My Prayer

CHRISTMAS THOUGHTS I

We just got back from our Christmas morning communion service. Yesterday we attended our 3:00 Service of Carols & Hymns. Familiar Christmas texts were read, including John 1:1-14; Isaiah 9:1-2, 6-7; Isaiah 11:1-10; Isaiah 7:10-14; Luke 2:1-7; Matt. 1:18-25; Luke 2:8-20; & 1 John 4:9-10. And we sang familiar carols & hymns, including "On Christmas Night All Christians Sing;" "God Loves Me Dearly;" "Of the Father's Love Begotten;" "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!;" "Lo, How a Rose;" "O Little Town of Bethlehem;" "Gentle Mary Laid Her Child;" "Now Sing We, Now Rejoice;" "Angels We Have Heard on High;" "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear;" "Where Shepherds Lately Knelt;" "Away in a Manger;" "Silent Night, Holy Night;" & "Joy to the World." Would you agree with me that one of the best things about Christmas is Christmas music?

CHRISTMAS THOUGHTS II

A highlight of my childhood was the children's program on Christmas Eve. St. Paul's was filled to capacity. Ushers even had to set up folding chairs in the aisles. (We weren't as cognizant of fire codes in those days.) When we were done with our songs & recitations, as children exited through the chancel, we received a bag filled with fruit, candy, & peanuts. (No worries about peanut allergies in those days either.) Then we walked home (a whole 2 houses down from church), where my brother, sister, & I were exiled to my brother's room to wait while Dad & Mom put presents under the tree. Yes, we opened presents on Christmas Eve. Of course, we couldn't play with any toys until after we got home from church on Christmas Day.

CHRISTMAS THOUGHTS III

For many years Lois & my Christmas tradition was visiting family over the holidays. We visited my family in Concordia, MO, & we visited Lois' family in Kansas. After we had children, we dragged them along, too. We also visited Lois' brother David & his family in Texas. A highlight of visiting them in Wichita Falls was driving around to look at Christmas lights & decorations. There were also displays at Midwestern University, which even included donkeys, sheep, & calves. Very cool!

One memory really sticks in my mind. We had bundled up our kids in Lincoln & headed for Lois' folks to Ulysses, KS. We couldn't make it on one tank of gas, but we remembered a gas station that was open all night just south of I-70. We got there . . . & it was closed! What to do? We thought about bundling up in the car & waiting for the station to open, but we decided to head toward Great Bend. We drove 45 m.p.h. & coasted down hills, & we made it! We actually put more gas in the car than the capacity of our gas tank. God was certainly with us.

CHRISTMAS THOUGHTS IV

Waiting . . . "Unfortunately, the culture we live in discourages waiting. Fast food, video-on-demand, overnight shipping--these are our way of life. yet the Bible seems to suggest it's in the waiting that I reap the best." (Gwen Faulkenberry, Mornings with Jesus) How long did God's people wait for the Messiah? How long until He returns again in glory on the Last Day? And so we wait, but we do not wait as people who have no hope. God promised to send His Son to save us, & He did! He has promised to return again to raise us from the dead & take us to live eternally with Him in heaven. He will do it, because His promises never fail!

CHRISTMAS THOUGHTS V

I can't tell you how many chapel messages I gave during my years a Lutheran educator. I only remember a few of those messages. One I remember in particular was a message I gave at Lincoln Lutheran Junior High. I put the manger we used for our Christmas program next to the lectern, but I noted that it was empty. We celebrate the birth of Jesus, but He is no longer in a manger. He has gone to prepare a place for us in heaven, & He is still in our hearts.

CHRISTMAS THOUGHT VI

I'm going to vent a little bit. Does it bother you that so many times we hear "Happy Holidays" this time of year, instead of "Merry Christmas?" Well, it bothers me. It seems like our culture bends over backwards to avoid any mention of Christmas, even though Christmas is a federal holiday. So, since if nothing else I am self-righteous, whenever someone wishes me a Happy Holidays, I respond with Merry Christmas.

LIFE THOUGHTS FOR THE CHURCH YEAR

"The Lord bared His holy arm (Isiah 52:10) not just by appearing in the form of a full-grown man. The Word became flesh (John 1:14) first as an embryo a fetus. The clearest revelation of God's glory (Heb. 1:2-3) also designates every human life precious, no matter what age, appearance, or ability. We can no more keep quiet about the sanctity of life than we can leave out Christmas or Jesus from the Gospel!" Grace Lutheran Church Bulletin

STEWARDSHIP CORNER

"'Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem . .  wise men from the east came to Jerusalem saying, 'Where is He Who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw His star when it rose & have come to worship Him' ' (Matt. 2:1-2) They had been watching & waiting, &, when the time came, they knew what was happening & they were ready. We have the Scriptures that tell us about not only the birth of the Christ Child, but about His Second Coming as well. While we watch & wait, let's be busy using the gifts God has given us to share God's Word so that all, like the wise men (Magi), will be ready when He comes." Grace Lutheran Church Bulletin

PRAYERS FOR CHRISTMAS DAY

Grant, almighty God, that the birth of Your only-begotten Son in human flesh may set us free, who through sin are held in bondage; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives & reigns with You & the Holy Spirit, one God, now & forever. Amen. Lutheran Worship

O God the Father, we praise You for the gift of Your Son, who was born in the poverty & lowliness of Bethlehem so that we might enjoy the riches of Your grace & the exaltation of sonship with You.

O God the Son, we adore You for humbling Yourself to be our Savior, for bearing our sins in Your own body & for rendering to our Father in heaven a perfect satisfaction for our sins.

O God the Holy Spirit, we glorify You for having made our hearts a home for the Savior of the world & for bringing the peace of forgiveness to our souls through faith in Him who is the Prince of Peace.

O blessed Trinity, on this holy day give us humble & contrite hearts that we may joyfully claim the Babe of Bethlehem as our Lord & our God. Remove from us the tattered robes of our own righteousness, & adorn us with the spotless garment of Christ's righteousness.

Use every gift received this day from loving friends to remind us of the gift of a Savior so that our hearts may rejoice & our tongues can sing, "Glory to God in the highest!"

Help us to cradle the Christ Child in our hearts, O Holy Spirit, & give us the grace & strength to love & adore Him all the days of our lives. Amen. My Prayer Book

Lord God, gracious Father, who in the fullness of time sent Your Son to become man, to assume human flesh like ours & become our Brother, we thank You for Your truth & Your fatherly goodness in giving us this Savior. By His birth, death, & resurrection, we are delivered form sin, death, Satan, & hell. We beseech You, keep us until the end in true knowledge of our Redeemer, that with the holy angels, we may rejoice at His nativity, & on the Last Day, when He comes again, we may behold Him, together with You & the Holy Spirit, in glory & majesty, world without end. Amen. Lutheran Book of Prayer

A CHRISTMAS HYMN

Where Shepherds Lately Knelt (LSB #369)

This has become one of my favorite Christmas hymns.

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?