Service Notes
On Christmas Eve at Christ Church, Frederica (St. Simons Island, Georgia), the Very Rev. Tom Purdy—Rector of Christ Church—invites us to slow down and truly enter the season we celebrate tonight: the Incarnation.
With warmth and humor, Fr. Tom notes how quickly our culture tries to rush past Christmas—getting decorations down, moving on to the next thing—yet the Church teaches that Christmas is not a single day, but a season. Christmas begins tonight and carries us through the Twelve Days to Epiphany, calling us not to “check a box,” but to live into the gift of Emmanuel: God with us.
Fr. Tom reflects on what Christians mean by the Incarnation: that God did not remain distant, but took on human flesh and “moved in next door” in Jesus. This is the beginning of God’s saving work in the world—not transactional, but deeply relational—revealing a God who comes toward us, meets us where we are, and teaches us how to live.
To explore what Christmas looks like in practice, Fr. Tom draws from two enduring stories: It’s a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol. Both ask “What if?”—What if my life doesn’t matter? What if I don’t change?—and both show how the world is transformed when we choose love, mercy, generosity, and care for neighbor. These are the very themes Jesus lives and teaches between the manger and the cross, and they are at the heart of what it means to “keep Christmas” every day.
This Christmas Eve message is a reminder that the light of Christ is not meant to be packed away after one night. The Incarnation is a daily gift—meant to be carried in our hearts, lived in our relationships, and shared like the shepherds shared the good news: what we have seen, heard, and come to know as true about God’s love in the world.
#MerryChristmas #Incarnation #Emmanuel #GodWithUs #KeepChristmas #EpiscopalChurch #ChristChurchFrederica #StSimonsIsland #GeorgiaCoast #GoodNews #LightInTheDarkness #LoveYourNeighbor
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