Searchlight Logo
special_image

    • News
      • Front Page
      • News
      • Breaking News
      • Press Release
      • Features
      • Special Features
      • From the Courts
      • Sports
      • Regional / World
    • Opinions
      • Editorial
      • Our Readers’ Opinions
      • Bassy – Love Vine
      • Dr. Fraser- Point of View
      • R. Rose – Eye of the Needle
      • On Target
      • Dr Jozelle Miller
      • The World Around Us
      • Random Thoughts
    • Advice
      • Kitchen Corner
      • What’s on Fleek this week
      • Health Wise
      • Physician’s Weekly
      • Business Buzz
      • Hey Rosie!
      • Prime the pump
    • ePaper
    • Obituaries
      • In Memoriam / Acknowledgement
      • Tribute
    • Contact Us
      • Advertise With Us
      • Letters To The Editor
      • General Contact Information
      • Contact our Webmaster
    • About Us
      • Privacy Policy
      • Interactive Media Ltd
      • St. Vincent & the Grenadines
    • Subscribe
    • News
      • Front Page
      • News
      • Breaking News
      • Press Release
      • Features
      • Special Features
      • From the Courts
      • Sports
      • Regional / World
    • Opinions
      • Editorial
      • Our Readers’ Opinions
      • Bassy – Love Vine
      • Dr. Fraser- Point of View
      • R. Rose – Eye of the Needle
      • On Target
      • Dr Jozelle Miller
      • The World Around Us
      • Random Thoughts
    • Advice
      • Kitchen Corner
      • What’s on Fleek this week
      • Health Wise
      • Physician’s Weekly
      • Business Buzz
      • Hey Rosie!
      • Prime the pump
    • ePaper
    • Obituaries
      • In Memoriam / Acknowledgement
      • Tribute
    • Contact Us
      • Advertise With Us
      • Letters To The Editor
      • General Contact Information
      • Contact our Webmaster
    • About Us
      • Privacy Policy
      • Interactive Media Ltd
      • St. Vincent & the Grenadines
    • Subscribe
Finding meaning of our  existence this Christmas season
Christmas Messages
December 23, 2016

Finding meaning of our existence this Christmas season

Christmas message

Pastor Dermoth Baptiste, President, Seventh-Day Adventist Church

The moving hand of time has brought us once again to that celebrated period of the year known as Christmas, the time when there is a flurry of activities and increased preparation in anticipation of this looked

forward to occasion. As the Christian community celebrates Christmas again this year, it is yet another reminder of God’s marvelous condescension in human form to this rebellious earth to show us that He is not mad with our waywardness, but is longsuffering, forbearing, forgiving and always willing to restore the broken relationship that sin has brought to the human family.{{more}}

As we reflect on our personal, family and national life again this year, there are painful scars, distressing blemishes and sorrowful reminders of the horrendous consequences of sin, such as the unnatural slaughtering of human beings by those who place little or no value on the sanctity of life and the calamitous destruction of property and infrastructure due to excessive rainfall. Equally, there is enormous evidence of the unfathomable love, matchless mercy and graciousness of the Father to his creation, such as the life that we now have and the provision for its sustainability, the freedom of choice to make informed decisions and the Gospel invitation to experience transformation by beholding the Father, full of Grace and Truth. It is in this increased tension between good and evil, known as the great controversy, that we find ourselves celebrating this Christmas.

Christmas is much more than tinsel, or snow, or sleigh bells, or glittering gifts on Christmas trees. It is much more than Nine Mornings activities, shopping and entertainment. It is not about exalting Santa Claus, excessive feasting and abuses to the body by consumption of alcohol or other injurious substances. Rather, it is about recognizing our fallen state as God’s creation and renewing our love and affection to Him as we accept His supremacy and lordship over our lives.

Christmas means forgetting self and remembering those who have no Christmas. It means leaving our “little heavens,” as Jesus left His big heaven to visit those who need help and who need to hear a message of peace and hope and cheer. It means the bright eyes of little abandoned children made glad by a demonstration of unselfish love.

Christmas means revived hope in the hearts of fathers and mothers who, because of some tragedy, had lost hope of giving their family members something to look forward to, until a modern good Samaritan came along with a gift of food. Christmas means that Kindness is “Queen for a Day,” and what a happier world she makes for which we cannot help wishing that she would rule the world every day of the year. What transformations are wrought by kindness! It turns hovels of hate into havens of happiness!

