Church Year: The Second Season - Christmas

 CHURCH 101      January 19, 2022  Church Year   

The Second Season- Christmas

When the Christmas Eve candle is lit on Christmas Eve, we

mark the beginning of the Christmas season. It is not just December 25 but a season that stretches until January 5. It is in this season that we celebrate the birth of Jesus through feasting, celebrations with family and giving thanks to God for His Gift to us in the Infant Jesus.  It is appropriate to continue to sing Christmas carols and keep the visual reminders of Christ’s birth in place.

It is during this time that schools are closed for winter break, businesses slow down and many people travel to see family or just stay home to enjoy the different activities within the home.

From Isaiah’s prophecy of the “child who would be born for us” 9:2-7 to the story of the shepherds visiting the stable where the infant Jesus was born, we hear the message of God’s love. The Promised One, the messiah is born. This baby would be the one who would change the course of human history and save all people from sin.

We listen to the story of Jesus’ birth from Luke 2:8-20

The colours often associated with Christmas are green- and red.. Green trees symbolizing life and eternal life given to us through Jesus Christ. Red- symbolizing the blood Jesus shed for us at his death.

Other colours like blue and white often appear reflecting the snow and clear skies but this is often used in the season after Epiphany a little later on.

Christmas—is a season and to know that Jesus is born gives us hope, peace, joy and love. All we need to do is share in faith and rejoice- Christ is with us. Thanks be God.

PRAYER: Thank you God for the season of Christmas and the joy we experience  with Jesus’ birth. Enable us to hold on to the symbols of love, peace, joy and hope all wrapped up in the baby born in a stable. Enable us O God to keep Christmas in our hearts, all year long. Show us your way O God.  Teach us to understand the seasons of the church so that we may learn and grow in faith. Amen.