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EILEEN SCHULTEIn churches around the region, the faithful gather to celebrate the birth of Jesus with sermons, Christmas pageants and community fellowship.
CLEARWATER - Surrounded by poinsettias and lighted Advent candles, the Rev. Herbert Freitag prepared to deliver the pre-Christmas message Sunday to his congregation at Chapel-by-the-Sea.
But his started out a bit differently than most.
"Have you ever been in a working barn?" he asked the people assembled.
Then he told the story of his experience, bailing hay and milking cows at the Gerlitz dairy farm on Pine Island when he was a boy and how it smelled of straw, leather, wood and manure.
He said how it must have smelled that same way at Jesus' birth in Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago.
He talked about the role of the animals.
"The scene and the scent of the stable remind us of truth and reality," Freitag said. "Jesus was born into our world as it is, into our lives as they are - good, bad, clean, dirty and often smelly. The stable and the animals and manger remind us that this birth in this place has to do with more than just a miraculous event showing God's power. This birth in this place touches the entire world.
"And because the elements were so ordinary, everyone could relate to it. Jesus had to be born where and how he was so others could identify with him. So if we want to celebrate the real Christmas, bring on the animals, the noises, odors. God comes to us despite our flaws and failings," he said.
It is a comforting message to Christians who are perhaps living lives of uncertainty, eyeing the conflict overseas and fretting about money.
All over Pinellas County on Sunday, Christian churches prepared for one of the holiest days of the year by attending services, participating in plays, singing in choirs and eating pancake breakfasts.
On Island Estates, Monsignor Michael Devine urged parishioners belonging to St. Brendan Catholic Church to set aside the clutter of everyday life and welcome the Holy Spirit into their lives.
"We are a mostly retired community and people seem to be solid and content," he said. "But they have worries about their kids up north and their finances. They are also concerned about their grandkids in Iraq."
At Grace Christian Fellowship in Largo, the Rev. Randy Evans, reminded his congregation that Jesus was given three gifts at his birth: gold, to represent loyalty, frankincense, representing the deity, and myrrh, the most unusual gift.
"It is a spice or perfume used for embalming," Evans, the church's senior pastor, said. "It reminds us Jesus was born to die. If the world thinks of Jesus at all during Christmas, they think of a little baby.
"What I helped my congregation members remember is you can't have a Christmas without a resurrection Sunday. You can't celebrate Christmas to the fullest without remembering he died for us. As sad as that is, that's the good news."
He said the world forgets about Jesus as soon as Christmas is over.
"But for Christians," he said. "It's just the beginning."
- Eileen Schulte can be reached at 727 445-4153 or schulte@sptimes.com