Episode Overview

Podcast: Things Unseen with Sinclair B. Ferguson
Episode Title: Recovering Christ at Christmastime
Date: December 15, 2025
Host: Sinclair B. Ferguson (produced by Ligonier Ministries)

This reflective episode centers on how the meaning of Christmas can easily get lost in the busyness and pressure of the holiday season, even among Christians. Sinclair B. Ferguson encourages listeners to recentre their focus on Christ, exploring both the secularization of Christmas and the deeper spiritual needs that persist beneath seasonal hustle and urgency.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Christmas and Its Pressures

• Sinclair opens by acknowledging the wide range of reactions to the holidays:
  • For many, especially moms, it's "one of the busiest weeks of the year."
  • Some revel in the season; others experience pressure, exhaustion, and an "accusing voice" insisting they're not doing enough (00:07).
• Despite advice to "keep things simple," guilt and expectation often remain.

2. Preachers and the Familiarity of Christmas

• Ferguson notes that clergy face unique challenges at Christmas:
  • "There are also two kinds of preachers. Those who love it and those who dread it."
  • The "weight of the occasion can crush them rather than carry them," particularly because the Christmas story is so familiar (01:16).
• Preachers often warn against secularization, but Ferguson suggests such warnings are ultimately not solutions.

3. Grace vs. Law and the 'Expulsive Power of a New Affection'

• Delivering sharp pastoral insight, Ferguson says:
  • "Law never works. It's grace that does it" (02:03).
  • Refers to Thomas Chalmers' concept: "the expulsive power of a new affection," meaning only a deeper love for Christ will truly shift our attention away from secular distractions at Christmas.
• He cautions this principle itself can become another burden: "It's surprisingly easy...to turn this principle into another rod to beat our backs" (02:37).

4. Personal Tradition and a Revealing Encounter

• Ferguson shares a personal story from his ministry in Scotland:
  • He would walk past the city square on Christmas Eve, using the time to prepare spiritually for his sermon, often preached to those who "scarcely ever went to church" (03:02).
  • One year, there were police guarding the nativity; they explained, "Last year someone stole Jesus," which Ferguson saw as a poignant metaphor (03:31).

5. The Heart of the Matter: Recovering Christ

• "We've allowed Jesus to be stolen at Christmastime, and often during the course of the year as well" (03:37).
• Ferguson asserts: the real power to rediscover Christmas (and create new affection for Christ) must begin with Christ being central in our day-to-day lives—not just the holidays.
  • "Perhaps the reason He's not central to us at Christmas time is...He's been stolen from our lives long before Christmas" (03:51).

6. A Call to Prayer and Re-centering

• Sinclair urges a prayerful re-focusing using the words of Richard of Chichester:
  • "Lord, for these three things I to see him more clearly, to love him more dearly, and to follow him more nearly day by day" (04:13).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Holiday Pressure:
  • "We still hear an accusing voice telling us that we've not done enough, we need to do more, and we need to do it better." (00:37)
• On the Challenge for Ministers:
  • "The more familiar the story, the greater the pressure most ministers and pastors...feel when preaching it." (01:22)
• On Legalism vs. Grace:
  • "Law never works. It's grace that does it. What we need is more than a warning. We need what Thomas Chalmers called the expulsive power of a new affection." (02:03)
• On Misplaced Focus:
  • "It's surprisingly easy for us to turn this principle into another rod to beat our backs..." (02:37)
• Memorable Incident:
  • "I said to [the police], 'Is everything all right?' And they said, 'Last year someone stole Jesus.' Prophetic words. I thought he was saying more than he knew. He put his finger on the heart of the problem. We've allowed Jesus to be stolen at Christmastime..." (03:28)
• On Rediscovering Jesus:
  • "Perhaps the reason He's not central to us at Christmas time is...He's been stolen from our lives long before Christmas." (03:51)
• Closing Prayer:
  • "Lord, for these three things I to see him more clearly, to love him more dearly, and to follow him more nearly day by day." (04:13)

Important Timestamps

• 00:07 – Introducing Christmas pressures; differing experiences of the season
• 01:16 – The challenge for ministers and the pressure of the Christmas story
• 02:03 – Legalism vs. grace; the need for a new affection
• 03:02 – Personal story: Christmas Eve walk and the nativity scene
• 03:28 – The symbolic moment: “someone stole Jesus”
• 03:51 – Central question: Is Jesus truly central in our daily lives?
• 04:13 – The prayer of Richard of Chichester as a call to re-centering

Summary

In this episode, Sinclair B. Ferguson gently but pointedly addresses how Christ can easily be lost amid Christmas hustle and even in our spiritual routines. Drawing from pastoral experience, personal tradition, and thoughtful reflection, he challenges both laypeople and ministers to move beyond warnings against secularization. Instead, he advocates seeking the "expulsive power of a new affection" for Christ through grace—not effort or legalism. The episode closes with a classic prayer, inviting listeners to see, love, and follow Christ more clearly, dearly, and nearly each day, not just during the holidays.