Letter to the Brethren: December 25, 2025

Posted on Posted in Letters to the Brethren

Dear Brethren and Co-Workers in Christ:

As most of you realize, the pagan sun god worshiping Emperor Constantine called December 25th “the everlasting day of the sun” as well as later, the birthday of Jesus. Which of course, it was not (watch also  our sermon: Biblical Examination of Christmas). But many are celebrating that today.

That being said, that in addition to dealing with ‘bot attacks’ against our websites, our hosting service noticed that their hard drives which held our websites were failing, so the sites had to be transferred this week. Our man in Portugal has been helping with this and we seem to be getting over some of these difficulties. We expect to end up with better response times than we have had which will therefore tend to increase viewership of the websites.

Report from New Zealand

Now, we also have other hosting services, such as in New Zealand which were not negatively affected this month like our USA based ones have been.

Shirley Gestro sent the following:

Dear Dr. Thiel,
The following is a report for Bible News Prophecy online radio and related platforms
The Bible News Prophecy program broadcasts news and information in the light of the Bible and its prophecies. This includes proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ and the gospel of the coming Kingdom of God to the world as a witness (Matthew 24:14), teaching all things that Jesus commanded (Matthew 28:19-20), providing prophetic warnings of God’s impending judgments, contending for the faith once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3), assisting in the calling of the full number of those to be reached before Jesus returns (Romans 11:25-26), explaining mysteries of God’s merciful (James 2:13) and loving plan (e.g. Romans 16:25-27), helping people better understand the Bible (Acts 8:30-31, Romans 10:14-15), explaining God’s loving plan of salvation (Psalm 68:30, John 3:16-17, Luke 3:6, Romans 11), encouraging people to live the way of Philadelphian (Hebrews 13:1) and agape love (1 Corinthians 13), and calling for personal (Acts 2:38) and national repentance (2 Chronicles 7:13-15).  Learn more at this link: About — Bible News Prophecy Radio
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Kind regards,
Shirley Gestro

We are working to support the fulfillment of Matthew 24:14 and Matthew 28:19-20 in many ways.

Riverside Sermon Recording

A while back we switched to using Riverside online software for our sermonette recordings.

Last Sabbath, the recommended sermon for this week was recorded using that. So, it may appear a little bit different for our viewers.

If we continue with this, it will not require a video camera.

This also should give us some other options to improve our sermon presentations.

We plan to try using Riverside online software for our recording the next sermon this Sabbath.

Afterwards, we intend to decide whether this will be the preferred method in the future.

More Languages!

YouTube has made a positive change for our BibleNewsProphecy sermonette channel. YouTube has informed us:

“Auto dubbing is now enabled on your channel! The audio on new videos will be automatically translated into other languages, to make your content more accessible. You can always adjust your settings.”

From YouTube’s statement, currently those languages include “Dutch, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Malayalam, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Ukrainian.”

So, those should now basically automatically happen as an option with our sermonette videos.

We suspect that the sermon videos are still too long for that, but that may be coming in the future.

That said, I was forwarded links to the following, which are at the Bible News Prophecy International radio site, which has Steve Dupuie and I speaking Chinese in the first one and Spanish in the second one:

https://bnpi.net/2025/12/19/美国会退出北约吗？/

https://bnpi.net/2025/12/19/estados-unidos-abandonara-la-otan

We intend to reach people in as many languages as we can and are pleased to go through this new door.

Summer Camps

With most of Africa being in the Southern Hemisphere, it is officially Summer there.

While we had to scale them down a but because of limited finances, we have been conducting Summer youth camps in Kenya, Malawi, and Mozambique this week.

Evangelist Evans Ochieng sent the following from Kenya:

Pastor Dr Bob

Greetings from Kenya.
The youth camp started very well in Kenya.  I will confirm today how it’s going in Malawi and Mozambique.
In Ndhiwa  the youths had already come over 300. We still expect some today.
Last sabbath I was in kisii.  I told all youths to be in youth camp.
We also need the youths all over the world to be in youth camp in order to learn more about church government and leadership  teachings and experience.  We pray that May the Almighty God protect His church and make it to grow and reach all nations.
Evans

In the end time, one part of the work is to, “turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers” (Malachi 4:6). Youth camps are just one way to help do that.

New Year’s Observances

New Year’s day on the Roman calendar is rapidly approaching.

