Written by Betty and Cathy Simm from the Village Church
Christmas brings lots of cheer.
Why does it come just once a year?
Celebrating Christmas opens our hearts.
Giving not receiving is the inner urge it imparts.
Christmas is more than just one day.
God came from Heaven to show His way.
Jesus Emmanuel was His name on earth.
Inspired believers despite his barnyard birth.
He grew and learned, gave hope and healed.
Jesus opened the door to Heaven revealed.
We celebrate Christmas with our gifts and love
to remember ALWAYS God’s gift from above.
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. [2 Corinthians 4:6]
Written by Brian Morykon, a contemporary writer and director of Communications for Renovare, an organization that focuses on spiritual formation.
Sometimes I wonder what the Incarnation changed. I mean, I know—my head knows—it changed everything. It divided time. It brought the Kingdom close. It ripped open the portal to union with God. But, … knowing that somewhere someone is grieving a baby beheaded by a terrorist, I feel a temptation to despair. Then this thought stabilizes my soul: God never pretended that the arrival of Jesus was a quick fix for humanity’s woes. From day one, Jesus was swaddled in suffering. Think of the stable. The long trip to Egypt. Herod’s Bethlehem massacre. Later, naked on a cross, suffering was his only covering. But the suffering that surrounded Jesus throughout his life and the suffering he experienced firsthand did not suffocate him. Humanity’s hurt moved him; it did not overwhelm him. Sin broke his heart; it did not break his joy. The birth and life of Jesus did change everything—I’m believing it again with fresh feeling as I write—but perhaps not in the way or on the timetable we had hoped. In the Incarnation, God is saying … Life on earth matters. People matter. Pain matters. When I made all I made in the way I made it, I knew what I was doing. I understood the cost of free will, which I know may seem hard to believe. So I’ll take on your frame. I’ll experience all you feel and more. I’ll show you how to live at peace in a troubled world, how to be an unhurried and healing presence. I’ll come in the flesh to be an example to you. Then I’ll come in the Spirit to be life in you. My rescue will be fast. Your adoption will be quick as a hammer’s swing. My rescue will be slow. Millenia will pass before the fullness of the Kingdom comes. My slowness is not cruelty or lack of care. On the contrary: I’m birthing a people of everlasting joy. That takes time.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. [John 1:14]
Written by Kathy Loftman, from the Village Church.
Candle flame to unlit candle across each aisle in the darkness of the sanctuary. The singing of Silent Night in the background. There is nothing compared to the scene of a full church with all the candles lighting up the room. The light represents the light of Christ that came into the world. It also represents the Star of Bethlehem that guided the magi to the manger where Baby Jesus was born. This tradition sends the gospel message of God loving us, and of our loving God and one another.
I grew up going each year with my family to the Christmas Eve midnight worship service. It was a beautiful service that I looked forward to, the highlight of my Christmas experience. I think about the passing of the candle flame in services conducted throughout the world, for many centuries, in all the situations, and I feel connected with the worshippers. The most poignant memory I have is the virtual candlelight service that we conducted at Village Church in 2020. Since we could not congregate in the sanctuary, we all recorded our candle flame passing, and the recordings were combined into a video that was shared at our virtual midnight service. In the midst of the lockdown, we felt the strong community with our church family throughout the world and for all times.
The old recipe card is dog-eared, stained, and worn. I know the ingredients and the steps well. As a little girl in Ohio, with my brother and two sisters we would gather around the kitchen table carefully rolling out the dough my mom had made the night before. Sprinkling flour on the tabletop and rubbing it on the rolling pin so that the dough would not stick, we rolled the dough flat and would carefully select our cutters: trees, deer, angels, stars, and bells. We diligently cut out the cookies and carefully lined the soft shapes onto the cookie sheets. Into the oven they went. Oh, how the house smelled! The sweet scent of vanilla wafting from the oven. After they had baked and cooled the next delight was using the colorful powdered sugar icing and sprinkles to decorate them. I remember our shaggy dog Molly, beneath the kitchen table, hopeful for any possible bits that might end up on her level.
Even though I don’t have children, this tradition continues with my mom and me. Each Christmas season, we make sure to make our traditional cut-out cookies.
The sweet aroma of baking cookies is not left behind from decades ago… It is with us once more. After a bit of sampling of naked cookies (we call it quality control), Mom and I carefully ice them, but with much more attention to detail than when I was a little girl! We giggle and show each other our works of art.
Baking cookies can remind us of the ingredients needed to nurture our faith. Three Must-have Ingredients: 1) Bible reading. Always a basic and necessary ingredient in our lives. 2) Christian fellowship. As Jesus is our firm foundation, our brothers and sisters-in-Christ help us stay strong and find joy. Being together is an ingredient very much missed during the pandemic several years ago. 3) Prayer: Prayer is needed daily beyond measure; praying regularly is essential. Giving thanks to the Lord for this season, a season of the promise fulfilled with the birth of our Savior.
Written by Lyn Lloyd-Smith, from the Village Church.
If you ever find yourself in the UK or Ireland in December, consider going to a crazy, slapstick musical show, the traditional Christmas pantomime. The story will be based on a children’s tale, Cinderella or Dick Whittington perhaps, but it will bear no relation to any Disney version. The principal boy will be a girl, the pantomime dame will be a man, you will boo the villains and cheer the heroes. The audience will participate with cries of “Oh no there isn’t!” and “He’s behind you!” The performance is aimed at children, but there will be adult jokes and current political references that will go right over their heads. You may be wondering how on earth do these, and all other winter festivities, relate to the meaning of Christmas, to the holy moment of the birth of our Savior?
