My Prayer For You This Christmas

Next Thursday is Christmas Eve.

I thought I would start with that reminder. It’s hard for me to believe that. Perhaps you feel that way as well. In a year when so much of life is different, I am surprised that it still seems like these last few weeks have flown by.

Christmas is almost here.

We actually started preparing for Christmas around the first of September. We had no idea what this fall would bring, but assumed that having 6,000+ participate in the Christmas Eve services we would normally offer was not a realistic expectation. As a result, all of our teams began the work of preparing for an online Christmas Eve experience, and for many months, we have been praying this prayer.

God, would you use what we know will seem so different to nevertheless be a meaningful and sacred experience for us this Christmas?

This past weekend I shared my belief that moments in our life that are meaningful and moments where we are intentional.

Alongside all of the conversations that I know you are probably having with family about how you will celebrate Christmas this year, I want to encourage you to be intentional about making plans to participate in one of the seven Christmas Eve services we will be sharing.

Decide where you will gather.
Find a candle for everyone to use.
Prepare your heart to experience God.

Pray for the light of Christ to come into your life, your family, the lives of others, and our upside-down and hurting world in a new and special way.

Over the course of the rest of my ministry, I do not expect I will ever experience another Christmas Eve or a Christmas season like this year. I am grateful for that because, like you, there is much that I will miss.

At the same time, I continue to hope that in the years to come I will look back on this year and this entire season as a time where I experienced God’s faithfulness in a way that I will treasure for the rest of my days.

That is my hope for me and even more so, my hope for you as well.

I love you. I am so proud of you. I am praying that God will bless you this Christmas in a unique and special way.