Christmas TV Schedule, Countdown and Quick Thought – Sunday, December 25, 2022 (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 3 a.m. until midnight.
• The 1951 version of “A Christmas Carol” and “FX’s A Christmas Carol” will alternate throughout the day on FXM
• “Jack Frost,” 6 a.m., IFC
• “Mickey Saves Christmas,” 7 a.m., Disney
• “Home Alone,” 7 a.m., Freeform
• “Let’s Go Luna! Luna’s Christmas Around the World,” 7:30 a.m., PBS
• “Miracle on 34th Street (1947),” 7:15 p.m., AMC
• “Arthur Christmas,” 7:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., Cartoon Network
• “Nature Cat: A Nature Carol,” 8:30 a.m., PBS
• “Surviving Christmas,” 8:30 a.m., IFC
• “Babes in Toyland,” 8:30 p.m., TCM
• “Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas,” 9:30 a.m., PBS
• “The Polar Express,” 9:30 a.m., AMC
• “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town,” 9:30 a.m., Freeform
• “Wild Kratts: A Creature Christmas,” 10:30 a.m., PBS
• “Frosty the Snowman,” 10:30 a.m., Freeform
• “A Nashville Country Christmas,” 11 a.m., CMT
• “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” 11 a.m., Freeform
• “Arthur’s Perfect Christmas,” 11:30 a.m., PBS
• “Fred Claus,” 11:30 a.m., AMC
• NBA: Philadelphia at New York, noon, ABC, ESPN and ESPN2
• “Disney Parks Magical Christmas Day Parade,” noon, Freeform
• “Disney’s A Christmas Carol,” noon , Disney
• “WCRA Cowtown Christmas Championship Rodeo,” 1 p.m., CBS
• NBA: Green Bay at Miami, 1 p.m., FOX
• “Christmas WIth the Kranks,” 2 p.m., AMC
• “Jeff Dunham’s Very Special Christmas Special,” airs every hour from 2 p.m. until 8 p.m. on Comedy Central
• “The Santa Clause,” 2 p.m., Freeform
• “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” 2:15 p.m., TCM
• NBA: L.A. Lakers at Dallas, 2:30 p.m., ABC
• “Four Christmases,” 4 p.m., AMC
• “The Santa Clause 2,” 4 p.m., Freeform
• “Holiday Affair,” 4:15 p.m., TCM
• NFL Football: Denver at L.A. Rams, 4:30 p.m., CBS and Nickelodeon
• “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” 4:30 p.m., BBC
• NBA: Milwaukee at Boston, 5 p.m., ABC and ESPN
• “Elf,” 6 p.m., AMC
• “Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch,” 6 p.m., FX
• “In the Good Old Summertime,” 6 p.m., TCM
• “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” 6:15 p.m., HBO
• “The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause,” 6:30 p.m., Freeform
• “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,” 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., BBC
• “The Santa Clauses,” 7 p.m. and 7:40 p.m., Disney
• “TMZ’s Merry Elfin’ Christmas,” 7 p.m., FOX
• NBA: Memphis at Golden State, 8 p.m., ABC and ESPN
• “Christmas Around the USA,” 8 p.m., CW
• “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” 8 p.m., AMC
• “The Wizard of Oz,” 8 p.m., TBS
• NFL Football: Tampa Bay at Arizona, 8:15 p.m., NBC
• “Home Sweet Home Alone,” 8:20 p.m., Disney
• “Home Alone,” 8:30 p.m., Freeform
• “Good Luck Jessie: NY Christmas,” 10 p.m., Disney
• “Elf,” 10:15 p.m., AMC
• “The Holiday,” 10:15 p.m., TBS
• NBA: Phoenix at Denver, 10:30 p.m., ABC and ESPN
• “Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch,” 10:30 p.m., FX
• “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” 11 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.