Many see December 31st and January 1st as a time for drunken revelry.

The Bible warns against such:

12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. (Romans 13:12-14)

20 Do not mix with winebibbers, Or with gluttonous eaters of meat; 21 For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags. (Proverbs 23:20-21)

1 Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, Whose glorious beauty is a fading flower Which is at the head of the verdant valleys, To those who are overcome with wine! 2 Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one, Like a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, Like a flood of mighty waters overflowing, Who will bring them down to the earth with His hand. 3 The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, Will be trampled underfoot; (Isaiah 28:1-3)

18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation (Ephesians 5:18)

A night of drunken revelry is not a Christian holiday and should not be observed by the faithful.

Although the Greco-Roman Catholics and Protestants generally celebrate New Year’s, notice that one that they consider to be a saint, John Chrysostom, taught against New Year’s in the late 4th century:

Beginning of the New Year … Day of Heathen Devotion for the Emperor’s Safety … their Bromilia, … againft which St. Chryfoftom has a whole Difcourfe to diffuade Chriftians of the obfervation of them … for they were furperftitioufly addicted to the Obfervation of Times … He obferves farther, That [s] they were ufed in the Celebration of thefe Times to fet up lamps in the Market-Place, and crowns their Doors with Garlands, which he condemns together with the Superftition and Intemperance, Intemperance, as a Mixture of diabolical Pomp, and childifh Folly. By which we fee how prone Men were to follow the Heathen in fuch practices … (John Chrysostom as cited in Joseph Bingham. Origines Ecclesiasticæ: Or, The Antiquities of the Christian Church … Volume 7 of Origines Ecclesiasticæ: Or, The Antiquities of the Christian Church, Joseph Bingham Publisher Robert Knaplock, 1720 Original from the New York Public Library Digitized Apr 20, 2010, pp. 257-258)

(Note: Until the late 1700s, the letter ‘f’ was sometimes used in words later spelled with the letter ‘s,’ so I did not change the above 1720 text to modern usage, but believe with this information, readers should be able to recognize those words.)

Back in 46 B.C., Julius Caesar declared that January 1st would mark the beginning of the new year. January was named after Janus, the god of gates and doors in Roman mythology. People prayed to Janus when they wanted something new in their lives (such as resolutions). Janus is normally represented with two faces, one looking to the past and the other looking to the future (the two faces also signified change that Janus would supposedly bring in, see Burchett B, Janus in Roman life and cult: a study in Roman religions, p. 15). The first day of the month of January was sacred to him.


Roman God Janus in Vatican Museum

In the 1700s, notice a poem that was written to and about Janus from The poetical works of Jonathan Swift, Volumes 2-3, By Jonathan Swift, John Mitford, p. 120:

TO JANUS, ON NEW YEAR’S DAY, 1726.’

Two-faced Janus, god of Time!
Be my Phoebus while I rhyme;
To oblige your crony Swift,
Bring our dame a new year’s gift;
She has got but half a face;
Janus, since thou hast a brace,
To my lady once be kind;
Give her half thy face behind.

God of Time, if you be wise,
Look not with your future eyes;
What imports thy forward sight?
Well, if you could lose it quite.
Can you take delight in viewing
This poor Isle’s 2 approaching ruin,
When thy retrospection vast
Sees the glorious ages past?
Happy nation were we blind,
Or had only eyes behind!

So, some consider Janus to be the “God of Time”–but no real Christian would.

January first is Julius Caesar’s and Janus’ New year.

It did not come from the Bible.

New Year’s day did not become a holy day for the Roman Catholic Church until 487 A.D. when it was declared to be the Feast of the Circumcision (though it may have been also observed in the fourth century, but other sources suggest eighth century or later dates):

Our “New- Year’s Day, “the “Feast of the Circumcision,” was called the octave of Christmas as early as 487, AD, and was instituted by the Church to commemorate the ceremony of the Jewish law which the Saviour submitted. In the time of Numa the old Roman heathens dedicated the day to Janus, the double-faced deity…(Savage J., editor. The Manhattan and de la Salle monthly. New York Catholic Protectory, 1875 Original from the New York Public Library Digitized Jul 13, 2006, p. 2)

