Before We Open Gifts...

Father before we open gifts this Christmas, please remind us of the gift of your son and let us be thankful.

Father before we greet our family and friends and share in food and fellowship, please remind us of the Bread of Life and the sweet fellowship we have with you because of Jesus.

Father when the day is done let us rejoice in the assurance that when life on earth is finished we have a home with you because Jesus became flesh and died in our place. Amen.

Christmas Kept is Liable to Mold

Lord allow us to share the joy of the true meaning of Christmas. Amen.

Linda Felver prayed:

Christmas kept is liable to mold.
Let me give Christmas away, unwrapped, by exuberant armfuls.
Let me share, dance, live Christmas unpretentiously, merrily, responsibly with overflowing hands, tireless steps and sparkling eyes.
Christmas given away will stay fresh—even until it comes again."
(Source: Let Me Not Keep Christmas, A Book of Christmas, Nashville: Upper Rooms, 1988, p. 48)

Pat and I along with our family wish all a very Merry Christmas.

A Carol Prayer

A Carol Prayer


How silently, how silently, the wondrous Gift is giv'n;
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His Heav'n.
No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.

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!

--From "O Little Town of Behtlehem," words by Philips Brooks