Christmas message: The Right Rev John Paterson, Anglican Bishop of Auckland

The message on the Christmas card read very simply "God's love was born on Christmas Day".

God's gift at Christmas was the gift of unconditional love in the form of a tiny baby. A love to be shared, a love to be celebrated. We give because God first gave to us. That is the heart of Christmas, the truth that God is with us. So we speak of joy, hope, peace, light, and love, as our eyes are drawn to the image of a child in a manger. The gift of God for the people of God.

It is now 191 years since Ruatara introduced Samuel Marsden, the Christian missionary, to his people in the Bay of Islands, Christmas Day 1814. Marsden's message, the first Christian message in New Zealand, was from the Christmas story, "Fear not, for I bring you good tidings of great joy".

As we face our fears, fears of terror, fears of an avian flu pandemic, fears of global warming and natural disasters, the message of Christmas remains, "Fear not". God is with us, facing with us the same things we face, sharing his love, sharing his life. The Christian response to these fears is not a theory, but the story of a life and a death - Jesus' life and death. That is the birth we celebrate at Christmas.