2019 Christmas Worship Guide

Christmas can bring us together!
By The Christian Village/Broadwell Christian Church
Ryan Edgecombe, Chaplain/Director of Volunteer Services

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[December 16, 2019]  It was listening to one of my favorite Christmas Songs recently. It is called “Do you Hear what I Hear?” It was written by Noël Regney and Gloria Shayne in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis and was intended to be a plea for peace to the One who truly provides peace within a dangerous and divided world.

Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy,
“Do you hear what I hear?”
Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy,
“Do you hear what I hear?”
A song, a song high above the trees
With a voice as big as the sea,
With a voice as big as the sea.

Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king,
“Do you know what I know?”
In your palace warm, mighty king,
“Do you know what I know?”
A Child a Child shivers in the cold,
Let us bring Him silver and gold,
Let us bring Him silver and gold.

Said the king to the people everywhere,
“Listen to what I say!”
Pray for peace, people, everywhere,
Listen to what I say!
The Child, the Child sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light,
He will bring us goodness and light.



Notice how the lyrics of the song communicate that this message of hope is for everybody! The Shepherd knows. The King knows. Even the little lamb knows! There is a free exchange of information that crosses walls and boundaries and prejudices.

In this little song we are reminded that the message of the Gospel is for all peoples. The good news of Jesus’ birth is for the unnoticed and for the one that lives in the shadows and for the one who struggles to put food on the table. The good news of Jesus’ birth is for the rich and the powerful and for the influential too (even for millionaires and billionaires). I don’t see a lot of “class warfare” in the Christmas story or in the Gospels or in the story of the early church within Scripture.

What I do see is a God who has a message of hope and redemption for everybody, because of His unconditional love for everybody, and in response to everybody’s need of a Savior.

Christ came at Christmas for the poor sinner and for the rich sinner equally because in His eyes we all need Him equally.

Whether it’s 1962 or 2019, we continue to live in a dangerous and divided world. It appears that we are being pulled apart and fragmented more and more into opposing camps. It seems that increasingly we are tending to look at others who do not hold to our views of the world as our enemy.

 

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And of course all of this makes for good TV and so there is produced content that positively reinforces (whether intentionally or unintentionally) the growing schisms that exist within and without.

The good news of Christmas is that we are truly not divided. We are One People! We are of One World!

Every last one of us has the same need for a Savior.

Every last one of us has sinned and separated ourselves from our loving Creator.

Every last one of us has a need to go to this Jesus who came at Christmas and become His Disciple.

“Do you Hear what I Hear?”

Sounds to me that we have a lot more in common than what we think! Let’s come together this Christmas in the name of Jesus!

 

 

Read all the articles in our new
2019 Christmas Worship Guide

Title
CLICK ON TITLES TO GO TO PAGES
Page
The little baby who came with a big message 4
Let Christmas be what it should be 6
Let Christmas be your stress-buster 8
Where we need God 12
What is Christmas without Jesus 14
What is Christmas all about? 15
Making room for the 'IN's 17
The One 20
A child brings hope 21
Christmas can bring us together 24
Come Worship with us 27 - 31

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