| The Season of Christmas |
 |
| The word "Christmas" originates from two words "Christ" and "Mass." The worship service called the Mass is a sacred choral composition made up of five sections: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei, elements that we still use today in our Sunday worship services (see the explanation to the Service). The Christ Mass is a worship service focusing on the birth of the Christ, the "anointed one." That Christ is our Lord Jesus, the Savior long-promised by God. And Jesus is the one whom the Father gave that we might believe and be baptized and receive eternal life. God foretold the Savior's birth through the prophets in the Old Testament and God kept His promise in the New Testament by the birth of Jesus. The first book of the New Testament, Matthew, tells us that the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you will call his name Jesus; for he will save his people from their sins." Matthew 1:20-21. As the angel said to Joseph, at Christmas we celebrate the joy of the savior's birth. We celebrate his coming to forgive us our sins. We recognize that his birth was simply the prelude to his work on the cross, when he will ransom us from our captivity to sin, death, and the devil. Generally, the Season of Christmas consists of the following times of worship: - Christmas Eve (generally a candlelight and carol service) - a Christmas Day (a joyous celebration of Christ's birth on Christmas morn - two Sundays after Christmas (the "12 Days" of Christmas) |
 |
| The season is remembered for the visits to Jesus by the shepherds, from the Wise Men. And there are many festivals on the church calendar that are often overlooked. They are supposed to be celebrated whenever their assigned day falls on a Sunday. And so, along with the birth of Jesus, we remember: - The Holy Innocents (the boys of Bethlehem who were slaughtered by Herod in a vain attempt to kill Jesus, whom Herod thought was a threat to his throne). (December 28); - The Circumcision (January 1); - The Epiphany (December 28th). The color of the Christmas season is white. The white color highlights the importance of the Christmas season. It is also the color of purity and holiness. The Christ child born in the manger was truly God and truly man. The only respect in which his humanity differed from you and I is that Jesus was not born sinful. He was perfect and lived a sinless life. It was that very sinless life that enabled him to take our sins upon himself. |