Dear Parents,

Please find attached a Christmas message from the Bishop of Lincoln to all Church Schools in the Diocese.

Christmas 2015 Letter from the Bishop of Lincoln

We’re all getting ready for Christmas here in the bishop’s house. The Christmas pudding has
been made, the turkey is ordered. The presents have been bought, and soon we’ll be putting
them under our Christmas tree. One of my favourite bits of getting everything ready is putting
out our Christmas crib to remind us of what it was like that very first Christmas when Jesus was
born.
One thing about that first Christmas which I always try to remember is that it was really
different from anything you and I have ever experienced. When Jesus was born, it wasn’t in a
nice, warm hospital with lots of people around to help and make sure everything was ok. It
wasn’t like that at all: Jesus was born outside, in a dangerous place, and Mary and Joseph had
to be very, very careful to keep their new baby safe.
But the other thing I always try to remember is that the way Jesus was born wasn’t an accident.
God knew exactly what he was doing, because he knows that things don’t always happen in a
neat and tidy way. Life is sometimes messy, and we worry, and things don’t turn out the way
we would like them to. God understands that, and sending Jesus to us at Christmas is God’s way
of showing us that. Jesus was the most precious and special thing that God had, and the way he
was born show us just how much God loves us.
When I’m helping to put up the decorations in my house this year, I am going to remember that
there are lots of people in our world at the moment who are having to live outside, who live in
dangerous places because people are fighting. They are very like Jesus and his family, because
they’re not able to stay at home any more and they have to move somewhere else to be safe.
They sometimes have to leave everything behind and walk a very long way to do that.
The three kings came to Mary and Joseph and helped them to look after baby Jesus and keep
him safe. God needs all of us to do that for each other too, especially anyone we meet who is
different from us and has had to move here from a far away place.
May God bless you, your homes and all those you love this Christmas and always.
Bishop Christopher