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 Thursday Thoughts

December 28, 2023

Merry Christmas to all! The Christmas season started on December 25 and goes to Epiphany on January 6. Each week we have examined one of the candles on the Advent Wreath. The Christ candle was lit on Christmas Eve on our church Advent wreath. It is the white candle in the center of the wreath. All the candles are burning brightly now on the wreath. I don’t know about you but I am always a bit concerned that the first purple candle will have burned down so much that it might catch the evergreens surrounding the wreath on fire!

Each one of the candles has a special meaning and we heard readings about each one during the Sundays leading up to Christmas. Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love were represented. In our alternative Advent wreath, the one to promote spiritual growth during the weeks leading up to Christmas, we looked at Humility, Patience, Justice, and Listening.

That leaves us with the center candle and it will stay the Christ candle as there is no alternative to Christ our Savior. “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:6

Several other scriptures tell us that Jesus The Light. In John 1: 4-5, “In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood.” Jesus has given us life and his love for us and our love for him is the light inside us. Evil cannot overcome the light of Christ. We are to radiate that light wherever we are. The darkness in and around us is sin and the light exposes those sins. We can ask that the darkness be banished when we look to Jesus for forgiveness.

The Christ candle is more than just a remembrance that Christ came as Emmanuel. It burns brightly in the center of the wreath to remind us that Christ’s light is burning in us. Are we reflecting its light so that others who might not know Him might be illumined? Are we keeping the Good News to ourselves or are we sharing with everyone? There is a lot of darkness in the world and needs the Light. Before we put away our Advent and Christmas decorations we need to keep the Christ light burning in our hearts and continue to examine what it is in our life that keeps us from shining as we should.

Blessings,

Becky

Bridgewater UMC 

Making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world!  

219 N Main Street

Bridgewater, VA 22812

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