I want everyone to remember the part in the Christmas stor- ok wait not Santa or anything like that I mean the real Christmas story. Ok now remember the part when the wise men followed the star to meet baby Jesus. Just in that way I would like to challenge you to be a leader a guide a star in someone else’s life lead them to make good decisions, and take risks, and most of all lead them to God.

by Judah

Christmas means…🎄
Happiness spreads throughout the world 🤗
Righteousness 👍
Immanuel, God is with us❤️
Savior is born on that night🤱🏼
Thanksgiving 🙏🏻
Mary and Joseph👪 
An angel protector for baby Jesus👼🏻
Star is shining on the stable ⭐️ 

As most of you know, I teach Sunday school to the 3-5 year olds at our church.  Some of my favorite things about it is the energy that the kids bring to class (it can be a lot to handle at times but mostly is just fun) and the answers that they give to some of my questions.  Every now and then I like to ask my class to imagine how Jesus would respond to different situations, not as an adult, but as a 3-5 year old.  

The only snapshot we get from the Bible of Jesus between infancy and a 30-year old is a short description in Luke about how Mary and Joseph couldn’t find 12-year old Jesus after returning from Jerusalem after a Passover feast.  Imagine what Mary and Joseph must have felt!  Once they realized Jesus wasn’t with their group, they returned to Jerusalem and found him in the Temple talking with a group of teachers.  In response to his mother telling him she was worried about him, Jesus replied “didn’t you know I had to be about my Father’s business?”  Wow!  What an experience it must have been like to parent the Son of God.

As a parent of two energetic little boys, it’s really interesting to me to think what it must have been like for Jesus growing up.  Did he ever throw temper tantrums? (I’m looking at you Owen…)  Was he a picky eater?  Did he ever push his parents’ buttons?  

As we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus, I smile thinking that the beautiful baby Jesus would grow up to be a little boy capable of such wisdom, but possibly a little bit of cheekiness as well.

by Ki

I remember being very confused by Good King Wenceslas as a kid. This was probably because I only knew the first verse:

Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the feast of Stephen
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even

Who was this king with the funny name, and why are we singing a random song about a king having a feast outside in the snow? That was roughly how my thinking went… 

In the last couple of years, I have learned the rest of the verses. For this, I can thank Tressan and Saskia, went through a phase of requesting a Youtube video of a metal version of the song (see below). And now Good King Wenceslas ranks among my favorite Christmas carols. The song tells the story of a good king (one who really existed, about 1,000 years ago) who saw a poor man out in the snow gathering sticks for his fire, and decided to trek through the damp winter cold with his young page, in order to bring that poor man some firewood and food and wine. 

I’ll highlight the two verses that make this carol so special to me, which follow a conversation between page and king during their snowy trek. The first verse is the page speaking to the king, the second verse is the king speaking to the page. 

On an allegorical level in this carol, we can imagine God (or Jesus) as the good king, and ourselves as the young and very cold page. 

“Sire, the night is darker now
And the wind blows stronger
Fails my heart, I know not how,
I can go no longer.”

“Mark my footsteps, my good page
Tread thou in them boldly
Thou shalt find the winter’s rage
Freeze thy blood less coldly.”

Have you ever had a great plan or dearly held dream, and then midway through, it suddenly seemed pointless or impossible? Have you ever been exhausted, barely able to think, and then asked to do three more things simultaneously, with patience, with love, and with a fully-present heart, before you go to sleep? Have you ever felt like your heart is failing because of loss or despair? 

These experiences are universal. But we can meet them in the courage that God is walking just in front of us, through the bitter cold. We are exhorted, here in this carol and throughout scriptures, to be emboldened by the love and constancy of God. 

In the large and small moments when we have a choice to hope or despair, God is calling us to have courage. And Jesus’ birth and death and resurrection—and brotherhood with us through all of those—is at the core of that call. 

Here are a couple of renditions of GKW, depending on your mood:

The Three Kings (or Wise Men) that visited Jesus at the time of his birth came from lands far to the East, the furthest theoretically from India. The distance from India to Bethlehem is around 2,800 miles. Riding on a camel’s back.

These men were not Christian. In fact, they were firm believers in astrology, following a star that led them to Bethlehem. They took with them valuable gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, to give to a commoner that wasn’t even born yet.

The Three Kings could not have found this easy. They would have spent years charting the skies, and years more to make their journey. All for a boy in a manger. As followers of a God who has been born among us, has proven his power and love to the world, we should be empowered, dedicated, a hundred times more so than a group of wealthy Zoroastrians who had not lived in a world that Jesus had been born into.

And still they committed years to this one journey alone. We Christians should be inspired by the tale of the Wise Men, because we have what they don’t. We have a genuine connection with Christ Jesus, one where we can listen, even ask God for guidance. When we are called, we should then respond with committed and passionate action.

But what about us? What journey do we make? What gifts do we bring? God is calling each of us for something special, and we each have a gift to give back to our Father. This holiday season, may we each be listening extra close to the Word in our life, and respond with still more diligence than the Wise Men exhibited so long ago.

Merry Christmas Family!

Josiah.

I love Christmas because of the leaves and I know it is most important that we/I know that that day is Jesus Christ was born on that day.👶🏼🤱🏻.when we got here yesterday,first we went to grans house and then we went to in-n-Out🍟🍔🥤. And then we went to Trader Joe’s and got cereal and other snacks.we went to bed and in the morning we had WAFFLES! Me Ahinoah and Rob went to get gas ⛽️ and when we got back Saskia and Tressan were there and then we went to a place where we learned about birds 🦅 we saw a real bald eagle!🐔🐥🐧🐦🐤🐣🕊.then we came back to grans house and had lasagna then the boys went for a hike to robs son’s house  and we came to San Diego .now we are looking forwards to Christmas 🎄