Christmas Day Catchup

The way bedtime on Christmas Eve went, I wasn't so sure we'd have a good day on Christmas. 3 hours of screaming baby is not the ideal way to go to bed. At midnight-thirty, I finally caved, swaddled her (she HATES her swaddle) and let her scream herself to sleep (in my arms, I'm not evil). The bonus, we realized she sleeps SO much better in her swaddle when she does finally stop screaming and fall asleep. She did an 8 hour stretch only waking because I had to feed her (BF'ing Moms will understand). Katie got tons of wonderful gifts but the funny thing was, her favorite was the most simple. Remember Lamb Chops? My younger brother bought her a Lamb Chops hand puppet. It doesn't flash lights and there are no buttons play music but she loves her Lamb Chops Baby. The sad part was the only white part of her first Christmas was her family. At least this isn't the first Christmas she'll remember (it better snow next year).

Addition 2 hours later - It's taken me two hours to finish writing this post, mostly because my daughter woke up and wanted to play and then wanted to eat. In that two hours, I realized her Lamb Chops does, actually, make noise. Silly me, it's stated right there on the still attached tag but I only realized it when I squeezed the mouth pretending to talk as Lamb Chops only to have Lamb Chops happily ask, "Hi! What's your name?"

I received one of the best games ever, Curses. Christmas night, Lucas and I went to a friend's house for dinner and fun. I was so excited to have a reason to bust out my new game! I think we played with too many intelligent people, though, since we couldn't get someone to win the game. We couldn't even get someone to lose first. I think we played for two hours before calling it quits. Katie didn't sleep much while we were out which gave me a full night of uninterrupted sleep when we came home. WOO-HOO!

Our church is not one to shirk services so we were still able to fellowship with our church family Christmas morning. I was a little bummed this year when I realized Christmas would fall on a Sunday because, growing up, we never had church on Christmas Day. I love my church and the family I've gained from it so I didn't look forward to missing two weeks in a row (assuming they wouldn't have service on New Year's Day as well, which we will have service then, too).



One thing that has been discussed the last few weeks in service has been self-examination to know you are truly a Christian. There is a phrase I hear/read a lot that I have mixed feelings about. It goes something like, "Going to church doesn't make you a Christian anymore than being in a garage makes you a car." My mixed feelings come from the fact that people use it as their excuse not to attend church. I agree 100% that going to church does not mean you are a Christian, the Bible even warns of people who believe they are Christians, yet aren't, which is evident by their lifestyle (works). However, it is so extremely important that we, as Christians, attend church and, I believe, it is commanded that we attend church. I won't write all of these verses out but I will give enough to give an idea as to where I have developed this belief.

Matthew 4:23, Matthew 5-7, Mark 1:21, Mark 2:1-2, Luke 4:16:
Matthew 4:23 "Jesus wen throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness among the people."
Mark 1:21 "They went to Capernaum, and, when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach."
Luke 4:16 "He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day, he went into the synagogue as was His custom."
As Christians, we are called to be "Christ-like." Jesus, in His time on earth, made a habit of attending service on the Sabbath. We are called to be imitators of God (Ephesians 5:1) and, therefore, should imitate Jesus, being the incarnate of the Trinity. Using a middle school throw-back, WWJD? Jesus would attend service. Or he'd teach it.

Hebrews 10:25 "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching."
God specifically commands us to meet together. That combined with the other verses convinces and convicts me to attend church. Not only meet together in friendly fellowship but also to meet together to learn, encourage, strengthen and grow each other.

How, exactly do we do that?
1 Timothy 4:16 "Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers."
We learn in church services. Yes, we learn through our own personal devotions (equally important) but God gives us those who are wiser and spiritually older to teach and guide us. God, through the Holy Spirit, gives each Christian a spiritual gift:
1 Corinthians 12:27-28 "Now you are the body of Christ and each one of you is a part of it. And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those that have the gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration and those speaking in different kinds of tongues."
When we remove ourselves from church, we remove the ability of those withing a church to minister to us using their gifts and we remove the ability from ourselves to minister to a church family using our own gifts. The use of our gifts aids in spiritual growth. While some can use their gifts outside of a church setting, it would be horrible to find the gift of teaching or prophecy after having removed yourself from the setting that would allow and nurture the growth to use it to your best ability. And now backtracking a bit...

1 Corinthians 12:12 "The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ."
Ephesians 4:25 "Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor for we are members of one body."
Between these two verses, we find that not only are we called one body but we are called to teach, confront or correct, as applicable, the other members of the body. Again, I know it is possible to teach, correct and confront other Christians outside of church as it is possible to spend time together outside of church but, in all honesty, how many times do you gather with other Christians each month, let alone each week, for the sole purpose to teaching and learning? God has set aside one day a week that we should give back to Him. One day out of seven. It's really not much.

That being said, I do understand that there will be circumstances that prevent a Christian from attending church and that does not make him/her any less of a Christian. One of my very closest friends has a hard time committing to much because her husband has a wacky work schedule that changes about as often as a germophobe washes his hands. She and her husband are often working on Sundays and are given a "weekend" at another point of the week. This couple is one of those strongest Christian couples our age that I have ever met and are daily in their Bibles. There are careers that demand priority, such as military, and I do fully support Christians serving their country (as I myself served 5 years in the AF and my husband is currently serving his second enlistment).