MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Is there a time of year that's any more special? I'm thinking "not." Lois & I attended the candlelight Christmas communion service at Grace last night. It's always a special service, featuring communion, Christmas hymns, & readings--also Touch of Brass. Here's praying that you & yours have a blessed Christmas.
CHRISTMAS TALES IV
When I was growing up in Concordia, we went back to the house after the Christmas Eve children's service. [Our teacherage was just 2 houses down from St. Paul's.] Dad & Mom dismissed us to our brother's room, where we munched on the peanuts & candies that were distributed at the end of the service. Dad & Mom put the presents under the tree, & we anxiously awaited the knock on the door. [We were orthodox Lutherans, so we didn't believe in Santa.
CHRISTMAS TALES V
Lois' family opened presents on Christas Eve, too. After the family got into the car to go to church, her dad & mom always had an excuse for going back into the house while the kids waited. When they all got back from church, surprise! There were presents under the tree!
CHRISTMAS TALES VI
While Dad & Mom were in the Good Shepherd Home in Concordia, our family, along with my brother & sister & their families, would spend some time over Christmas break there. We exchanged presents. After a gift exchange one year where every one received a gift card, we decided to retire that tradition, which I found to be sad. Also, one year over Christmas break, we traveled to K.C. & had dinner at a restaurant. Later that night, just about everyone but Lois & me threw up. It was a less than merry Christmas.
CHRISTMAS TALES VII
The same year when we spent Christmas at Lois' parents in Ulysses, KS, we traveled 50 miles for a Christmas Day service, since their church didn't have services. It was really cold, really icy. Since Lois was nursing Nathan, we sat in the pack pew i church. As I recall, there were only 2 other families in church that morning.
THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING
"In the beginning was the Word." (John 1:1)
"The one who was born in tiny Bethlehem is the center of the cosmos! In Him & through Him, all things were made, & all things are sustained. And what makes this Word--Jesus--even more special? He came for you. Lord Jesus, this world can seem chaotic & unpredictable. Keep us centered in You, for You are our stability, consistency, forgiveness, & glory. Lord in Your, hear our prayer. Amen."
WE REALLY NEED CHRISTMAS
'Don't we need some Christmas this year? Don't we need some 'peace on earth & goodwill to mankind?' Don't we need the appearance of angels, the sudden joy of shepherds & the blessed hope of a baby whose very name means salvation? . . . Too often, we find ourselves focusing on what we're against. There's a need for that, but as Christmas approaches, how about if today we focus on what we should be for . . . The world still sits in shadows. Death casts its shroud. Misfortune is still present. Yet, whatever the generations bring, the light of Jesus still shines." Editorial, Norfolk Daily News, 12/24
TWO PRAYERS FOR CHRISTMAS DAY
My Prayer Book
"O God the Father, I praise You for the gift of Your Son, who was born in the poverty & lowliness of Bethlehem so that I might enjoy the riches of Your grace & the exaltation of sonship with You.
"O God the Son, I adore You for humbling Yourself to be my Savior, for bearing my sins in Your own body, & for rendering to my Father in heaven a perfect satisfaction for my sins.
"O God the Holy Spirit, I glorify You for having made my heart a home for the Savior of the world & for bringing the peace of forgiveness to my soul through faith in Him who is the Prince of Peace.
"O blessed Trinity, on this holy day give me a humble & contrite heart that I may joyfully claim the Babe of Bethlehem as my Lord & my God Remove from me the tattered robes of my own righteousness & adorn me with the spotless garment of Christ's righteousness.
"Use every gift received this day from loving friends to remind me of the gift of a Savior so that my heart may rejoice & my tongue can sing, 'Glory to God in the highest!' Help me to cradle the Christ Child in my heart, O Holy Spirit, & give me the grace & strength to love & adore Him all the days of my life. Amen."
Lutheran Book of Prayer
"Lord God, gracious Father, who in the fullness of time sent You Son to become man, to assume human flesh like mine & become my Brother, I thank You for Your truth & Your fatherly goodness in giving us this Savior. By His birth, death, & resurrection, we are delivered from sin, death, Satan, & hell. I beseech You, keep me until the end in true knowledge of my Redeemer, that with the holy angels, I rejoice at His nativity, & on the Last Day, when He comes again, I may behold Him, together with You the Holy Spirit, in glory & majesty, world without end.Amen."
A CHRISTMAS HYMN
Where shepherds lately knelt & kept the angel's word, I come in half-belief, a pilgrim strangely stirred; But there is room & welcome there for me, But there is room & welcome there for me.
In that unlikely place I find Him as they said: Sweet newborn babe, how frail! And in a manger bed: A still, small voice to cry one day for me, A still, small voice to cry one day for me.
How should I not have known Isaiah would be there, His prophecies fulfilled? With pounding heart I stare: A Child, a Son, the Prince of Peace for me, A Child, a Son, the Prince of Peace for me.
Can I, will I forget how Love was born, & burned Its way into my heart--unasked, unforced, unearned, To die, to live, & not alone for me, To die, to live, & not alone for me?
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