“First Christmas In Bethlehem”
Worship is always a subject of discussion among preachers. Sometimes it seems it is the only subject talked about among preachers and there is good reason for that. It is the most important thing a preacher does and it is the context in which he preaches. A worship service is a strange thing if we think about it. It seems to be of no earthly good to anybody. It can be boring. It seems to strange to those who don’t get it and why it is done. It is a “supernatural activity” says John Kleinig, and it “makes no sense to earthlings”. Kleinig who is a professor who teaches worship at Seminary says, “Worship, however, also has to do with our hope of glory, that is, with our life as sons and daughters of God in heaven. This life is not yet apparent to us. It is “hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). The wonder of it is that in worship heaven comes down to earth in Jesus, and we earthlings are taken up together with Him into heaven. We join in with the angels and saints in heaven as they gather round God’s throne and sing: “Holy! Holy! Holy!” By faith, then, we have a foretaste of heaven; we anticipate the glory we shall share as children of our Heavenly Father and members of God’s royal family. Wilhelrn Loehe said this about the mystery of worship: In its worship the congregation feels closest to its Lord. There as close to the Bridegroom as it can get, it leads an heavenly life on earth, an earthly life in heaven. Worship, then, is a mysterious tuning into heaven here on earth. By it we human beings become receivers and transmitters of heavenly life together with other Christians.”
So I thought about that Christmas night and tried to tie it into a worship service which is what it was. There was a preacher and acolytes and a sanctuary and an offering – at least that is what I think. Here is my song “First Christmas In Bethlehem”.
