Once every seven or so years, December 25th falls on a Sunday — and this is one of those years! This means that this year, on the day of the week that we gather to worship our Lord, we will also be celebrating Christmas, a time we normally set aside for family, gift-giving and joyful reflection.
Sunday Worship. Already in the years following Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection, the enthusiasm of Christ’s followers to come together for fellowship and worship began to wane, so that the author of Hebrews would need to remind them: “Do not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing” (Hebrews 10:25). The importance of corporate worship, coming as a body before the Lord in praise and adoration, is an essential aspect of our faith. Gathering as a church body flows naturally out of our response to His gift of salvation. And, early on, the church began gathering on the day of Christ’s resurrection, on Sunday, recognizing the first day of the week as the day of worship.
Christmas Worship. The
celebration of the birth of Jesus has long been part of the Christian worship
tradition. Of course, Jesus is central to Christian belief. Contrary to much popular “Christian” views
today, we cannot separate our faith from the Person and work of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ followers soon found it helpful
to mark the miracle of the incarnation — the coming of the God-man. This led to
a worship service (in Latin, the mass) specifically designated to remember the
birth of the Christ (so, a Christ-mass or Christmas). The particulars of
linking that particular annual worship service with December 25th is
a story of political intrigue, social accommodation, military presence, bad
history, and prickly personalities—interesting, but not particularly relevant
at this point.
Christmas worship this Sunday. So, we have the importance of weekly worship for God’s
people, the identification of Sunday as the appropriate day of the week for
corporate worship, and December 25th as the special day to celebrate
Christ’s birth. Which brings us to this
Sunday, Christmas morning, when the people of God will gather together and do
that which we should do best of all: give
thanks and praise to the Glory of God for the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ,
our Savior.
Come join us, at 10:00 AM in the Barclay building—Hebron family
breakfast to follow our worship together.
