Celebrate Christmas

I remember, as a child, getting so excited when the Christmas specials came on television.  I also loved watching the Christmas musicals.  It seemed to get me in the spirit!  And even now, the best is when we start singing the Christmas carols at Pine Valley United Methodist Church!  While it always brought excitement to me, I now think it brings hope, which is exciting. This morning, as I was in my office, writing this, I heard, “Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer.”  In the hall was Mr. Pat and Mrs. Linda, wearing reindeer antlers, going from classroom to classroom singing with the children. As they ended with “Silent Night,” I thought of how that was as much for me as the children!  It was for all God’s children!   And it still brings an exciting hope to me! 

In my Advent small group, we studied the lyrics to “Joy To The World.” “Joy to the world, the Lord is come.  Let earth receive her King  Let every heart prepare Him room…”  We shared how we need to prepare more room for God in our life.  We also agreed that in a year as tough as 2020, it is nice to remember, “He rules the world with truth and grace...” This is something we are going to hold onto.  While we are filled with joy that Jesus was born, we had never thought about Advent as a time to anticipate His second coming.  We almost did not do the study because “it is such a busy time of year!”  Exactly, that is why we needed to do it now!  Preparing Him room!  We shared that we couldn’t wait till we sang “Joy To The World” because we would never sing it the same again. 1 Peter 1:3-4, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you…”  

This year, especially, I think people are looking for hope.  What is hope?  Hope is a feeling of expectation.  Hope is also defined as a feeling of trust.  I don’t think I have ever thought of hope in that way.  When we have hope in God, we have a feeling of trust, which gives us peace.  Peace that only God can give.  Philippians 4:7, “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  Well, Sunday, we sang “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” which was what I needed. The words brought comfort as we sang, “that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear.  Rejoice!  Rejoice!  Emmanuel shall come to thee O Israel.”  Then we sang “Joy To The World,” and I could not help but think of my Advent small group.  

That afternoon I attended the Celebrate Christmas musical featuring the Chancel Choir, IGNITE, and The Bridge Band.  If you were not in the spirit before, you were after this!  As Pastor Tim said, it is nothing short of a miracle that, among a pandemic, we were able to have a Christmas musical.  Thanks to Karl, Camille, Maura, and Taylor for a wonderful celebration bringing hope to all!  The chancel choir was all dressed up in their tuxedos and shimmering black tops with red masks!  James Taylor, with his radio voice, was the narrator.  Someone just told me he has done radio!  “The Little Drummer Boy'' was one of my favorites because I love the David Bowie/Bing Crosby version.  I did not know “All Is Well,” but it was another favorite because of the lyrics, “All is well all is well.  Lift up your voices and sing.  Born is now Emmanuel.  Born is our Lord and Savior.”  With God in control, all is well!  A simple and powerful message of hope!  But the song that stuck with me was, “We Need A Little Christmas” because we do “need a little Christmas right this very minute!”  That sums up 2020 to me!   

I am always so proud of IGNITE!  They practiced, were socially distanced, and wore masks to give us a Christmas musical!  When Christmas comes, I always hope we will sing, “Angels We Have Heard On High,” and that is what they started with!  PVUMC is so blessed to have so many youths praising God through song.  All of the soloists did a fantastic job!  The Bridge Band played “Noel,” featuring Ashley Stein!  “Noel” means Christmas or “to be born,” and it was beautiful to hear this worship!  When you left the musical, you had been to a celebration!   

“Celebrate Christmas” was a perfect title for this musical because that is what they did!  They celebrated Jesus!  When it was over, Karl said he hoped we had found hope today.  We did!  If you are looking for hope this season, celebrate Christmas through praise and worship!  You cannot be in the midst of worship and praise and not have hope!  While the musical is over and December 25 has passed, we can still celebrate Jesus!  Thank you to our Chancel choir, IGNITE, Bridge Band, musicians, tech support, staff, and volunteers.  

Video Links below

Jill Jarrell-Newsome