Lighting the Christ Candle
Each Sunday of Advent, we have been lighting a candle. Whether it’s Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, all four candles have been lit, and the only one remaining is the center candle, which is usually white. This candle represents the light that the Son brought into the world when He was born a little baby, God in the flesh. The fact that all the candles remain on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day reminds us of the special moment of birth, the moment of transition from prophecy to fulfillment. On the Sundays after Christmas, the outside candles are usually removed, allowing the center white candle to remain. This reminds us that the old things have passed away, and all has been made new.
One year in a church I pastored in Manassas, a baby was crying. I was preaching, but the baby cried and cried. The mother did not take the child out, even though the baby was disturbing everyone, and I could hardly keep my mind on my sermon. I walked out in the sanctuary and asked the mother if I could hold the baby. She gladly let me hold him. I put the child on my shoulder and patted his back and walked back to the pulpit. Before I started to preach again I glanced at the baby since he was no longer crying. The baby had fallen asleep on my shoulder. The tension in the room went away. I started to go back to my prepared sermo,n but that seemed like a waste. The entire room was watching that baby sleep. I shared with them that God had come in the form of a baby. That baby was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. That baby was God who had come to save the world.
Today, we celebrate the coming of God into the world! It’s Christmas and Jesus has come for each of us. As you light the “Christ” candle – may you know that the God of power and might will come, not as an armed warrior but as a babe in a manger. Remember John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” May your Christmas be merry and filled with joy.
Prayer: Father, today is Christmas and we celebrate the coming of Jesus. Thank You for coming in the form of a baby to save us and allow us to have life eternal. Amen.
John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
By the Rev. Tommy Herndon
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