The Feast of the Circumcision has been observed in the Roman church since 487 and in the Anglican church since 1549. (Douglas GW, Compton HD. The American book of days: a compendium of information about holidays, festivals, notable anniversaries and Christian and Jewish holy days, with notes on other American anniversaries worthy of remembrance. H. W. Wilson Co., 1957 Original from the University of California Digitized Sep 25, 2008, p. 2)

This gave the Roman Catholic, as well as Anglican, Church an eight-day festival with a ‘holy day’ at the beginning and the end, similar in that respect to the Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:34-35). It was determined that if Jesus was born on December 25th (even though he could not have been), since he was circumcised eight days later (Luke 2:21), he would have been circumcised on January 1st, hence the rationale for New Year’s being ‘the Feast of the Circumcision.’

It should be added that there is no indication in the Bible that Jesus’ circumcision should be celebrated. Actually here is the only verse in the Bible that specifically discuss Jesus’ circumcision:

21 And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called JESUS, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb (Luke 2:21).

Notice that there is no command to celebrate this date, hence it really was not an original apostolic tradition. It seems more like a compromise with non-biblical pagan-related practices. Of course, the fact that Jewish babies were not generally circumcised at midnight should show all that what is now celebrated as New Year’s at midnight really is not directly related to Jesus’ circumcision.

There is no biblical indication that people should engage in heavy drinking and loud parties the evening before to honor the fact that Jesus would be circumcised the next day. Actually, the Bible specifically warns about celebrating observances for the true God that are used for pagan gods (e.g. Jeremiah 10:2).

Since the ‘feast of the circumcision’ is tied into the date of Christ’s birth, it may be of interest to note that the Church in Rome did not even endorse Christmas until apparently the fourth century:

Western Christians first celebrated Christmas on December 25 in 336, after Emperor Constantine had declared Christianity the empire’s favored religion. (Coffman E. Why December 25? For the church’s first three centuries, Christmas wasn’t in December—or on the calendar at all. Christianity Today, August 8, 2008. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/news/2000/dec08.html accessed 12/07/15)

In 354 A.D., Bishop Liberius of Rome ordered the people to celebrate on December 25. He probably chose this date because the people of Rome already observed it as the Feast of Saturn, celebrating the birthday of the sun (Sechrist E.H. Christmas. World Book Encyclopedia, Volume 3. Field Enterprises Educational Corporation, Chicago, 1966, pp. 408-417).

It should also be noted that even Roman Catholic writers acknowledge the birth of Jesus being on December 25th was impossible:

The Gospels. Concerning the date of Christ’s birth the Gospels give no help; upon their data contradictory arguments are based. The census would have been impossible in winter: a whole population could not then be put in motion… (Martindale C. Transcribed by Susanti A. Suastika. Christmas. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume III. Copyright © 1908 by Robert Appleton Company. Nihil Obstat, November 1, 1908. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York).

If something is impossible to have happened, that means that it did not.

Now, when the Roman Church originally endorsed the celebration of New Year’s, it was hoped that it would stop the drinking and wild parties, but it did not. In recent times, I have seen no condemnation of these practices by any Roman leaders, which one would expect since perhaps most of their members participate in the types of New Year’s celebrations that the Roman Church originally condemned.

That various older Roman Catholic writings seem to condemn modern New Year’s celebrations can also be seen in the passages below:

Even in our own day the secular features of the opening of the New Year interfere with the religious observance of the Circumcision, and tend to make a mere holiday of that which should have the sacred character of a Holy Day. St. Augustine points out the difference between the pagan and the Christian manner of celebrating the day: pagan feasting and excesses were to be expiated by Christian fasting and prayer (P. L., XXXVIII, 1024 sqq.; Serm. cxcvii, cxcviii) (Tierney John J. Transcribed by Wm Stuart French, Jr. Feast of the Circumcision. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume III. Copyright © 1908 by Robert Appleton Company. Online Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. Knight. Nihil Obstat, November 1, 1908. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York).

Tertullian blames Christians who regarded the customary presents — called strenae (Fr. étrennes) from the goddess Strenia, who presided over New Year’s Day (cf. Ovid, Fasti, 185-90) — as mere tokens of friendly intercourse (De Idol. xiv), and towards the end of the sixth century the Council of Auxerre (can. I) forbade Christians strenas diabolicas observare. (St. Augustine, Serm., cxcvii-viii in P.L., XXXVIII, 1024; Isidore of Seville, De Div. Off. Eccl., I, xli; Trullan Council, 692, can. lxii) (Tierney John J. Transcribed by Thomas M. Barrett. New Year’s Day. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XI. Copyright © 1911 by Robert Appleton Company. Online Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. Knight. Nihil Obstat, February 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York).