Christmas means that a hard, cruel, selfish, war-weary world looks for a brief time into the face of God. It looks into a manger and sees the face of a little babe. It sees a fleeting vision of what a little babe can do to make a better world. It hears for a moment the song of the angels, singing: “On earth peace, good will toward men.” It sees businessmen forget the profit they planned to get and begin to plan to give. And how many suddenly discover that we make a living by what we get but we make a life by what we give! Christmas should help many people begin to live!

Christmas causes prodigal sons and daughters to pause in their wayward, downward course and think of mother and father and be welcomed home again. It is about little remembrances sent to revive hope in the hearts of lonely, needy ones waiting by the mailbox or the Customs for packages.

Christmas means we have heard the music of the bells of love. It means we have smelled the fragrance of the rose of love. Christmas means we can still feel the power of the love of God in our world and in our lives. It is the only time of the year that some hearts open to let Him in. O that we would make every day Christmas! May the Living Christ find a permanent dwelling place in our hearts, our homes and our land this Christmas season!

On behalf of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, I wish the nation of St Vincent and the Grenadines a blessed holiday season and a bright, prosperous and Christ-sustained New Year.

  • FacebookComments
  • ALSO IN THE NEWS
    Villa woman in  hospital after being stabbed over 20 times
    Front Page
    Villa woman in hospital after being stabbed over 20 times
    Webmaster 
    September 9, 2025
    Police are said to be carrying out investigations into the stabbing of Rafia Sardine, a 20-year-old female of Villa. Reports are that Sardine, a FLOW ...
    RSVGPF most hacked of gov’t agencies
    Front Page
    RSVGPF most hacked of gov’t agencies
    Webmaster 
    September 9, 2025
    In St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), an analysis has found that the most hacked government entity was the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Polic...
    Event staged locally to mark Africa/ Caricom Day
    Front Page
    Event staged locally to mark Africa/ Caricom Day
    Webmaster 
    September 9, 2025
    Leaders of Governments and institutions from countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and the continent of Africa, gathered at the weekend for ...
    PM, proud of his constituents
    Front Page
    PM, proud of his constituents
    Webmaster 
    September 9, 2025
    Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, is proud of the persons in his constituency who continue to aim for higher education. Dr Gonsalves is the parliame...
    Van conductor to be sentenced for beating pregnant ex-girlfriend
    Front Page
    Van conductor to be sentenced for beating pregnant ex-girlfriend
    Webmaster 
    September 9, 2025
    A van conductor, who beat his five- months pregnant ex-girlfriend after she refused to get back with him, has been remanded pending sentencing. Onez J...
    King selected again for the ULP in West St George
    News
    King selected again for the ULP in West St George
    Webmaster 
    September 9, 2025
    To the haunting timeless reggae melody of Jimmy Cliff’s classic ‘Journey’, Curtis King, who was selected as the candidate for the Unity Labour Party (...
    News
    King selected again for the ULP in West St George
    News
    King selected again for the ULP in West St George
    Webmaster 
    September 9, 2025
    To the haunting timeless reggae melody of Jimmy Cliff’s classic ‘Journey’, Curtis King, who was selected as the candidate for the Unity Labour Party (...
    Steel wielding Lowman’s Hill man to be sentenced tomorrow
    From the Courts, News
    Steel wielding Lowman’s Hill man to be sentenced tomorrow
    Webmaster 
    September 9, 2025
    A Lowman’s Hill man who struck another villager in his head with a piece of steel will know his fate tomorrow, September 10, 2025. Kevin Roberts, 25, ...
    Minister of Information Technology  emphasises the importance of Cybersecurity
    News
    Minister of Information Technology emphasises the importance of Cybersecurity
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    Robust cybersecurity must be at the heart of the digital transformation that is currently taking place in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) says Min...
    Entities team up to boost disaster communication capacity
    News
    Entities team up to boost disaster communication capacity
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    The Climate Change Resilience Network (CCRN) in collaboration with the Youlou Radio Movement (YRM) recently embarked on a disaster preparedness initia...
    Ministry of Health to get more dialysis machines
    News
    Ministry of Health to get more dialysis machines
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    The Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment, is to obtain three more Heamodialysis machines as part of the revolution in the healthcare secto...

    E-EDITION
    ePaper
    google_play
    app_store
    Subscribe Now
    • Interactive Media Ltd. • P.O. Box 152 • Kingstown • St. Vincent and the Grenadines • Phone: 784-456-1558 © Copyright Interactive Media Ltd.. All rights reserved.
    We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok