Christmas did not come after a great hoard of people had completed something good, or because of the successful result of any human effort. No, it came as a miracle, as the child that comes when his time is fulfilled, as a gift of the Father which he lays into those arms that are stretched out in longing. This is how the first Christmas came; in this way it always comes anew, both to us as individuals and to the whole world.

- Eberhard Arnold

Christmas! Holy night of nights
that made the very Richest poor –
you pierce the darkness with your light;
powers of night cannot endure.

Jesus is the light of stars.
Jesus is the strength of life!
And he does for the world’s poor,
things beyond the world’s belief.

Make us poor through your great love,
Jesus, poor like you, we plead.
Make us weak – weak in your strength.
Show us mercy in our need.

- Eberhard Arnold, Sannerz, 1921

He who would be born of God must be mindful of how Christ’s birth took place. All birth from God happens as it did with Christ. When the Word is heard and when it is received, then faith is sealed with the Holy Spirit. This spirit renews every person and makes us alive in God’s justice. We become a new creature, a new creation.

- Eberhard Arnold