Tag: Christmas

Embodiment of Faith

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nativity
By Georges de La Tour – Sammyday (2010-10-23), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18953221

Writing to new Christians, in what today is southern Turkey, the Apostle Paul summed up the central miracle and mystery which began with Jesus’ birth: “In him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.”( Colossians 1:19) For the duration of his earthly life, Jesus was God with us.( Matthew 1:23) Through faith we can still experience him as such, but this relationship is difficult for those who have never encountered anyone sincerely seeking to embody Christ’s teachings in daily life. It is our calling to help make the Christmas miracle real for them.

I have a magnetic cling which reads “Keep Christ in Christmas.” I keep it on my refrigerator where it serves as a reminder to myself rather than an admonishment to others. If Christ is to remain in Christmas – or indeed become a part of Christmas for those who have not encountered him – then he must be born again and again in the hearts of his followers. The fullness of God may not dwell in us, but it must flow through us collectively as Christ’s Church. I am reminded of the words of St. Theresa of Avila:

“Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks with compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”

St. Theresa of Avila

With the passing of years, I am ever more convinced that the essence of Christmas lies within each of us. It is not to be found in the exchange of gifts, the sounds of carols, or the hanging of lights and greens, but rather in the quiet birth of God’s Spirit into each of our hearts. It is this which gives joy and peace, this embodiment of God’s Word which births hope into the world.

O holy Child of Bethlehem
Descend to us, we pray
Cast out our sin and enter in
Be born to us today
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell
O come to us, abide with us
Our Lord Emmanuel

Wishing you and your loved ones a blessed Advent, a Merry Christmas, and a Happy, Healthy New Year.

Order Poinsettias for Christmas Eve

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We are offering poinsettias for purchase to place in the sanctuary for Christmas Eve. They may be taken home after the last service Christmas Eve.

christmas poinsettias

Order your Christmas Poinsettia by completing the order form below and return it with payment to Jim or Anna Koehler (address and contact info is on the order form). 

Order deadline is Saturday, December 1st, 2019

$9.00 each

Download the Poinsettias order form here.

New Things

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Van Hornthorst, Adoration of the Children (1620)

“Behold, I make all things new.” (Revelation 21:5)

We worship a God who is not only a Savior but also a Creator, a God who not only preserves but also one who transforms and renews. To worship this God is to embrace change as well as continuity. Perhaps no other span of the church year demonstrates this more clearly than the six weeks between the start of Advent and the Feast of Epiphany.

The season’s Bible passages reveal not only how Jesus’ birth fulfilled longstanding prophecy, but also how it marked a profound shift in God’s relationship with humanity. Most startling to pious worshippers of Jesus’ day was the idea that God would choose to become one of us – a human being. As the author of Hebrews says, “Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son … (who is) … the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being…” (1:1-3). And, once the Son of God got here, he soon broke with popular expectation. Christ came not to be served but to serve, not to reward the righteous, but rather to redeem the unrighteous.

Yet with the benefit of hindsight, 1st Century Christians soon perceived continuity between Jesus’ example and preaching and God’s action in the past. A good portion of the New Testament consists of authors trying to convey to their readers how Jesus’ ministry fulfilled prophecy and divine law. Matthew quotes Jesus as saying “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” When Jesus names the greatest commandments as love of God and love of neighbor, he is quoting Deuteronomy 6:4, 5 and Leviticus 19:18. Though he didn’t fit popular conceptions of what the Messiah would be, Christ stands firmly within a Jewish tradition which insisted that true worship of God must be expressed in righteous action toward others.

As we enter a new church year, a new calendar year, and contemplate worship in a renewed sanctuary, it is good to remind ourselves of these things. If our relationship with God is secure, we can move confidently through change trusting that God and the essentials of our faith remain constant.

  • Where two or more gather in Jesus’ name,
  • Where there is unconditional love,
  • Where persons carry each other’s’ sorrows and celebrate each other’s joys, there God is.

Merry Christmas and Wishes for a Blessed and Healthy New Year.

Please plan to be present for the Sanctuary rededication service on Sunday, January 20, 2019, when we will have ONE WORSHIP SERVICE ONLY at 10:30 am followed by our church council meeting.

