Closed For Christmas?

Today’s Passages – Hebrews 10 – 11; Proverbs 20

(Second Milers also read – Psalms 96 – 100; Memorize – Luke 2:11)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Matthew 6:33

Click here to view last year’s post from this passage – “Living by Faith”

“Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” – (Hebrews 10:23-25)

This Sunday is Christmas. Now I have to confess to you that I personally prefer when Christmas falls on another day of the week besides Sunday. Our tradition during Christmas usually involves going to a candlelight service at the church on Christmas eve, and then we visit with some dear friends of ours for a couple of hours. On Christmas morning we take our time getting up, and then open up our gifts to each other. We usually have a big breakfast together, sometimes a few close friends will come over to join us. In the afternoon we travel up to my dad’s house in Brick where we exchange gifts again, and enjoy a wonderful Christmas dinner. Sometimes on the way home, we will look for those homes that are beautifully decorated with Christmas lights. My family enjoys our tradition. We look forward to it every year, and we savor every minute of it when it arrives.

This year, however, our schedule will be radically different from most years because Christmas falls upon a Sunday. It happens every seven years or so, and every time it happens I am tempted to make some changes to our normal Sunday schedule so that I can keep my Christmas tradition as close to normal as possible. I know that many churches have changed their schedule. Some have eliminated services altogether. Some have just removed their Sunday evening service. Others have cancelled Sunday school. It is not really my business to tell other churches what they should or should not do, nor is it my business to judge the decision that they might have made regarding this Sunday’s schedule. However, I do want to explain to the people of Jersey Shore Baptist Church the reason why we have chosen to keep everything the same as a normal Sunday.

Christmas is all about the birth of Christ. I got to thinking about my normal Christmas tradition, and I realized that it wasn’t really all about Jesus, it was all about my family. Now family is very important, and we certainly do not want to do anything that will hurt our family, but on the same token, neither do I want to do anything to hurt my Saviour. It is His birthday. Now I know what some of you may be thinking right now: we don’t have to physically go to church to worship Jesus because we can and should worship Jesus anywhere and everywhere. However, isn’t that the same argument some people use for not going to church at all; and isn’t it the same argument many churches have used through the years when they permanently eliminated their evening services and their prayer meetings.

If Christmas is about Christ, and it is, then we should give Him what He wants on His birthday, and He wants us to put Him first. The verses above from Hebrews chapter ten are not necessarily Christmas verses, but I think that they apply perfectly this year. Let’s keep Jesus right at the center of Christmas day this year. Some family members and friends may not understand our decision, but that’s OK. I love my family, but I must love my Savior more. There will be plenty of other opportunities this season to enjoy family and friends, but on Christmas Sunday, my immediate family and I will be in church for both the evening and the morning services; not because I have to, but because it is my delight to do so.

Read the verses above again. By assembling together we are holding fast the profession of our faith without wavering. In other words, we are letting the world know where we stand. We are also making ourselves available to some that may be in desperate need of edification and encouragement. I have discovered through the years that not every Christian has the same strong, loving family that I have, and they really need to be around other believers on Christmas. And let’s not forget that we are closer to the “approaching day” than we have ever been.

No, we will not be closing the church this Christmas.