A blessed Christmas greeting to all of you.
It is Christmas eve and I am waiting for the third of our Christmas eve celebrations at Christ Community. We have had a birthday party for Jesus (complete with Chocolate cake!); we have had a traditional candles and carols celebration and I am waiting for the Communion celebration that will end shortly after midnight. This quiet, late celebration, is the one I wait for . . . the one that truly feeds my soul. I love all the rest of it but there is deep and abiding joy in offering Christ to my congregation through the bread and cup on Christmas eve.
I revel in seeing people from out of town that I only see this time of year. I love hearing short snippets of conversations about how good it is to be home and how great everyone looks and how wonderful it is to see you again. I love standing in front of my congregation and seeing their faces illuminated by the candles they are holding as they sing Silent Night. Christmas is filled with joy!
God became a human being so we could have a way back to God. The feast of the Incarnation that we are celebrating is the most amazing story ever told. God became flesh and lived among us. That is the Christmas message and it is the root and source of our Joy! I see the light of Christ illuminating the faces of friends and family and my joy runs deep and true.
May the joy of the Christ child illuminate your celebrations this season.
BJ
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I was thinking about the Christmas Eve service yesterday. It amazed me that I had never attended a service for this holiday at our church. It has been tradition to go to the church I grew up in for the 9pm service. I must say, for the record, the one at our church touched me in such a way. Greensleves wasn't even 4 measures in and the tears started pouring. God validated my choice of churches AGAIN. I keep telling Him he doesn't need to do it. Yeah. the service was beautiful and seeing/listening to others use their talents...impressive! We are very VERY blessed. I can't imagine NOT being at our church. I have been struggling this holiday season. Every year I struggle more because of how commercial it gets. It was so great worshiping with others that know the REAL reason for the Feast of the Incarnation. (SEE I DO PAY ATTENTION DR.BJ!) Thanks for being such a barbaric leader and going the extra mile. And most importantly, Thank you God for being so gracious in sending Jesus to us. I would be so lost without You!
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