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Finding a Way To Inspire, Year After Year

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"But we have to realize that there were a lot of people showing up in that barn 2,000 years ago who hadn't heard of Jesus, and Mary welcomed them all," Byrne added.

Monsignor Bill Parent of St. Peter's Catholic Church in Waldorf aims his sermon at the "Santa Clauses," as churches call them -- those who come to church only at Christmastime.

"The goal in whatever you're preaching is to inspire," Parent said, "and explicitly to invite people who have been away or aren't coming regularly to be a more regular part of the parish community."

At Harvest Life Changers, a nondenominational church in Woodbridge, the Rev. Lyle Dukes focused yesterday's sermon on linking the Christmas story to the everyday difficulties faced by his parishioners, such as the mounting number of home foreclosures as well as the frustration of high gas prices and lost jobs.

"We're in some challenging times," he told 1,500 worshipers. "But Christ was born in challenging times. . . . In spite of all this crazy stuff going on, he was born alive and well."

Church member Lori Douglas pronounced the sermon "awesome."

"So many of us today are going through challenging times," Douglas said. But Jesus "made it through, and it's a lesson on how we can make it through."

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