Saturday, December 24, 2005

Christmas Eve 2005

We attended the Christmas Eve service @ East Bayou Baptist Church in Lafayette, LA. It was a neat service. I liked the opportunity to sing along with some traditional carols (done in a non-traditional way). I also liked the multimedia presentation on the History of Christmas. It started with a porcelain nativity set - with the pieces moving around as the voices warranted. They told how the first Christmas came about so many years ago. Then they added things - Santa Claus, penguins at the North Pole, shoppers, parking, presents, trees, candles, songs, etc. Each came in and crowded out the nativity scene, pushing it further and further back. It culminated with one of the figures "shoving" its way forward and reminding us about the true meaning of Christmas with all of the others slowly giving way until only the nativity scene was left. The shot then focused and zoomed on the baby figure. This led into the pastor walking out with a shopping cart and giving a brief message on where we should be putting our trust and attention - not degrading anything that we do, but contrasting Mary and Martha a little on the way.
It was a good service and a great reminder of how much God did for us so long ago through an unwed mother who would have been shamed and an earthly man. God became a man. He lived among us - as one of us. He experienced life as a human and understands what we are going through. He came for a purpose - to take our punishment for every last thing we've done wrong. He stands in our place and gives us His righteousness. All of this while we were still at war with God. Thank you, God for the gentle reminder of what it's all about.

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