Why We Retell the Christmas Story Every Year

Every year, the Church returns to the familiar story of angels and shepherds, dreams and danger, a child laid in a manger because there was no room in the inn. For many, the Christmas story is so well known that it can feel almost automatic—something we recite by habit rather than expectation. And yet, the Church insists on telling it again and again, not because we have forgotten the words, but because we continually need to remember what they mean.

The Christmas story is not merely history preserved; it is proclamation renewed. When we tell the story of Jesus’ birth, we are not only recalling what God once did, but confessing what God is still doing. The Incarnation announces that God chooses nearness, vulnerability, and presence within the ordinary realities of human life (Luke 2:1–20). Retelling the story forms us as people who expect God to show up in unexpected places—among the poor, the overlooked, and the weary (Barth 2008).

Repetition, in this sense, is not redundancy. Scripture itself is shaped by sacred retelling. Israel continually rehearsed its foundational stories so that each generation could locate itself within God’s ongoing covenant (Deut. 6:20–25). Likewise, the Church retells the Christmas story so that each year—each season of joy or grief, stability or uncertainty—we may hear anew the good news that “God is with us” (Matt. 1:23). As Dietrich Bonhoeffer reminds us, Advent and Christmas are not sentimental pauses in time but declarations that God enters a world that is broken and longing for redemption (Bonhoeffer 2010).

Retelling the Christmas story also resists the cultural pressures that would reduce Christmas to nostalgia or consumption. The biblical narrative confronts us with a Messiah born under imperial rule, welcomed first by shepherds rather than rulers, and announced by angels who proclaim peace that the world cannot manufacture (Luke 2:8–14). Each year, this story challenges our assumptions about power, success, and security, calling us back to a kingdom defined by humility and love (Wright 2004).

Importantly, the Christmas story grows with us. What we hear at five years old is not what we hear at fifty. The same words speak differently depending on where we find ourselves. A young family may hear hope and joy; someone who is grieving may hear comfort; someone overwhelmed by the state of the world may hear a quiet but persistent promise that God has not abandoned creation. The story does not change, but we do—and God meets us there.

At JC 1st UMC, retelling the Christmas story each year is part of how we remain rooted in faith while looking forward with hope. It is how we teach our children, remind our adults, and encourage our elders that God’s love did not arrive once and depart, but entered the world and continues to dwell among us. Christmas is not simply something that happened; it is something that still happens whenever the story is told and believed.

As we celebrate this holy season, we do so with gratitude for the ways God has been present among us this year—in worship, in service, in moments of joy, and in times of hardship. The Christmas story reminds us that light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:5).

A Christmas Blessing from the Staff of JC 1st United Methodist Church

From all of us at JC 1st UMC, we wish you a Christmas filled with peace, hope, and the deep assurance of God’s abiding love. May the joy of Christ’s birth renew your spirit, strengthen your faith, and draw you closer to one another. As we step into the new year, may God bless you with courage for what lies ahead, compassion for those you encounter, and trust in the promise that God goes with you into every tomorrow. Merry Christmas, and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always.

Bibliography

Barth, Karl. 2008. Church Dogmatics, Vol. I/2: The Doctrine of the Word of God. Edited by G. W. Bromiley and T. F. Torrance. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson.

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. 2010. God Is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas. Edited by Jana Riess. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.

The Holy Bible, New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVue). 2021. Washington, DC: National Council of Churches.

Wright, N. T. 2004. Luke for Everyone. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.