By Mallory Mattingly
In the busyness of Christmas, we often forget to pause and remember that the reason for the festivities is to reflect on Christ’s birth and His presence with us today.
TODAY anchor Craig Melvin and his pastor, senior minister Jeff Rider at Green’s Farms Church in Westport, Connecticut, spoke about how remembering the real reason for the season can transform how we approach Christmas.
“I think one of the biggest things they’re looking for is relief,” Rider said of those seeking church this holiday season. “This is such a stressful time for people, and there’s a sense that they want to nail the holidays. They want to get them right. And that means different things for different people. It can mean different things for different families within the same family, which is oftentimes a real challenge to navigate.”
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“But, you know, honestly, I think one of the things that people really are looking for more than anything is what they’re looking for all the time,” he continued. “They’re looking to be part of something bigger than themselves, and they are looking to connect and grow with their relationship with God.”
For a lot of people, Christmas can be full of love, joy and family but also grief and sadness. Pastor Rider encouraged listeners to lean into the presence of God when those feelings arise.
“Leaning into that message that Christmas is Emanuel. Christmas is God with us,” Rider declared. “And if you’re not feeling that, one of the greatest and easiest ways to embrace that or to feel that is to connect with other people.”
“You know, sometimes…when we’re feeling that sense of grief and loss, we isolate,” he explained. “We go into our corner. And I think really what it is, it’s an invitation to embrace. It’s to get into community.”
Rider has noticed that people don’t walk away from the Christmas service astonished by his preaching; they leave with a “sense of energy, of being alive, and it’s the comment that I get time and time again.”
“There is something powerful about that each and every time, when you realize, when we can set aside the difference, set aside the pettiness, when we can find it in our hearts to forgive, that moment is just electric,” he said.
Pastor Rider finished his interview with Melvin with one message: “Hope is alive. Hope is here for you, and it’s bound in the most unlikely of places. When we do church right, we make room for god and god shows up. God never disappoints.”
Whether today is filled with joy and fun or grief and sorrow, let’s remember that no matter what, God is with us.
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