On Sunday night, Hubs and I attended a fantastic Christmas program at Bel Air Presbyterian Church. The church is located on LA's westside, and 75% of the congregation is in the entertainment industry. Needless to say, anything the church does entertainment-wise is pretty excellent. This Christmas program featured a choir and orchestra, a band, and a mix of classical and contemporary music.
The big finale was a Mariah Carey-esque version of "Joy to the World", which is probably my all-time favorite Christmas carol. With Christ's birth, joy burst onto the scene! Heaven's gates opened and God's peace, hope and joy were being offered to the world in the Person of Jesus.
The lyric of the song that stuck with me and continued to ring in my head after we left the church that night was "Let every heart prepare Him room." Isn't that, after all, the reason the Church observes the advent season leading up to Christmas each year? And isn't that also one of the reasons we are focusing more on prayer this month--so that December 25th doesn't sneak up on us without our having reflected on Jesus at all?
Christmas is only about a week away! During the next week as you are praying, ask the Lord to show you if there is anything that needs to be rearranged or purged to make room in your heart for Him.
"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us." ~Matthew 1:23
God is with us. We have not been left alone. Let every heart prepare Him room ... joy to the world!
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5 comments:
Thanks for coming to the Christmas program! I'm glad you loved it, a lot of effort went into making it the excellent, Christ-centered program that you saw. Blessing to you this Christmas season!
Matt Singley
Executive Director
Bel Air Pres Church
Joy to you, Starshine!
the service sounded so wonderful!! and thank you for reminding me how joyful of a carol "joy to the world!" truly is! we're so programmed to sing these songs at Christmas--sometimes we forget to listen to the words.
my hubby and i still havent found a church. its been a struggle--mostly because we are so out of habit. im sure some of you may understand my plight! if i may so meekly request, if anyone would please send a few prayers up for us i would much appreciate it! (long struggle...long story!)
Josey,
I prayed that you and your husband would find exactly the church God has for you--one where you'll be able to connect with God and with others. And that He'll lead you to it quickly.
Merry Christmas!
anon--i am so grateful for your selfless prayer for me!!! thank you!!
merry christmas to you, too =)
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