What a perfect day for Storytime Sunday! This is the day we
celebrate the beginning of the best story ever told. The day Jesus was born.
There are plenty of children’s books that tell the story and I’m sure you can
find them easily by searching, so I am going to talk about a couple of things
from church this morning that I thought you might find interesting.
First, we sang the song “I Heard the Bells on Christmas
Day.” Here are the words:
I heard the
bells on Christmas day
Their old
familiar carols play,
And wild and
sweet the words repeat
Of peace on
earth, good will to men.
I thought
how, as the day had come,
The belfries
of all Christendom
Had rolled
along the unbroken song
Of peace on
earth, good will to men.
And in
despair I bowed my head
‘There is no
peace on earth,’ I said
‘For hate is
strong and mocks the song
Of peace on
earth, good will to men.’
Then pealed
the bells more loud and deep:
‘God is not
dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong
shall fail, the right prevail
With peace
on earth, good will to men.’
Til ringing,
singing on its way
The world
revolved from night to day,
A voice, a
chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on
earth, good will to men.
I learned
today that the song is from a poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow after
his wife had died in an accidental fire and his son was severely wounded in
battle. I love that after he talks about how hate is so strong, which it’s
difficult not to see in the world, that he says the bells got more loud and
deep and how the world revolved from night to day and how wrong shall fail and
right prevail. This song encourages me that there is hope in the world, no
matter how bad things seem to get, if you only trust in Jesus, the Savior. Have
you ever felt like you encountered some kind of a sign or a feeling that gave
you hope or made or think things were going to get better or be ok? I just
think of the star on that Christmas night and what Mary must have felt. She
must have had so much faith in God to trust that everything was going to be ok.
It’s like in the song, when all of a sudden the bells sounded so much louder
and clearer that they had a meaning and purpose if only to the writer of the
song.
I also like
a couple of things that were in the bulletin. The first is some Christmas
reminders. You always hear at Christmas time, you need to keep CHRIST in
Christmas, but with all the hustle and bustle this time of year, it is sometimes
difficult to know how to do it. I think keeping the spirit of Christmas is not
something that takes effort, only thinking about what you are doing and why you
are doing it. It’s not to say we need to stop doing all of the secular
traditions of Christmas, but to think of the reason why the tradition came
about. Here are some ideas:
- May the Christmas gifts remind you of God’s greatest gift, His only begotten Son.
- May the Christmas candles remind you of Him who is the “Light of the World.”
- May the Christmas trees remind you of another tree upon which He died for you.
- May the Christmas cheer remind you of Him who said “Be of good cheer.”
- May the Christmas bells remind you of the glorious proclamation of His birth.
- May the Christmas carols remind you of the song the angels sang, “Glory to God in the highest.”
- May the Christmas season remind you in every way of Jesus Christ your King.
And finally
some definitions of Christmas:
- Christmas is the light that burns eternally. It is a glow that warms the hearts of people wherever the message of “Peace on earth to men of goodwill” is believed.
- Christmas is peace in a world where people have been alienated from each other by hatred and jealousy.
- Christmas is love that flows from one heart to another.
- Christmas is the joy of brotherhood, of giving, of sharing, of lifting, of caring, and of being what Christ wants us to be.
- Christmas is forgiveness, the time for fresh beginnings, a time to right the wrongs of yesterday.
- Christmas is giving to those who cannot give to us. It is visiting the neglected, lifting the fallen, giving hope to the hopeless, assuring victory to the defeated, living the spirit of goodwill to all mankind.
- Christmas is surrender of one’s life to Christ in renewed dedication, making Christ the Lord of our lives.
Hi Lori:
ReplyDeleteI'm a new follower. I am a HUGE fan of Barbara at The Corner on Character and your name pops up a lot!
Part of your post reminds me of the song, "Mary Did You Know?" Don't you love that song?! I am always in awe of Mary because she, filled with faith, said YES!
So... here I am wishing you a very Merry Christmas and being delighted to follow your blog and learn more from you and more about you...
I could never teach younger kids, but I am always so thankful there are people like you who choose to do so!
Kim
Finding JOY in 6th Grade