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Christmas, 
in the Christian church the day which the birth of Christ is celebrated. The event is observed by Western Christians December 25, but in all Eastern Orthodox bodies, except the Greek church, the festival is celebrated on January 6. Historians have been unable to determine the exact month or day of the Nativity, and there is evidence to show that the day was observed either in the apostolic or early post-apostolic church.  Saint Hippolytus, in the century, is believed to have been the first the church fathers to have fixed the date December 25.  According to his computation there were exactly 33 years from the time of Christ's conception until his death, and both events occurred on March 25.  By calculating nine months from the annunciation to Mary, he arrived at the date of December 25 for Christ's birth Earlier, how-ever, Hippolytus had favored 
January 2, and Clement of Alexandria set the date as May 20
It is believed that the fixing of the date is influenced by the fact that the Roman -rival Brumalia fell on December 25.  This date follows immediately after the winter solstice, and there was thought to be a particular appropriateness in identifying the birthday of the Son of Righteousness with a festival of the sun.  In the early Middle Ages clergy protested the connecting of a sacred day with a pagan observance, but the festival proved so popular that even the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century was not able to dislodge it, and today it has acceptance in all Christian countries.
Universal World Reference Encyclopedia, Consolidated Book Publishers, Illinois, 1961.

Hendrik
Human kind sinned against God. 
That sin led to death.
We all know our bodies decay and then we die.
We die because we are paying a price for sin.
By sinning against God we have been separated from God.
To be separated from God meant that when we die we would die separate from God.
Lost.
God ( for reason we cannot grasp) loved us. God's love for us was so strong that he sent his son into the world (that is the birth of Jesus, the Christmas we celebrate).
In God's calendar, Jesus' birth was a big event prophesied in our Bible.
We are told that Jesus came,
to save us from our sins.
Jesus' ministry was only 3 years. He came to do a job. His job (contract with his Father) was only for 3 years then he was taken away.
Jesus did not come to become a Social Reformer. He did not come to save Israel from the Roman rulers at that time.
While he was on earth (only 3 years) he did his Father's work. 
The proof that he was God's son was that he could do miracles, which he did, he healed people where ever he went and he went about telling people about God and the Kingdom to come.
He focused on teaching his disciples to prepare them to continue his work.
Jesus then left and in place God sent his Holy Spirit into the world.
With the Holy Spirit in the world we also have God and God's son.

In a simple way I have focused on what Christmas
is about.
God sent his son into the world to save us from our sins.
All the other  (Social inputs into Christmas) is an addendum.
The core message of Christmas is that 
God loved us
He proved his great love by letting his son come into the world and he let his son to be crucified, 
to save us from our sins.
On the third day God raised his son back to life and we serve a living person (Jesus). 
Our response to God's gift is to tell all people on the planet what God has done for us and we ask all people on the planet to acknowledge what God has done
 and as a result we ask people to come to Jesus, to see that Jesus died for peoples sin, and confess to Jesus our sins and ask for forgiveness, for sinning against God.
Sinning created the problem in the beginning and the answer to sorting out that problem is
God has done a great thing for us.
Those who recognize who Jesus is, and have their sins forgiven, and who follow Jesus, have a promise from God, that when you die, you  will not be gone, you will join all other Christians in a wonderful place to live.
Hendrik

If you are a non Christian that my message to you is enjoy the yearly festival which focuses on sharing gifts and caring about each other.
So the Christmas message has a positive input to mankind. 
So continue to enjoy the festival and if possible let the Christmas spirit continue through out the year.
Hendrik

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