December 2025 at St Barnabas:
· Saturday, 20th December 2025 – Carols and Nine Lessons at St George in the Forest, Troodos, 3pm
· Sunday 21st December 2025 – Carols and Nine Lessons at St Barnabas, at 6pm
· Wednesday, 24th December 2025 – Midnight Mass, 11pm
· Thursday, 25th December 2025 – Christmas Morning Service at 10am
A Christmas Message from Rev’d Deborah Moorgas:
This is my second Christmas here in Cyprus, how time flies. Christmas is a time for family, friends and community to come together to show the true meaning of Christmas. I am sure you all remember Christmas’s past. Christmas is a joyous time, we think about the food, the presents, the family and friends but more importantly our remembering the true reason for the season, Jesus’s birth.
Christmas has become so commercialised, the decorations were up in the shops, we heard the carols and saw the very strategic marketing plans being rolled out. Santa Clause is the man and Jesus has become secondary in the process. Let’s try harder to bring Jesus into the season, I know we can do better and be better not just for ourselves but for our children, our families and our communities.
As much as there is lots of fun and celebration, for many of us now, we remember those days with some sadness, as we think about our loved ones that have passed away, or family members and friends who no longer talk to each other and children who live abroad but with all this our hope is found in the Lord. Around the world, wars, genocides and civil uprising are tearing families and countries apart and we ourselves find that we stand on opposite sides of the divide but in all of this we have to remember that Christ too, was born into dangerous circumstances, when Herod ordered all male children to be killed. God sent his son to be born knowing that he would be in danger because of one man’s greed and need for power. Sadly, not much has changed in the world today, but, here we are, it is Christmas time and we remember Jesus’ birth, focusing all our attention on one small, hope-filled family.
Mary who laboured and birthed the Saviour, Joseph who stood by as the earthly father and Jesus who came into the world screaming and crying. This is the story of where God shows up to be Emmanuel, God with us. The birth of Jesus is a reminder of the hope we have in God. The God of hope who keeps his promise to be present in the world, in us and in all of creation. Our hope in Christ is what keeps us going, He is the reason we continue to hold on, he is the reason we raise our children in our faith and He the reason we endure all the disappointments and struggles that life throws at us. This Christmas we, like Mary are invited to ponder on how God used ordinary, everyday people to help him save the lost and lonely. About how God revealed the good news of salvation to the lowliest people first and how God comes to us at our weakest and most vulnerable state and how God embraced us and the whole world, through the birth of divine love and hope in and through the Christ child.
It really is a blessing that is hard to comprehend, let alone believe and so as Christians we are obligated to be the hope of this hurting and hopeless world, where people are desperate for a little love and kindness. As Mary birthed the Christ Child, I wonder, what are the seeds of hope that are being birthed from us for ourselves, our churches and what seeds of hope are we birthing for the people out there in this cold hard world, do the seeds of hope that we are birthing line up with the true meaning of the nativity story, this Christmas?
May the blessings of Jesus Christ be more than you can grasp this Christmas and may 2026 be a extraordinary year for you and your family, where the love of Christ shines radiantly in the days ahead, where people not only see His light in you but are drawn to Him who makes all things possible, through you.
Come join us this Christmas season, we look forward to welcoming you to the family.
TABLETOP SALES at St Barnabas Church will continue to be held throughout 2025. Cost is €12.50 for a pitch the length of one long table. A limited number of tables are available for hire at an additional cost of €5 per table. These must be pre-booked. This is always an enjoyable day out for the family, you will find free car parking in various locations around the church grounds. Hot & cold refreshments available on site.
Contact Nora 99356451 or email nora.ananiades@cytanet.com.cy if you would like to reserve a pitch.
Cans for kids -please remember to put your empty drinks cans in the cage by the kitchen in the church grounds. The cans are collected regularly and the money generated goes towards helping children in need.
Spectacles –The yellow box in the hall is for used spectacles, sunglasses, lenses and cases. The Limassol Lions collect them for refurbishment before sending them off to countries in need.
Regular Events at St Barnabas Church Limassol
Tuesday Prayer Meeting 9.30am
Wednesday Communion 9.30am
Ladies Wednesday Craft Group 10-12 noon
Sunday Eucharist 10.00am – also available via YouTube
If you are visiting us for the first time, please make yourself known to our Chaplain or sides persons.
Refreshments will be available in the church hall after the service.
Rev Deborah Moorgas chaplain@stbarnabas-cyprus.com
www.stbarnabas-cyprus.com
www.facebook.com/StBarnabasAnglicanChurchLimassol/
www.youtube.com/@StBarnabasChurchLimassol
Rev John Attenborough MTS – 99 539144
John.attenborough@mtsmail.org
Regional Director, Middle East, and South Asia & Chaplain to the Cyprus Ports