Merry Christmas! Thank you for joining us in worship to celebrate this very special day. Whenever you are engaging this Christmas Day worship experience, may you know in abundance, the joy, peace, hope, and love of this season! Hear now, the story - the action and movement of God - that we celebrate today... Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGWYgfyed5k
Welcome to Christmas Eve, Candles & Carols Celebration! Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur9RmebZSFA
The Christmas season is one of many joys and wonders. Family gatherings, parties with friends and coworkers, decorations, gift giving and receiving, special food, beautiful decorations, and all the lights, celebrate Jesus' birth! If it seems a little over the top, maybe that's because it is! What else can we do to honor the God of abundant provision, generous love, and beauty beyond anything we could imagine ourselves? As God's goodness shines through the darkness of December in the child of Jesus, may our gratitude and thanksgiving shine God's love into a dark world - in our Christmas observances and in all we say and do through this special season and beyond! Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DARyXapQZhA
When you think of Advent, your mind might not immediately go to John the Baptist, but this saintly prophet plays a pivotal role in the liturgical seasons of Advent and Lent. He was the herald, the forerunner who spoke about Jesus’ coming deliverance. No one does a greater job living for and preparing others for Christ than this saint. His entire life, mission, words, and works were breathing examples that pointed, not to himself, but to Jesus. In the midst of our own Advent journeys, there is no better exemplar who can show us the way. John the Baptist was known for his simplistic clothing as he proclaimed the coming of the Messiah. What will you wear this week, and how will you proclaim the good news as you point the way to Jesus? Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKv1QMj4FtY
The happy season of Christmas is upon us! Everywhere around us is joy and merriment and fun and frolicking! And we are so glad to join in with glad hearts... unless we aren't. For many, the joy around us puts our own pain, heartache, and hurt into stark contrast. For many, loss and troubles seem all the more poignant when placed against all the hype and happiness of the season. The good news of Christmas, though, is that the season is not one of superficial optimism. It is one of eternal, tenacious hope. Jesus came to us not because the world is already full of peace, hope, joy, and love. Jesus came to bring light to those who sit in deep darkness. Be at peace if you are not happy this season, Jesus came especially to be with you. Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CPQmqUY4eE
There is so much to enjoy about the Christmas season! The music, the gatherings, the gifts! And of course, the decorations! Some start to decorate the day after Halloween. Others have traditions of bedecking on Thanksgiving, or December 1, or even Christmas Eve. We put up trees, string lights on the house, and as a way to welcome family, friends, and travelers, we festoon our gates and doors with garland, wreaths, and holly. It is through these entryways that those we love most come home for the holidays, our friends enter and become family, and people join us in celebrating all that is wonderful about the season. When those within and those without come together, love is shared, joy is spread, and we are changed. As we welcome others in - as we are welcomed in - we can proclaim with the biblical writers, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7caXQxZ3G8