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December Newsletter |
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Rev Henry H. Biar II Office - 512-303-5267 FAX - 512-321-1703 927 Main St. princeofpeace@academicplanet.com Church Council Don Heller, Vice President Randy Cours, Treasurer Jodie Faske, Secretary Sherry Cook, Financial Sec. Marc Nash, Stewardship Kelli Davis, Education Pauline Zwernemann, Evangelism Sue Neer, Care Ministry Tom Brown, Elders Dave Neer, Trustees Biff Singleton, At-Large Audrey Romoser, At-Large
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FROM THE PASTOR’S HEART
As we move into Advent and then Christmas I thought it would be good to look at some of those things in a sense that we get on e-mail called “urban legends”. Advent for the church for at least a thousand years has been a time of preparation and repentance towards the coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Advent is a time most of us will not hear about in the general society before Christmas. During this time we will have two Advent worship services at the Bastrop Intermediate School, at 7PM on Dec. 4 and Dec. 11. We will have a Children’s Worship Program on Dec. 18th at 7PM at the Intermediate School.
Many people sing the song of the Twelve Days of Christmas, but have no idea what they are singing about. The twelve days of Christmas are not any days before Christmas, but the twelve days of Christmas are the days starting with Christmas Day to Jan. 5, the day before Epiphany. Epiphany brings me to another subject. The Magi or Wise Men, didn’t visit on the night of Christ’s birth. They probably visited within the first one or two years of Christ’s life on earth. We don’t know how many wise men there were or what their names were. We know that they brought three gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The names that we hear so often come from a Broadway musical called Amal and The Night Visitors.
The Christmas Tree, as we know it, most likely started around the Twelfth Century AD. People during Advent and Christmas would decorate trees outside with fruits. Over time the trees were brought inside. Martin Luther suggested that the Christmas Tree had a symbolic significance. A tree every year dies and comes to life. With the birth of Jesus the process of our new life began.
The way we celebrate Christmas today in the United States, and our responsibility to the poor and needy, is as much based on A Christmas Carol, the Story of Ebeneezer Scrooge and the Ghosts of Christmas, as it is on the Bible. The idea of gifts being given has grown over time, but was much encouraged by the commercial side of our country as anything else in the early part of the twentieth century. Many of our Christmas Carols that we enjoy and sing have been written in the last two hundred years. The subject that I find most interesting is why we celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25. The early Christian Church’s most important holy day was and is Easter, but the Church also had to compete with the pagan and Roman holidays of winter, especially Saturnalia, the worship of the god Saturn. So the Church decided it would be good to celebrate the birth of our Lord on this date to keep the Christian’s mind on Christ.
All of these things that have been mentioned are not bad, but it is good to understand and know where they come from. Most importantly the birth of Jesus Christ has no meaning, with out Jesus’ death and resurrection for us, to bring us forgiveness and the hope and promise of eternal life. Prepare, celebrate, and enjoy as waiting the Second Coming of our Lord to celebrate with Him forever in heaven. In Jesus Name. Amen. | |
