Christmas TV Schedule, Countdown and Quick Thought – Saturday, December 25, 2021 (Christmas Day)

Merry Christmas!

Song: “All Is Well,” by Michael W. Smith and Carrie Underwood
Christmas Album: “The Ultimate Christmas Collection,” by Michael W. Smith
Christmas DVD: “It’s a Wonderful Life”
Netflix Movie: “White Christmas”
Amazon Prime Movie: “It’s a Wonderful Life” (B&W version); “It’s a Wonderful Life” (Colorized version)
Disney+ Movie: “Home Alone”
Hulu Movie: “The Man Who Invented Christmas”
Hallmark Movie: “Christmas in Conway”
On TV:
New programming in bold
• “A Christmas Story,” continues all day on TBS until 8 p.m. and TNT until 9 p.m.
• Christmas movies throughout the day on Lifetime, Hallmark, ION, BET and OWN
• “It’s a Wonderful Life,” airs throughout the day on E! from 6 a.m. until midnight.
• “CMT Christmas,” 7 a.m. and 8 a.m., CMT
• “Arthur Christmas,” 7 a.m., Freeform
• “Let’s Go Luna! Luna’s Christmas Around the World,” 7:30 a.m., PBS
• “The Star,” 7:30 a.m., FX
• “FX’s A Christmas Carol,” 7:30 a.m., FXM
• “White Christmas,” 7:30 a.m. and 10:15 a.m., Sundance
• “The Wizard of Oz,” 8 a.m., 10:15 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., Cartoon Network
• “Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas,” 8:30 a.m., PBS
• “Frosty’s Winter Wonderland,” 8:45 p.m., AMC
• “Christmas With the Kranks,” 8:50 p.m., Starz
• “The Santa Clause,” 9:10 a.m., Freeform
• “The Year Without a Santa Claus,” 9:15 p.m., AMC
• “Nature Cat: A Nature Carol,” 9:30 a.m., PBS
• “You’ve Got Mail,” 9:30 a.m., Bravo
• “Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch,” 9:30 a.m., FX
• “Christmas … Again?” 10 a.m., Disney
• “Wild Kratts: A Creature Christmas,” 10:30 a.m., PBS
• “Scrooged,” 10:30 a.m., AMC
• “A Christmas Carol (1951),” 10:30 a.m., FXM
• “The Santa Clause 2,” 11:20 a.m., Freeform
• “Peg + Cat + Holidays,” 11:30 a.m., PBS
• NBA: Atlanta at New York, noon, ESPN
• “FX’s A Christmas Carol,” noon, FXM
• US Winter Olympic Trials, 12:30 p.m., NBC
• “The Polar Express,” 12:30 p.m., AMC
• “A Loud House Christmas,” 12:30 p.m., Nickelodeon
• “O. Henry’s Full House,” 1:30 p.m., TCM
• “The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause,” 1:50 p.m., Freeform
• WCRA Cowtown Christmas Rodeo, 2 p.m., CBS
• “Jeff Dunham’s Very Special Christmas Special,” airs every hour from 2 p.m. until 8 p.m. on Comedy Central
• NBA: Boston at Milwaukee, 2:30 p.m., ABC
• “Fred Claus,” 2:30 p.m., AMC
• Camellia Bowl: Georgia State vs. Ball State, 2:30 p.m., ESPN
• “Miracle on 34th Street (1994),” 2:30 p.m., HBO
• “A Christmas Carol (1951),” 3 p.m., FXM
• “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” 3:30 p.m., BBC
• “It Happened On Fifth Avenue,” 3:45 p.m., TCM
• “Disney’s Magic Bake-Off” 4 p.m., Disney
• “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town,” 4 p.m., Freeform
• “Deck the Halls,” 4:25 p.m., HBO
• NFL Football: Cleveland at Green Bay, 4:30 p.m., FOX
• “FX’s A Christmas Carol,” 4:50 p.m., FXM
• NBA: Golden State at Phoenix, 5 p.m., ABC
• “Four Christmases,” 5 p.m., AMC
• “Disney Holiday Magic Quest,” 5 p.m., Disney
• “Last Holiday,” 5 p.m., Showtime
• “Frosty the Snowman,” 5:05 p.m., Freeform
• “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” 5:40 p.m., Freeform
• “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,” 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., BBC
• “Christmas … Again?” 6 p.m., Disney
• “Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch,” 6 p.m., FX
• “In the Good Old Summertime,” 6 p.m., TCM
• “A Loud House Christmas,” 6:30 p.m., Nickelodeon
• “Home Alone,” 6:45 p.m., Freeform
• “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” 7 p.m. and 9:15 p.m., AMC
• “All American Christmas,” 7 p.m., Fox News
• “Disney Holiday Magic Quest 2021,” 7:45 p.m., Disney
• “How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966),” 8 p.m., NBC
• NBA: Brooklyn at L.A. Lakers, 8 p.m., ABC and ESPN
• “iHeart Radio Jingle Ball 2021,” 8 p.m., CW
• “The Wizard of Oz,” 8 p.m., TBS
• NFL Football: Indianapolis at Arizona, 8:15 p.m., NFL Network
• “A Christmas Carol (1951),” 8:20 p.m., FXM
• “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000),” 8:30 p.m., NBC
• “Disney’s Magic Bake-Off” 8:40 p.m., Disney
• “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” 9:15 p.m., Freeform
• “Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas,” 10 p.m., TNT
• “FX’s A Christmas Carol,” 10:10 p.m., FXM
• NBA: Dallas at Utah, 10:30 p.m., ESPN
• “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” 11 p.m., BBC
• “Four Christmases,” 11:30 p.m., AMC
• “Arthur Christmas,” 11:55 p.m., Freeform
Recipe: Pumpkin Pie

Quick Thought for Christmas

Read

Luke 2:1-20
But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
Luke 2:19-20

Reflect

This is one of my favorite phrases in the Bible: “Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.”

There was no way that Mary could fully have understood everything that had happened. Just ponder this in your heart.

Earlier in the year, Mary had been a normal Nazarene girl, gathering water from her well. Then came the angel’s visit, and nine months later she was a young, married mother. She was lying with her newborn son in a dirty, filthy stable, surrounded by dirty filthy shepherds who arrived with a story of another angelic visit.

In spite of the surroundings, it was clear that this child was special. The angel told her about Him being the Son of God, but in the months since then, there had to have been moments where it didn’t seem real. But here, on the night of Jesus’ birth, came a story of more angels from strangers.

So Mary received the first Christmas gift ever given: Jesus. She treasured Him and all that had happened. She couldn’t have seen the future and what God was ultimately doing, but she kept them in her heart and mind and “pondered” them, thinking through them carefully and wondering where God would lead them next.

And that’s ultimately where each of us is led on Christmas. God wants us to ponder these things for ourselves and consider what Jesus means to us individually. We all have the facts, and most of us have heard them at least once a year for our entire lives. The evidence is right in front of us. The question is, what does it mean. For you. For me.

More than anything you’ll get in a box or a bag, Jesus is the real treasure of Christmas. God is calling to you through His Son, whose birth we celebrate today. Don’t let the day pass without pondering what His birth, His life, His death mean to you. It may be for the first time, or it may be for the 50th time, but today, His birth is a chance to establish or renew your faith.