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2015 Worship Guide
A LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.COM PUBLICATION
seating area at a funeral service for a young man
so dearly loved that there was hardly enough
room for the hundreds who came to honor his
life and mourn his loss. The voice of Andy
Williams on the radio keeps ringing out, “It’s
the most wonderful time of the year.” How can
it be when death seems to be surrounding us,
winning the day, reigning over all the earth?
We must remember that Christmas is much
more than a feel-good Hallmark holiday.
Christmas is a season of great contrasts, ironies,
and paradoxes. I hope you will pause to think
about what really makes this season the most
wonder-filled time of the year. Here are a few
of my favorite ponderables:
God, Creator of all things, creating Himself,
folding His eternal self into an embryo in the
womb of a virgin peasant girl.
Omnipotent God, Almighty and not dependent
on anyone or anything, making Himself
helpless and utterly dependent as a human
baby.
The King who has always, is now, and will
forever reign over every other king being born
in the shadows, sleeping in a feed trough.
Shepherds, socially considered the lowest class
of their place, people, and time, being invited
to the most royal birthday party ever given.
Angels, armies of terror-inspiring spirit
warriors, laying aside their weapons of war
invading the earth to sing about peace from
heaven, from God Himself.
God’s own people, missing the signs of His
arrival, but foreign astrologers so convinced
that history was about change that they made
a treacherous pilgrimage to bring honor to the
infant monarch.
The joy of Jesus’ birth and the tears of other
Bethlehem mothers deprived of their baby boys
by the madness of a jealous king who ordered
their execution.
The Light of the world entering our darkness.
Let this enigma grip your heart:
Whatever may happen in this dark place His
light has appeared. Light that reveals our own
personal darkness. Light that heals our souls.
Light that teaches us truth. Light that beckons
us to follow in His footsteps. Light that will
lead us home.
At Christmas we remember that whatever may
come
God is with us
. And
that’s
what makes it
the most wonderful time of the year.
Greg Wooten, pastor of Lincoln
Church of the Nazarene
