Enjoying the Christmas Season

Last weekend felt like Christmas had already come. On Friday night we enjoyed the “Living Streams Kids Got Talent Christmas Variety Show.” The kids sang and danced, did some stand-up comedy, and played piano. It was a lot of fun. It even snowed in our sanctuary for part of it. 

Then, in our Sunday morning services, the Words of Jesus and the Spirit of Jesus worked together to bring many people gifts of edification, exhortation and comfort. At the end of each service the aisles were filled with people hungry and thirsty for a fresh filling of God’s love. By God’s grace, prodigals came home to the Father; people locked up in fear, doubt, and shame were set free; and everyone there witnessed a tangible display that Jesus is alive, He is with us, and we’re going to be just fine.

On Sunday night we hosted a drive through Christmas party. We did this, first and foremost, because a portion of our Living Streams family have needed to quarantine, and they haven’t been able to attend any of our events in person for the last nine months. We wanted to give them an opportunity to come onto the campus in a quarantined way, to be seen and known and loved as in-person as possible. We basically built a long tunnel of love, lights and Christmas cheer in our parking lot and waited to see who would come. To our surprise, we didn’t even have to wait until the 6:00 pm start time. Cars started to line up ten minutes early—and they never stopped coming. We had a yeti, Santa and Mrs. Clause, a manger scene with all the characters (including a 6’5” inch baby Jesus). There were lights and glow sticks, candy canes and snow balls, Christmas trees, and staff members singing Christmas karaoke. At one point, I heard the song “YMCA” being sung loud and proud. (Maybe they thought the “C” stood for Christmas?)

We received a lot of good feedback, including this from a family that is quarantined—but not because of Covid. They have been quarantined for the last 10+ years because, in their family of 5, the mom and two of the children have autoimmune diseases that make constant quarantining necessary for survival. They wrote:

“Just wanted to let you know we thought last night’s Drive Through Christmas was amazing! It helped us feel that connection with the church family! We were immediately met with a warmth and welcome feeling, like we were home! It was so awesome to see so many familiar faces “up close” and be connected to a place, our church home! Our kids laughed and smiled the whole time as they experienced so much joy! They too felt the connection to their friends and group leaders and loved getting to participate and be part of the community. They could not believe how big the campus was (on tv it is, well you know, the size of our tv, lol 😂) We are grateful beyond words! We love our Living Streams Church family!”

I pray you and yours will have a Merry Christmas as you remember the time the Father gave the Son, so the Son could give the Spirit, so the Spirit could give us the power to live and give the love of the Father to the world around us. 

David

p.s. Don’t forget: our Christmas Eve services will be both in-person and livestreamed at 3:30, 4:45, and 6:00 pm. If you will be live-streaming, click here to register for a Christmas Eve Kit.