9 Days to Christmas, Tuesday, Dec 16, 2025

“The Joy of Church at Christmas”

This third week of Advent is dedicated to the theme of Christmas Joy. It seems easy enough to find joy… After all, this isn’t Lent! This is Advent: full of good food, fun, and joy.

It’s too bad that Lent, the time of preparation for Easter, gets such a bad rap. As some folks know, I try to dress up Lent each year to make it… well… almost fun!  It’s a bit like putting lipstick on a pig! But don’t worry, I’ll make it easy in 2026.

Christmas is different. It brings so much joy on its own that I don’t have to dress it up at all. Instead, I try to infuse it with meaning, recognizing that the Church has everything to do with Christmas. It was the Church, in fact, that established the date of Santa’s deliveries. The Church gave us Christmas music, pageants, wreaths on our doors, nativity sets, candy canes, and Advent candles. These and many, many more have their origins in the Church!

Now, none of these traditions are commanded by God in the Bible.  But our most beloved holiday traditions connect back to the Church, which created these to help us fully experience the importance of this season.  So, for those who aren’t church folks but love the holiday season, you might want to give the Church a little credit! In fact, if you’re reading this, I’d say you should be at a church somewhere on Christmas Eve, at the very least.

Why go to church on Christmas Eve? I think the bigger question is, “Why wouldn’t you?” If you’ve got deep pain from the Church, consider me your manager in your corner of the ring. I get it. But don’t blame the Church for the really foolish things that a few of us clergy, leadership, and members have done. The Church is God’s outreach into the world, and without it, the world would be in even more of a mess.

Your visits to a local church this holiday season (one more Sunday of Advent, Christmas Eve/Day, and the two Sundays of Christmas) will be important contributors to your holiday joy this year. Don’t let it slip by. Yes, God can bless you wherever you are, but this holiday season, your best blessings will be at a church.

Give God a chance in church. Attend a church this holiday season. Can’t attend in person? Stream church live if possible. Recorded services are okay too, but live offers more emphasis on the experience.

“I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’ ”  (Psalm 122:1, NIV)