I attended a school Christmas concert this week (not local), where one of the items had most of the class dressed as Martians (!) A sleigh loaded with presents had crashed on Mars, and in one of the presents was a talking doll. In response to the questions of the martians, the doll tried to explain the purpose of the presents and the meaning of Christmas.

As far as I could tell, the message to the Martians was that Christmas was a time for giving and getting presents and generally having a good time. In fact, throughout the whole concert, this was the point that was made over and over again. The only reference to Jesus in the whole performance was when a wombat was chosen to play "Baby Jesus" in a bush pageant.

I thank God that, year after year, our Kindergarten has consistently proclaimed the true Christmas story in its annual concert. One sometimes wonders how much the children are able to translate from the Christmas pageant they act out into the realities of life. Do they understand that the baby in the manger represents the most momentous event in history , when God became man? Do they grasp the significance of the angels' words that the baby born in Bethlehem is the "Saviour who is Christ the Lord"? Many adults have not reached that point. Yet, at least, our children aree taught that Christmas is about Baby Jesus, not just a matter of presents and parties.

Sadly, this message is heard less and less in society today. I may be wrong, but it seems that in many shopping centres this Christmas the old Christmas Carols that tell the Christmas Story have been replaced by new songs that talk about the celebration, rather than the event being celebrated. Or else they focus on the myths of Christmas, rather than the reality. "Jingle Bells". and "Rudolph" have replaced "Silent Night" and "O Come All Ye Faithful."

Our Archbishop has written in Southern Cross about "the increasing secularisation of the Christmas season." In the same issue it is reported that last month the Archbishop of Canterbury labeled Britain an "atheist" society. It is quite evident that here in Australia we are in a 'post-Christian’ era, where Christian teaching and Christian values are no longer at the centre of the way people think and act. The current controversy involving certain Christian schools reveals that. The majority of children growing up in our city today have very little exposure to the teaching of the Bible. It is not surprising that they do not think or act biblically.

Against such a background the challenge comes to us who do know God's truth to be all the more clear cut in maintaining our own standards. We cannot expect that our children will hear the Bible taught, or see the Christian life modelled if they do not hear it from us and see it in us. As society becomes more and more secular, the gap between those who follow Jesus and those who don't becomes wider.

However, as another writer in Southern Cross says "While Australia is 'post-Christian' it is far from the non-Christian, pagan world of Rome." in which the church first took root. We achieve little by bemoaning the demise of Christian culture and the secularisation of society. The challenge to us is to get personally serious about our faith and clear in our beliefs.

As we have been seeing in our studies in the Book of Acts, the Christian gospel spread into a world that was utterly pagan, and turned it upside down. Ordinary Christians, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, took the message of Jesus into a world that was very short on hope. People were healed, people were set free from demonic powers and found a reality in the gospel of Jesus that transformed their lives. That is why Christianity spread in a world where there were many other religions. That is why the birth of Jesus is still celebrated around the world 2000 years later.

The early Christians did not just have another 'religious story'. They went with a personal testimony of changed lives. Sadly, this is lacking from so many churches today, but it is absolutely essential if we are to see, our society impacted anew for Jesus.

While the outward details of donkeys, mangers and shepherds may be far removed from the Australia of the 21st Century, the underlying spiritual issues are still the same. People's hearts are still "desperately wicked" and "restless" without God. Bodies still need healing, the demonized still need to be set free, and sin still requires a saviour.

The Christmas message is still as relevant today as it ever was, but it needs to be repackaged in our own lives and our own personal transformation. Without that, it will be just another fable, and not nearly as attractive as 'Santa Claus'!