Hi everyone,

Welcome to worship for this Christmas Eve, December 24, 2025!

The bulletin for this service can be found here. In it, you will find the order and most words of worship, along with the sermon manuscript. All the words and responses you need to know will also appear on your screen, and the sermon is on this page as well, under the video.

If you’d like a more immersive online worship experience and to emulate the ambience within the church, you are welcome to dim the lights if possible in your own space, and if safe to do so, have a lit candle for the duration of the service. You can also have another candle held in your hands for when we sing Silent Night.

May God’s restorative joy and peace fill you with hope and love, this Christmas season and always! Merry Christmas!

Loving God, by the gift of your Spirit, teach us to treasure your Word and ponder it in our hearts, that we might see and  hear you in all areas of our lives, through Jesus Christ, your Word made flesh.  Amen.

You know, like many people, Christmas is one of my favourite times of the year.  One out of around 40 or 50 favourite times, but still.  I look forward to it every year.  The atmosphere it brings, the expectation and anticipation of the magic, even the music can really get me going.  You know, if I can get the lyrics right, at least.

But I’ll be darned if something doesn’t happen every year that seems to ruin it all.

Maybe it’s an injury or illness of some kind.  Perhaps it’s some sort of brokenness or pain.  Or something that comes that leaves general bad feelings.  But even though for me, it’s something pretty much every year, it always still surprises me. 

Like, a week ago I was doing pretty good.  I was ahead in my preparing, I had this whole Christmas week plotted out, and I had all my plans were in place ready to be executed.  I was feeling on top of things and was thinking that finally, I can enjoy a Christmas with minimal worry and stress.  Or so I thought.

I guess I got a bit too cocky because of course, something happened.  Our kitchen sink stopped draining water.  No problem, I thought, the internet is full of DIY instructions and stuff, I’m sure I can clear this on my own.  I was told repeatedly by an unnamed spouse to just call a plumber, but I’m stubborn and once I get it in my head that I can do it myself, I obsess over it and keep at it until it’s done.  And not to mention I knew I could get a killer sermon illustration out of it.  Well, an illustration, anyway. 

Well, after several long hours that I honestly didn’t have to spare stretched over the next few days, a couple hundred dollars in tools that I really didn’t need, and a bit of soreness in my back and shoulders and some near blisters on my hands, it’s still clogged.  Of course, during Christmas week. 

And you might be thinking, “That’s what ruined your Christmas?   Get some real problems, buddy.”  And you wouldn’t be wrong.  This really isn’t that big a deal if you think about it.  It could have been solved already if I spent that time and money on hiring a professional instead of trying to fix it myself.  In this particular situation, I was my own demise, and I might have many of you rolling your eyes in my general direction for yet again, biting off more than I can chew.

But the point isn’t how I reacted and very foolishly thought I could solve it on my own.  No, the point is that despite our best laid plans, life can trip us up.  And even if it’s something minor to the eyes of the majority of people with half a brain, to someone who can be as obsessed as I can be in wanting to get something done a certain way, it can throw a real wrench in those plans.  I didn’t cry or anything, but if I was being totally honest and open with you all, I did get close, especially when my brand new 25 foot sink auger maxed out and I still couldn’t feel the clog…

I mean I was actually excited to fix this myself.  I was looking forward to having these new tools that I probably won’t ever use again.  I was a little giddy with anticipation in saving a few bucks and learning a new skill and patting myself on the back for a job well done.

But that didn’t happen.  Instead, I was left disappointed in myself.  I was feeling a little deflated that I couldn’t do what I set out to do.  I was kind of down, thinking that I messed up again.  And during the worst time of year possible to do so.

Again, this sounds like a really minor thing, but I’m pretty sure you all could understand the feelings I was feeling.  I’m sure you all could relate to that disappointment, perhaps not around something like this specifically, but in general.  I’m sure you’ve all felt deflated like I did, when my best efforts amounted to nothing.  I’m sure you’ve all felt down about your situations, your decisions, and what might have ended up as failures.

I often wonder if this is what Mary and Joseph felt throughout their whole Christmas story experience that we read about every year around this time for reasons unbeknownst to me.  I wonder if they too, felt disappointed in the surprise pregnancy, deflated because this unexpected census made them travel during the worst time and trimester, and a little down that they didn’t plan ahead enough to make hotel reservations. 

I mean that is a lot of surprises, a lot of unexpectedness, a lot of poor planning.  And depending on the kind of person you are, these things can really hit hard.  And for someone like underaged and unwed but very pregnant Mary?  I can see that being soul-crushing. 

But in spite of it, her child was born.  In the midst of the hectic busyness, love was found.  In the thick of all the unwanted and unneeded stress, God was so very clearly with her and her growing family.

You know, I wish there was a Hallmark movie ending for my plumbing woes.  I wish I could say that in the eleventh hour of plunging, augering, and quiet under-the-breath cursing because kids were present, that I heard the angelic gurgle in the pipes as the water started to flow freely.  I wish I could tie this episode with a nice, neat bow and present it as the perfect illustration for the perfect sermon that will make this Christmas Eve service perfect.

But as life teaches us again and again and again, “perfection” is but a pipe dream.

Life can be really tough, in its unexpected surprises and plot twists.  Life can be super disappointing, in its many dashed dreams and squashed hopes.  Life can get so very messy, both figuratively and sometimes quite literally. 

But in spite of all that, a baby is born unto us.  In the midst of it all, we are reminded of how loved we are.  In the thick of all that life throws at us, we can have hope in knowing that God is with us, through thick and thin, through highs and lows, through successes and failures.

We might not have a host of angels reminding us of that fact, but we have each other in this community and church, together singing songs of praise and thanksgiving for all that we are given and created to be.  We might not have strange shepherds visiting us and encouraging us, but we have our relationships and encounters with others that give us hope in the good of humanity in general.  We might not have a newborn baby looking up at us with eyes full of love, but we might have the comfort from a friend, the understanding from a colleague, or even the supportive smile from a stranger that tells us that no matter what, we are not alone, we aren’t the only ones who have gone through what we’re going through, and that we all have value and worth and are welcomed in this family of Christ.

See this is the gift of the Christmas season like the Magi gave the Christ child.  This is the reason we celebrate like the shepherds and angels.  This is the truth that we ponder like Mary when it was revealed to her that she was in the presence of God, that while we were sinners, while we were seeped in disappointment and discouragement, while we were stuck in our own unwanted and untimely situations… God appears.  God enters our lives in tangible ways.  God shows us a love that reminds us that we are not abandoned, we are not alone, and we are brought into community and relationship.  God continues to hold us, heal us, and save us from any of the guilt and shame that might tell us otherwise.

So even in the toughness of life, even in the pitfalls that trip us up, even in the unexpected clogs that disrupt our plans, may we see that we are loved, welcomed, and saved by this little baby that came to us full of a grace that forgives, a peace that accepts, and a hope in the truth of a God with us.

So on this Christmas Eve, tomorrow’s Christmas Day, and throughout this Christmas season and always, may we have the hope of the shepherds, the joy of the angels, the love of a mother, and the peace of a newborn baby, that the light of God might always shine brightly in and through our lives, dispelling the darkness, binding up the broken, and lifting us up in love, allowing us to lean on this strength and be empowered to not just live life, but live the life that truly is life.  All thanks and praise be to God.  Amen.