It seems to me that as with the raucous, secular pantomime, how each of us responds to the Nativity changes over our lifetime. For a child the scene in Bethlehem is all about the baby in the manger, the animals, and singing carols in the gloaming light. But as we get older, we gain more understanding of the transcendent nature of the Savior’s birth, the mystery of the moment when God entered history as a man.
This Christmas we will be spending the holiday season in England and are planning (with some trepidation!) to take our four small grandchildren, to see the pantomime Sleeping Beauty. May we all, as we enjoy the celebrations with child-like enthusiasm and appreciate the grown- up delights of wine and dark chocolate and Christmas parties, also take time to ponder, as Mary did, how Jesus’s birth changed everything. In Christmas are the seeds of Easter. While Christmas is a time to make merry, it is also a time of deep appreciation for our salvation. One is not possible without the other.
Music is one of the hallmarks of the Christmas season. I love hearing and singing all the Christmas carols at home, on the car radio, out shopping for gifts and at church services. My two all-time favorite Christmas carols are Silent Night and Hark the Herald Angels Sing. It is said that music is the universal language that touches the soul. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a poem in 1863 entitled “Christmas Bells” which is such a beautiful work when sung and is better known as “I heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” Here are a few of the poem’s stanzas that may reach you with their words of peace and power. Merry CHRISTmas!
I heard the bells on Christmas Day Their old, familiar carols play, And wild and sweet The words repeat Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And thought how, as the day had come, The belfries of all Christendom Had rolled along The unbroken song Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And in despair I bowed my head; “There is no peace on earth,” I said; “For hate is strong And mocks the song Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; The Wrong shall fail The Right prevail, With peace on earth, good-will to men.”
Written by Margot Wallace, from the Village Church. Margot also created the art provided.
At Christmas, my sister, Grandmother, Mother, and I prepared special food to be shared from the harvest of our garden, which was Dad’s domain. Each holiday season we shared our Christmas Eve feast with relatives, neighbors, and friends.Praise and adoration be to our God, for he is good. His grace and mercy fill the heavens and earth. Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving, and joyfully praise our creator. As a father, he loves us, his children. Sing his praises with joyful thanks in love and devotion! Let us love him who has loved us since the world began. Who would not love God from the heart? We cannot give him adequate praise. Still, in heaven he receives with goodwill our joyful songs of praise and pours much joy into our souls, whenever we thank him, whenever we live in him. Sing to Jesus Christ praise, thanks, and glory, for he came from heaven to destroy sin and death for us and by his precious, willing sacrifice, restored innocence and peace. Already here on earth, he renews joy and life to us by his grace. Still, greater bliss is prepared there for those who love him when one day they will be renewed in his image, made new and holy, and awakened from death. Let us rejoice in our holy God! Let us rejoice in our eternal God! How blessed it is to praise him here, and then in heaven. He is our holiness! He is our life! He always loves us, his children.
This still life watercolor painting represents some of the bounty from our family garden. Transforming that harvest into a feast was especially fun and gratifying! The excitement of Christmas soon became a reality as the eggplant became a favorite “pancake;” the avocado became delicious guacamole; each squash was distinctly prepared with raisins or chestnut bits or cinnamon, seasonings, and lots of butter! Fresh pomegranates plucked from the tree were opened and their yummy seeds captured for the relish tray to top mashed potatoes and squash. All the hours of preparation for these rituals and routines were in honor of the birth of Jesus…The wonderful, warm hopeful message that this season brings to all Christians everywhere! We all enjoyed these gatherings of family and neighbors and close friends who we called to feast with us. Eventually, we would sing Christmas carols around the tree. My favorite: “Mary, Did You Know?” always made our song fest list. Little did she know we would celebrate the birth of her baby in 2023!
Written Rebecca Barlow Jordan, a contemporary author. This is an excerpt from her book “A Prayer for Peace and Joy at Christmas.”
Lord, in a season when every heart should be happy and light, many of us are struggling with the heaviness of life—burdens that steal the joy right out of our stockings. Tragedy arrives as innocent victims suffer, and an inner voice whispers, “Be afraid!” We need your peace, Jesus. We confess that our hearts are too often filled with wonder of a different kind: wondering when the bills will be paid when the terror will stop, when rest will come. Will it ever? Is the message still true? In a world where worry, not peace, prevails, stir up that good news again.
This Advent, make it real in our hearts. Never have we needed Your joy and peace more than now. Thank You for the gift of Jesus, our Immanuel, the Word made flesh. We not only need Your peace and joy; Lord, we crave it. You’ve promised rest for the weary, victory for the battle-scarred, peace for the anxious, and acceptance for the brokenhearted—not just at Advent, but every day of every year. Your name is still called “Wonderful,” “Counselor,” “The Mighty God,” “The Everlasting Father,” and “The Prince of Peace.” We know that peace on earth can only come when hearts find peace with You. You are still our Joy. You are still our Peace. You are no longer a babe in the manger. You are Lord of lords and King of kings. And we still celebrate You as Lord—this Christmas and always.
Pathways Press.com 