Christmas Eve services are the most beautiful and meaningful services of the year. There is great theological depth to the word, REMEMBRANCE. God has told us that we are to REMEMBER times of undeniable encounters with him. He has instructed us to REMEMBER what he has done when we take the communion meal together with other believers. This week at our Christmas Eve services, we take advantage of this significant holiday in our world—and use this event to truly REMEMBER that God fulfilled his promise to send the Savior.
At our Christmas Eve services…
- We will find great joy in the singing of many old traditional Christmas carols in order to REMEMBER that God’s promises never go void.
- We will delight in the lighting of each of the advent candles in order to REMEMBER that God has been fulfilling this promise since the creation of time.
- We will open the scriptures to John 1 to help us REMEMBER to connect the story of Jesus to the God of creation as well as the God of deliverance.
- We will light the last candle—the Christ candle—in order to REMEMBER that God’s love came in person—Jesus—in the stable in Bethlehem.
- And finally, we will light each of our own candles around the room to REMEMBER that we can participate in spreading the eternally life-altering story of Jesus to anyone and everyone in the world.
Both services will be identical. We will light candles at each of them. At the 11 p.m. service (my personal favorite), we will welcome in Christmas Day at midnight as we close the service.
As you prepare yourselves for Christmas Eve, I encourage you to read John 1:1-14.
Merry Christmas to you all.