Christmas Poinsettias for 2018 Available Now

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East Hills Moravian Church is offering poinsettias for purchase to beautify the Sanctuary for Christmas Eve services. They may be taken home after the last service Christmas Eve.

Poinsettias are $9 each and orders must be placed by December 2nd. Order forms are in each Sunday’s bulletin, or you can download a Christmas Poinsettias order form here. (a new window will open when you click the link)
christmas poinsettias

Order 2016 Christmas Poinsettias

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It’s time to order your Poinsettias to decorate the EHMC sanctuary for our Christmas Eve services.
christmas poinsettias

Plants are $9 and you’re free to take yours home after the last service on Christmas Eve (we also have a service Christmas Day).

Please use the order form below or the order forms which appear in each Sunday’s worship program. Deadline to order Poinsettias is December 10.

More info: Jim or Anna Kohler: 484 256 5697 or nyaapa@aol.com

Christmas poinsettias order form.

 

Birthing Christ Within Our Soul: The Essence of Christmas and Christian Faith

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Had Christ a thousand times,

Been born in Bethlehem,

But not in you, your sin

Would still your soul condemn.

– Angelus Silesius

christmas advent

Matthias Stomer, Adoration of the Christ Child, circa 1660.

One should not mistake decorating for the holidays as preparing oneself for Christmas.

Living in the “Christmas City”, it’s sometimes easy to confuse the two. Bethlehem does a great job decorating for the holidays and marketing itself as the American destination for Christmas merrymaking. Since mid-October, city work crews have installed trees with lights on all the lamp posts. They have strategically positioned oversized Advent wreaths at major intersections around town. Local shops – even grocery stores – flood us with cheery tunes about family, fellowship, snow, and celebration. Meanwhile we decorate, shop for gifts for friends and loved ones, and anticipate our favorite personal holiday traditions. We are ready for the holidays – but are we prepared for Christmas?

If you would learn the true meaning of Christmas, do not look to society with its holiday glitter. You will not find the Christ-child there. There is no room for him in crowded malls and streets filled with frenetic holiday shoppers. Nor can Christ be found online in the midst of special holiday offers. To prepare for Christmas, seek the birth of the Christ-child within yourself.

The highest worship is like unto God to grow,
Christlike to be in life, in habit, and love’s glow.
– Angelus Silesius

Christmas comes the day Jesus’ Spirit is born within us.

O Holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!
– Phillips Brooks

Have a Blessed Christmas,

– Pastor Derek French

Wishing You a Peaceful Christmas and a Joyous New Year

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nativity

Jacob Jordaens, The Nativity, 1653

A bit over two thousand years ago Jesus, the Prince of Peace, was born in a stable because no one would make room for him anywhere else. His earthly parents, Mary and Joseph, were of extremely modest means. Their son’s first resting place was a re-purposed feeding trough. Outside of heaven, Jesus’ birth was a decidedly low key event. Except for a few shepherds and astrologers, no one took much notice – either then or at any point during the next two hundred years. We don’t even know the exact day upon which Christ entered the world.

The first Christmas was of necessity simple, peaceful, and intimate. Given the fanfare and
preparation which precede a child’s birth today we might feel sorry for Jesus. Yet, from the moment of his birth, Jesus had all that truly matters in life. For that matter, so did Mary and Joseph. Mary had time to nurture her newborn and contemplate the love and support of her husband, Joseph, who stayed by her side even though the child who now looked up at her was not his own. With Joseph she could reflect on God’s blessings, on the miracle of birth, the messages of angels, the power of love, and the wonder of the Incarnation. As the angels sang their Gloria, there was peace on earth among those whom God favored.

It is ironic that peace, simplicity, intimacy, and time for prayerful contemplation are so hard to
come by as we celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace. Having perfected celebration of “the
Holiday season” in all its festive glittering allure, have we lost Christmas? The true treasures
of Christmas–those which Jesus and his parents enjoyed–are free. They cannot be bought with gold or silver.

The Prince of Peace was born in a stable for there was no room for him anywhere else. Have you made room in your heart and time in your life for the Christ or does he need to seek shelter elsewhere?

O Holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray; Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us
today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell; O come to us, abide with us, our Lord
Immanuel.
Have a Blessed Christmas,

Pastor Derek French