Christmastide 1 (The Story)

Wednesday, December 25 through Saturday, December 28

Finally, after weeks of waiting and watching, hoping and preparing, we light the Christ candle to proclaim the Light of the World that the darkness cannot overcome. It is common to feel out of step with the world at this moment. Stores will be switching Christmas displays to clearance today, turning the Christmas music off, and moving on to the next holiday. But for us, Christmas Day is just the beginning of nearly two weeks of Christmastide. This devotional has intentionally kept us in a space of preparation during Advent, only now tipping into the story. Give these next thirteen days as much of your attention as you have given to Advent.  Don’t move on too quickly.  Don’t shortchange the story and the celebration! In these three days we witness first-hand, alongside Mary and Joseph, the angels and the shepherds, the birth of this child who will redeem the whole world. (By the way, if you haven’t been using the Spotify or YouTube playlist so far, you won’t want to miss hearing a black gospel choir sing the song for Christmas Day!)