Christ and Christmas

​“It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” Speaking of time (and something that occurs occasionally) Christmas Day and New Year’s Day will both occur on the Lord’s Day (Sunday). How will you spend your day? Will worship be at the centre of it? Because the Lord is interested in how we spend our time and commands us to gather on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:22; Revelation 1:10; Hebrews 10:25). Christ comes before Christmas (and New Year’s). Did you know that Christians didn’t celebrate Christmas until about AD 354? That’s because the Lord’s Day (and its remembrance of the Resurrection) stood as the central time of worship. While a significant event Christ never commanded us to remember Christmas (or New Year’s) but He did command us to gather together each week. English Protestants, right up until the late 1800s, including Baptists, did not celebrate Christmas and even worked on Christmas Day. In another extreme, today Christmas has become its own sacred day of self for many. It’s a day I sleep in; a day I spend with family; a day I open presents and do tradition x, y or z. It’s the only day of the year Tim Horton’s is closed! But for Christians worshipping Christ in His way on His day comes before Christmas. As such I think it is most sad to hear of many churches that will be closed on Christmas Day as Christians put human traditions (even good ones) ahead of Christ. As those who often chanted “Keep Christ in Christmas” it is rather ironic. At MBC we want to put Christ first and build our meaningful family time and Christmas traditions around Him. (If you have non-Christian family members with you, let your priority in worship be a witness to them; or invite them along). We’ll still be meeting on Christmas morning, though at 1030 instead of the usual 10 (and we won’t be holding our evening service). This will allow families times to do their thing when they wake up and for the rest of the day, yet still keep Christ central; after all, that’s what the first Christmas in AD 354 was all about, a worship service to remember the birth of Christ. I pray that whether we’re away and visiting another church or here at home, we’ll keep Christ in Christmas and so maintain the true wonder, the wonder of worship.