Hence, it appears that Roman Catholic writings would condemn modern practices associated with New Year’s celebrations.

In the US and many other Western cultures, vows called New Year’s resolutions are often made. From this authors research, while repentance is a good thing, he believes that this custom of resolutions is similar to the prayers made to Janus and other pagan deities regarding desiring something new. Notice the following:

The practice of making New Year’s resolutions can be traced back 4,000 years to the ancient Babylonians who made promises to the gods at the start of each year, although for them, the new year started in March. Ancient Romans also rang in the New Year by making resolutions in March, until the New Year shifted to Jan.1 sometime around 300 B.C..

The ancient tradition continues in America where approximately 4 out of every 10 adults in the United States expect to make New Year’s resolutions. (Mekouar DH. Americans Worry About Waistlines & Wallets. Voice of America, December 31, 2014 http://blogs.voanews.com/all-about-america/2014/12/31/americans-worry-about-waistlines-wallets/)

According most available research, most people break their New Year’s resolutions. Hopefully they are not making them before the true God whose word says:

When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; for He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed–Better not to vow than to vow and not pay. Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands? (Ecclesiastes 5:4-6).

Another activity which occurs in the US and elsewhere on New Year’s is heavy drinking of alcohol. Many who go to New Year’s parties get drunk. Paul warned Christians, “Do not be drunk” (Ephesians 5:18).

Germans have another name for New Year’s:

Why on earth do Germans call New Year Silvester?

No your friend isn’t planning to ring in the New Year with someone named Sylvester instead of you. Silvester is the German name for New Year’s Eve – owing to the fourth century Pope Sylvester I. Eventually made a saint by the Catholic Church, his feast day is observed on December 31.

St. Sylvester’s day became associated with New Year’s Eve with the reform of the Gregorian calendar in 1582, when the last day of the year was fixed at December 31. But despite the holiday’s Christian name, many German New Year’s traditions can be traced back to the pagan Rauhnächte practices of heathen Germanic tribes, which took place at the end of December and beginning of January.

Instead of recognizing a single day as the winter solstice, the Germanic tribes observed twelve Rauhnächte â€“ hairy nights, so called due to the furry forms of the deep winter demons – or Rauchnächte â€“ smoky nights, due to the practice of smoking the spirits out of one’s house on January 5. …

As in many other countries, the Germans celebrate Silvester with fireworks, champagne, and boisterous social gatherings. Making noise is key: the ruckus of fireworks, firecrackers, drums, whip-cracking and banging kitchen utensils has been driving away evil winter spirits since the days of the Germanic Teutons. One of the most famous German firework displays takes place at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Private celebrations with Böllern (firecrackers) are also common. …

The Rauhnächte were also a time when the future for the New Year could be divined. Silvester in Germany still calls for oracle traditions, which often take the form of party games. Bleigießen (lead pouring) is the most popular Silvester fortune-telling tradition. Party-goers melt small lead forms with a candle in an old spoon and pour them into cold water. The lead hardens into a shape that supposedly bears a certain meaning for the New Year. An eagle, for example, indicates career success, while a flower foretells that new friendships will develop. …

For those who go out on Silvester, good luck charms and New Year’s greetings are often exchanged. Acquaintances may give good luck charms to each other in the form of ladybugs, four-leaf clovers, horseshoes and pigs. The phrase Guten Rutsch! is another common Silvester greeting. While many Germans now use it to wish someone a good “slide” into the new year, the word Rutsch more likely comes from the Yiddish word Rosch â€“ which means beginning or head. 12/30/16 https://www.thelocal.de/20161230/16425

Anyway, this is NOT a Christian holiday.

Notice also:

January 1, 2020

Pope Sylvester, whose sainthood day and the day he was buried is commemorated on December 31, convinced Roman Emperor Constantine to prohibit Jews from living in Jerusalem. At the Council of Nicaea, too, Sylvester promulgated a host of new anti-Semitic legislation. It is for this reason that January first was frequently marked throughout history by the burning of synagogues, Jewish books, and other acts of Jew-hatred. Ironically, New Year’s day is known in Israel as Sylvester.

