As a personal note, I am writing to express my gratitude for the responses to the Advent devotionals. I may publish them next year for the benefit of the larger community. But we are now in Christmastide! The Calendar is no respecter of persons.
Christmas Day was a wild day of family rituals punctuated by walks and worship. We divide our twelve days economically. We don’t open all our gifts in one day; we divide them into several themes. On some days, we host; other times, we are hosted. But each day has a telos.
On Christmas Eve, our congregation held its first official service in our new building. The Lessons and Carols is a traditional service with nine Scripture readings (lessons) and nine carols that signal the prophetic promises leading to the birth of Messiah Jesus. We followed with some wassail and cookies. Folks were delighted to stick around for quite some time, and a good time was had by all!
Above, you can see a brief intro video with fragments of forthcoming ideas. All I ask is that you stay tuned for things to come. I am thrilled with the season ahead, and I hope these next ten days of Christmas are replete with divine surprises!
Merry Christmas!
