Bishop Jonathan Gibbs, the Bishop of Rochester, has shared a message for Christmas, as he invites people to find the hope at the heart of the Nativity.
In his message, he recollects the stories he has heard throughout the year of people being drawn to exploring a relationship with God.
This is a sign, he believes, of people becoming increasingly disillusioned with those things in which they had previously placed their hope, such as increasing prosperity, or technology.
Rather, he invites everyone to explore the real message of hope found at the heart of the Christian faith:
"...the message that when we are walking in darkness, in confusion and fear, then God shines his light upon us to show us the way. He does that by the birth of his Son Jesus, who came into our world in the most unlikely of circumstances."
Read or watch Bishop Jonathan's message in full below
Bishop Jonathan's Christmas message, 2025
Up and down this country, over the last few months, there have been stories of people wandering into churches after having had a dream about Jesus Christ or having felt compelled to buy a Bible and to start reading it.
They don’t know why this has happened, but they have come along to church and wanted to know more.
I have seen this happening time and again here in this Diocese, when people at Confirmation Services – especially people in their twenties and thirties – have shared the story of what has led them to become followers of Jesus, often having had little or no previous connection with the Church.
Something is going on or rather, God himself seems to be up to something – way beyond what we as Christians have been doing to share the message of the gospel with the people around us.
Humanly speaking, I believe this is happening because people have begun to realise that the things in which they had placed their hopes – things like ever-increasing prosperity or the ability of science and technology to solve all our problems – have started to crumble in the face of economic crises, global pandemics and climate change.
You see, we human beings cannot live without hope. It is hope that keeps us going when things are tough and that enables us to believe that there is something worth living for.
And hope is the central message of the Christian faith. It is the message that when we are walking in darkness, in confusion and fear, then God shines his light upon us to show us the way.
He does that by the birth of his Son Jesus, who came into our world in the most unlikely of circumstances, born in a stable, in an out of the way place called Bethlehem.
Jesus Christ, God’s Son, came into our world to bring us hope, to banish our fear, to show us God’s love and to lead us out of darkness into his marvellous light.
In the midst of the chaos of today’s world, this is why people are turning once more to Jesus Christ, because he offers us hope instead of fear and light in place of darkness.
May you know for yourself the light and hope of Jesus this Christmas and always.
Find a warm welcome at a church near you this Christmas. Visit: www.achurchnearyou.com