After a year of challenges from COVID-19, church leaders in Bathurst are reminding people of the hope and good news of Jesus this Christmas.
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On Saturday, while almost all shops and businesses will be shut for Christmas, church doors will be open across Bathurst, with the community invited to come together to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
Bathurst Presbyterian Church pastor Tristan Merkel said it's an "extraordinary moment in history" that Christians celebrate.
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"We love celebrating Christmas but this year particularly, the whole world is united in need," he said.
"COVID just won't back down, and hurts us over and over again. But COVID is nothing compared to the sin we've always had to deal with.
"So at Christmas we celebrate that God himself came down to help. Jesus is God-in-the-flesh, come to rescue sinners and bring new life."
Mark Sutton, from the Bathurst Evangelical Church, said Jesus is the way to know God.
"Jesus, born in Bethlehem, and later crucified and risen nearby in Jerusalem, opened the way for human beings - all people - to be with God forever," he explained.
"That is certainly a gift worth celebrating."
Hope Bathurst's Senior Pastor Steve Blackwell said God longs for relationship with humanity, making Christmas a time for family, friends, love and gifts.
"God longs for relationship with us. He wants to love us and connect with us," he said.
"So, he gave us a gift, Jesus, as our saviour so that we can reconnect with him. When we connect with God through Jesus we become part of his family and are wrapped up in his love."
Lead Pastor at Generocity Church, Gary Blackford, said the Christmas story is a demonstration of love.
"Christmas demonstrates love, the life of Jesus demonstrates love and the death and resurrection of Jesus defined his love for us," he said.
"That's why Christmas celebrates the greatest gift of all, Jesus."
Reverend Phil Howes, of the All Saints Anglican Cathedral, described Christmas as "good news".
"Christmas is about good news, offered to all people for all time because God loves all people and came to earth to give us what we needed most - reconciliation with Him," he said.
"It's a gift offered to us from God because we can't possibly get it ourselves.
"Christmas is good news because it is God's rescue plan begun at Christmas and completed at Easter bringing joy, peace and certain hope wrapped up in Jesus."
C3 Church's Lead Pastor Jeff Lloyd described Christmas as the pinnacle of optimism in the face of an increasingly cynical humanity.
"That the creator of the universe would clothe himself with human weakness, live a powerfully humble life and die for his own people, underscores the immense hope of the Christian faith - that God is with us," he said.
Pastor at the Bathurst Church of Christ, Elio Bicanic, said he's filled with awe and wonder when he considers that God came into the world as a human through Jesus.
"When Jesus was born, God literally came into the world and lived amongst us," he said.
"Many hundreds of years beforehand, the Bible predicted the birth of Jesus who would be called Immanuel, which means God with us.
"Christmas celebrates that God came near to bring us all forgiveness and peace with God. For those who search or long for God, the promise of peace and relationship with God is truly good news.
"In these uncertain times, this is the great life changing gift of Christmas. Peace with God is available for us all through Jesus Christ."
Church service times:
Anglican Diocese of Bathurst
- BATHURST - Children's Christmas Eve: 5pm
- BATHURST - Traditional Christmas Eve: 9pm
- BATHURST - Christmas Day: 9am
- KELSO - Christmas Eve: 6pm
- KELSO - Christmas Day: 9am
Bathurst services are held at the All Saints' Anglican Cathedral, 3 Church Street and Kelso services are held at Holy Trinity Anglican Church, 75 Gilmour Street
Bathurst Baptist Church
- Christmas Day: 9am
Service is held at Bathurst Baptist Church, 188 Eglinton Road
Bathurst Evangelical Church
- Christmas Eve: 6.30pm
- Boxing Day: 10am
Services are held at the Bathurst South Public School hall, 251 Havannah Street
Bathurst Presbyterian Church
- Christmas Eve: 6pm
- Christmas Day: 9am
Service is held at Bathurst Presbyterian Church (St Stephen's), 72 George Street
Bathurst Uniting Church
- Christmas Eve: 7pm
- Christmas Day: 9.30am
Services are held at Bathurst Uniting Church, 140 William Street
Catholic Diocese of Bathurst
- ST PHILOMENA'S SCHOOL - Christmas Eve: 6pm
- CATHEDRAL OF ST MICHAEL & ST JOHN - Christmas Eve: 6pm, 9pm, 12am
- CATHEDRAL OF ST MICHAEL & ST JOHN - Christmas Day: 10am
- ASSUMPTION SCHOOL - Christmas Eve: 7.30pm
- ASSUMPTION SCHOOL - Christmas Day: 8am
Services are held at the St Philomena's School, 65 Lloyds Road, the Cathedral of St Michael and St John, corner of William and Keppel Street, and the Assumption School, 192 Mitre Street
Church of Christ
- Christmas Day: 9am
Service is held at Bathurst Church of Christ, 11 Wark Parade
C3 Church
- Christmas Day: 9.30am
Service is held at C3 Church, rear of 217 Howick Street
Hope Church
- Christmas Day: 9am
Service is held at Hope Bathurst, 200 Gilmour Street
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