[RCL] Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14 (15-20) Luke’s nativity story is familiar to most of us, whether we know it or not. That famous account of Jesus’ birth that we hear, year-in and year-out, begins with those ever-so recognizable lines, “In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all…

Christmas is not an event. Christmas is not a holiday. Christmas is not a church service. Christmas is not a set of familiar carols or decorations of red and green or a jolly man in a red suit with eight tiny reindeer. Christmas is not an occasion or a party or a festival. It is…

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams preached his Christmas sermon at Canterbury Cathedral on Dec. 25. The full text follows.     ‘This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken through the prophet’. Phrases like this echo like a refrain through the nativity stories in the Gospels – and indeed the stories of Jesus’ trial…