering without the knowledge of Him. Yet we can rejoice in hope - whatever our personal circumstances may be - because God has already started the process of salvation in His world and we as Christians are being used by Him to push back the forces of evil and reveal Jesus to the ones who God loves and never forgets.

The birth of Jesus Christ is the eternal reminder to us that God remembered us, even when we forgot Him. During this Christmas season, there may be a lot to celebrate. Yet as we do so, we remember the many people living without the knowledge of the Lord and we say a prayer for them too, because while we are celebrating the love of the Lord on Christmas Day, God will be out looking for His many prodigal sons.

With this in mind, we can take stock over Christmas of how we are living our lives for the Lord and look forward to 2008 and the resumption of the tasks He has entrusted us with to expand His realm of love even more greatly the coming year.