10 Days Until Christmas!

Song: “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” by Glen Campbell
Christmas Album: “Christmas,” by Kenny Rogers
Christmas DVD: “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”
Netflix Movie: “The Knight Before Christmas”
Amazon Prime Movie: “The Honeymooners Specials: The Christmas Special”
Disney+ Movie: “The Nightmare Before Christmas”
On TV:
• “Christmas at Dollywood,” 6 p.m., Hallmark
• “A Christmas Winter Song,” 6 p.m., Lifetime
• “One Fine Christmas,” 6 p.m., OWN
• “The Sound of Music,” 7 p.m., ABC
• “A Beauty and the Beast Christmas,” 7 p.m., ION
• “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” 7 p.m. and 9:15 p.m., AMC
• “The Santa Clause,” 7:45 p.m., Freeform
• “Scrooged,” 7:20 p.m., CMT
• “The 42nd Annual Kennedy Center Honors,” 8 p.m., CBS
• “The Christmas Caroler Challenge,” 8 p.m., CW
• “A Cheerful Christmas,” 8 p.m., Hallmark
• “Rediscovering Christmas,” 8 p.m., Lifetime
• “Baking Christmas,” 8 p.m., OWN
• “Holiday Affair,” 8 p.m., TCM
• Sunday Night Football: Buffalo at Pittsburgh, 8:15 p.m., NBC
• “Elf,” 8 p.m., Univision
• “A Christmas Princess,” 9 p.m., ION
• “The Santa Clause 2,” 9:50 p.m., Freeform
• “One Fine Christmas,” 10 p.m., OWN
• “A Christmas Detour,” 10:03 p.m., Hallmark
• “Matchmaker Christmas,” 10:03 p.m., Lifetime
Recipe: Quick and Easy Peppermint Fudge

Quick Thought for Christmas

Read

Luke 1:26-38
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
Luke 1:26-29

Reflect

Do you believe in angels?

Well, even if you believe in them, you’ve probably never seen one before. I don’t know about you, but I’m not used to angels showing up and giving me messages. It’s a fair bet that Mary wasn’t either. At the tender age of 13 or 14, Mary probably didn’t even talk to strangers. Not that many strangers happened near the well in Nazareth. But if they did show up, Mary, like other good Nazarene girls, kept to herself.

But on this day, the stranger was an angel with the wonderful message that she was pregnant, even though she was still a virgin. Isn’t that great?

And Joseph? Well, he obviously didn’t believe her, but he didn’t want to see any harm come to her. In those days, a pregnancy like Mary’s could have gotten her killed by stoning. So Joseph was considering options to hide her shame. But lo and behold, that angel showed up again, this time in a dream, and told Joseph to go through with the marriage.

It’s amazing how many people believe in angels. Most surveys say that three out of four people say they believe angels are real. But if one showed up in person, like with Mary, or in a dream, like with Joseph, would those same people respond with belief or with fear or skepticism? It’s one thing to say you believe; it’s another thing entirely to act on that belief.

Today, thank God for the belief of Mary and Joseph because it led to the birth of the Savior of the world. But also pray for your own belief, that it will be strong enough to stand up to any test that comes your way. You never know – you might just end up entertaining one of God’s messengers sometime soon.

Reflection copyright © 2019 by Doug DeBolt.
Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.