One such anti-Semitic New Year’s Day event took place in 1577 when Pope Gregory XIII, who established the Gregorian calendar, decreed that all Roman Jews had to attend a Catholic conversion sermon given in Roman synagogues after Friday night services. The penalty for not doing so was death. Then, on New Year’s Day of the next year, the Pope signed a law forcing Jews to pay for a “House of Conversion” whose purpose was to convert Jews to Christianity. Three years later on New Year’s day, he ordered the confiscation of all the Roman Jewish community’s Hebrew scrolls and books. https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/142560/new-years-day-has-pagan-roots/

Antisemitism is wrong. And God did not implement January 1.

When speaking of the Hebrew month of Abib, which occurs around late March/early April God declared,

“This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you” (Exodus 12:2).

January 1st is not the beginning of the year for the true God, but only of certain false gods.

Calendar Year-End Income Tax Matters–Final 2025 Announcement

(Public Domain Images)

As mentioned last week, we are getting close to the end of the Roman calendar year. Those who live in the United States, in order to have their contributions eligible for tax deduction for calendar year 2025, need to send electronic or regular mail donations no later than December 31, 2025. For those who physically mail donations, they legally must be postmarked by December 31, 2025 to be eligible for deductibility for 2025.

All contributions received via US mail for residents of the United States are to be processed for the tax year based upon the postmarked date on the envelopes.

For contributions received via PayPal, we use the date that PayPal gives us.

The PayPal donation link for the USA is at: https://www.ccog.org/donations/

In Canada the rules may be slightly different for mailed and other contributions, so if you want the tax deduction for calendar year 2025, they likely also need to be made before the end of the calendar year to the CCOG office in Canada.

(In New Zealand, they use a March 31st date to end their tax year.)

Suggested Sabbath Services

Here is a suggested Sabbath day service for our scattered brethren and other interested people for the Last Great Day Sabbath service:

Note: If you have a slow internet connection, you can watch these by starting the video, then below it (and towards the right) look for an outline of a gear–if you click on that, it will allow the YouTube video to be played with lower video quality, but at least it will not stop often–you can select a quality as low as 144p. If your internet connection is still too slow (as my home one is) and/or you prefer audio messages to audio-visuals ones, go to the YouTube link for the message, click on SHOW MORE related to the description. You will then see something that says, “Download MP3.” Below that is a link to an MP3 file. Most computers (and even some cellular telephones) will allow MP3 files to be downloaded and played. This is an option we have made available (but we are also looking into ways to improve that as well)–and, of course, we have written article options. Some people have found that if their internet connections are not fast enough, that they can simply listen to the messages that are found at the Bible News Prophecy online radio channel.

IN CASE YOU DO NOT RECEIVE A ‘LETTER TO THE BRETHREN’ FOR ANY WEEK, REMEMBER THAT THERE ARE MANY SERMON MESSAGES ON THE ContinuingCOG channel AND MANY SERMONETTE MESSAGES ON THE Bible News Prophecy channel. There are also some messages at the CCOGAfrica channel. There are also messages in the Spanish language at the CDLIDDSermones channel.

World News Items

The Europeans are looking at more deportations, which is something we have warned for years (see AfD wants migrants returned and the European Union has agreed to make that easier for 7 countries). Europe is also making ‘666’ moves related to control of buying and selling as well as surveillance (see Digital euro, espionage changes, and the re-emergence of the German Stasi?).

The USA has continued upset the Europeans. One of the latest moves is that the Trump Administration has banned certain European leaders from being able to attain visas to visit the USA (see https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-admin-bans-anti-free-speech-eu-globalists-entering-us). This has further infuriated the Europeans and is another step by the USA to push ‘friends’ to become enemies consistent with warnings in Lamentations 1″1-2. This will not end well for the USA (cf. Daniel 11:39; Isaiah 10:5-11).

Concluding Comments
In the Book of Acts, we read the following:

21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14:21-22)

Brethren, yes, we all have personal trials, even when supporting the proclamation of the good news of the kingdom of God.

But if you read the entire Bible, you see that if we endure to the end, we are guaranteed to succeed.

Yes, we who remain faithful will win in the end.

Sincerely,

Bob Thiel
Pastor and Overseer