Join us online for our Community
Christmas Eve Services

{choose a time to tune in}

Wednesday, December 23, 2020
6:00PM

Thursday, December 24, 2020
2:00, 4:00 & 6:00PM

When you look at the Christmas story through a clear lens, you see that it wasn't the sanitized version we’ve come to accept. In fact, it was MESSY in so many ways. Angels interrupting dreams, a miraculous conception in a virgin, family strife and disappointment, loss of reputation, a long  journey by donkey while nine months pregnant, birth in a barn, shepherds intruding – and we still believe that little baby Jesus was asleep in the hay and  didn’t even cry. Folks, it was messy no matter how you slice it.

I find that thought to be so comforting. I believe God intended Jesus to be born into a mess because my life can be such a mess at times. I believe God allowed Jesus to be born into a mess because it shows His willingness to enter our mess. If ever our lives were messy, they are even more so during this COVID Christmas 2020. Our lives look nothing like the sanitized manger scenes we have on our mantels.

Ironically, our lives are very similar to the manger scene into which the Savior of the world was born. If we’re honest, we can agree that our lives feel messy. The sights, smells, and sounds of our lives leave much to be desired. The real manger put Jesus at the center of a mess, not a masterpiece. The manger teaches us that Jesus is fine with our mess. Jesus didn’t mind the mess of the manger, and He doesn’t mind our mess either.

We can find hope that Jesus came, not to take our mess away, but to move right into the mess with us. He came to show us a better way to live when life isn’t the way we think it should be! We can trust Him to accept us and restore our peace no matter how messy our Christmas may appear.