CHRISTMAS DAY! - Traditions - FAMILY

Luke 2:16
'And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in the manger.' (NKJV)

1 John 3:1 (NKJV)
'Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God!'

Family. Like it or loathe it, many of us will be spending time with our family today. My daughter and her husband recently had their first baby, a beautiful little girl, and this will be their first Christmas as a new family. For some of us, who have little of no family, this day can be a lonely time, and for those who's relationships are sometimes painful it can be extremely difficult.

The GOOD NEWS of Jesus' birth today is that he is a REDEEMER! This means to 'buy back'...We have just 'redeemed' our car, which was judged a write-off, hopefully with the intention of getting it repaired. But Jesus can do this with all aspects of our lives. He can redeem broken relationships, redeem our souls from past hurts and save us from our own negative thought patterns. He's amazing.

I'll leave you, this Christmas with two links: one to a beautiful song by Melody Green, sung by her husband Keith, and the other an improvised version of it by our group, 'Epiphany':

Epiphany Christmas Blessing 2015
Happy Christmas from all of us in Epiphany! Here's our Christmas Blessing from our 'Classics at Christmas' concert at St George's Church in Poynton on 18th December 2015.
Posted by Epiphany on Wednesday, 23 December 2015

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

DAY 24 - Traditions - SANTA, PRESENTS and GOODWILL

Matt 2:11
'They presented gifts to him: gold, frankincense and myrrh.'

Santa Claus is coming to Town
'He's making a list, and checking it twice,
Gonna find out who's naughty or nice...'

So gift giving is right at the heart of the Christmas story, though it's a little different the way it happens now.......although St. Nicholas, the 4th century bishop who was so loving and generous, I'm sure was a great guy. Maybe things have got a little out of hand, but giving is also central to the heart of following in Jesus' footsteps. Jesus, himself, said that it is more blessed to give than to receive. (See Acts 20:35)

Someone else who features in our Christmas traditions to do with goodwill is King Wenceslas, who, according to the song, went out of his way to help the poor. One chilling prediction that Jesus made is that as we reach the end of the age,
'"Such will be the spread of evil that many people's love will grow cold."'(Matt 24:12 GNB)
The best way to keep our love flowing, I reckon, is to stay close to the Lord Jesus.
Here is a verse of the famous carol:


"Sire, the night is darker now
And the wind blows stronger,
Fails my heart, I know not how,
I can go no longer."
"Mark my footsteps, my good page,
Tread thou in them boldly.
Thou shalt find the winter's rage
Freeze thy blood less coldly."

DAY 23 - Traditions - MUSIC

Luke 2:13
'At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God's praises.' (MSG)

Come to the Manger
'Sing, sing, chorus of angels,
Stars of morning o'er Bethlehem sing.'

Actually, in the literal translation of the scripture about the angels appearing to the shepherds there was no mention of singing, though it is implied. But singing is something we do when we are rejoicing and it is a great way of expressing our praise to God.

Over the centuries since the birth of Christ, singing has been an important part of our Christmas celebrations and there are so many carols with fantastic Christian words. Sadly, most people these days only know a basic few carols and they seem rather archaic to our popular music-trained ears. 

I do, however, love the energy of the secular Christmas songs and wish we had a few more like them, but full of words about the real meaning of the season.

I love the Mariah Carey song, 'All I want for Christmas is you.', and I think that this is what Jesus is saying to me as I prepare for this Christmas!  

DAY 22 - Traditions - Twinkly lights and Christmas trees!

Luke 2:13
'And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!" (NKJV)

We Three Kings
'O star of wonder,star of night,

Star with royal beauty bright'

Here in Britain in the winter we have short days and lots of rain, more rain and sometimes snow. You know, I don't mind if some of our Christmas traditions come from pre-Christian roots, because decorated pine trees look so pretty and Christmas lights cheer up the dark winter nights.

In the scripture above we see God's Christmas decorations.... lots of amazingly bright angels filling the night sky as they went back up into heaven!

And what about the star of Bethlehem, shining brightly for the Magi to follow? 

Jesus is described as the Light of the World, so I am happy to fill my Christmas with twinkly lights!

DAY 21 - Traditions - FEASTING

Luke 1:53
'He has filled the hungry with good things.' (NKJV)

Good King Wenceslas
'"Bring me flesh and bring me wine
  Bring me pine logs hither
  Thou and I will see him dine
  When we bear him thither."'

To be honest, there's not much in the biblical Christmas narrative about feasting...... which is such an important part of our Christmas experience! So are we wrong to celebrate in this way? Even the references above are about feeding the poor, and not feasting. 

If you take the Bible as a whole, there is actually a lot about feasting, from Abraham providing the best quality meal for his angelic visitors to Jesus' story about the prodigal son's welcome home party! Jesus, himself, went to many parties; the wedding feast at Cana and the meals at Simon the pharisee's house and at Matthew's to name just a couple.

I feel sad, however, that so many people have to overindulge, particularly in alcohol, in order to have a good time. It seems for some people it's the only way to drown out the worries of life, fully relax, and let go of inhibitions. 

The father in the prodigal son story said to his elder son, "Let's have a feast and celebrate! For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found."

So I would slightly alter that and say, 

Let's have a feast and celebrate! For the whole human race was dead and now can live again through Jesus!

DAY 20 - Foretold - THE STAR

Matt 2:10 

'When they saw the star they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.' (NKJV)

2 Pet 1:19

'And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts.' (NKJV)

Rev 22:16

'"I am the root and offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star."' (NKJV)

Who knows what the star of Bethlehem was......some say it was a conjunction of planets, or a comet....?

Whatever it was, it was so unusual it caused the Magi to set out on a long journey to find the new King they believed to have been born.

At the very end of the Bible, in this passage in the book of Revelation, John tells of his vision in which Jesus describes himself as the bright morning star.

The morning star, which in reality is probably the planet Venus, shines as the sky becomes light, when all the other stars are invisible to the naked eye. It is like a signal that the night is almost over and the day is ready to blast away the darkness with the light of the sun.

In Malachi 4:2 , (interestingly, at the very end of the Old Testament), we read these words:

'But to you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings.'

DAY 19 - Foretold - SORROWS

Matt 2:18 (from Jer 31:15)
'A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted because they are no more.' (NKJV)

Matt 24:8
'"All these are the beginning of sorrows."' (NKJV)

Right here in the middle of the Christmas story is the bit we don't like to dwell on.....so many baby boys in Bethlehem were murdered on the command of King Herod, as he tried to assassinate Jesus before he could become a threat.
This year the world has experienced so many sad events, from terror attacks to the suffering of countless refugees fleeing war. It is hard for us to respond to all this without becoming overburdened in our spirits, or, alternatively, shutting out all the bad news and drowning it out with other distractions.

I would like to offer these words from a beautiful song my daughter has written for this Christmastime:

'For those on their own tonight, let this song be some kind of light.
As the bells ring and the choirs sing, may you know
This Christmas is for you.'

Here is a link to it..... I hope it blesses you!