15 Days Until Christmas!
Song: “O Little Town of Bethlehem” by Sarah McLachlan
Christmas Album: “Oh For Joy,” by David Crowder Band
Christmas DVD: “The Muppet Christmas Carol”
Netflix Movie: “A California Christmas”
Amazon Prime Movie: “A Christmas in Vermont”
Disney+ Movie: “The Christmas Star”
Hulu Movie: “Christmas With the Campbells”
Hallmark Movie: “A Christmas Love Story”
On TV:
New Programming in Bold
• “On the 12th Date of Christmas,” 4 p.m., Hallmark
• “Ladies of the ’80s: A Divas Christmas,” 4 p.m., TBS
• “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” 4 p.m., Lifetime
• “In the Good Old Summertime,” 6 p.m., TCM
• “The Year Without a Santa Claus,” 4:45 p.m., AMC
• “A Christmas Story Christmas,” 5 p.m., Toon
• “A Christmas Carol (2009),” 5:10 p.m., Freeform
• “The Polar Express,” 6 p.m., AMC
• “Christmas on Cherry Lane,” 6 p.m., Hallmark
• “White House Christmas,” 6 p.m., HGTV
• “A Taste of Christmas,” 6 p.m., Lifetime
• “Christmas in Connecticut,” 6 p.m., TCM
• “The Santa Clause,” 7:15 p.m., Freeform
• “Elf,” 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., AMC
• “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” 8 p.m., Disney
• “Round and Round,” 8 p.m., Hallmark
• “Yes, Chef! Christmas,” 8 p.m., Lifetime
• “Capital One Bowl Mania,” 8:30 p.m., ESPN
• “The Santa Clause 2,” 9:25 p.m., Freeform
• “Cross Country Christmas,” 10:01 p.m., Hallmark
• “A Cowboy Christmas Romance,” 10:03 p.m., Lifetime
• “The Grinch,” 10:30 p.m., FX
Recipe: Mulled Cider
Quick Thought for Christmas
Read
Galatians 4:1-7
“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.“
Galatians 4:4-5
Reflect
Izzy simply couldn’t wait for Christmas. All year long, she bugged her Dad, begging him to speed up Christmas and get it here quickly. “How long do I have to wait?” she pleaded, over and over.
“Christmas is coming soon enough,” his Dad told him. “Just be patient.”
Patience, of course, had its limits. After all, she only wanted one thing for Christmas. Most kids had lists a mile long. Izzy just had the one thing – an enormous doll house. Certainly, her folks could make an exception and get it here sooner than December 25.
She couldn’t see that her father had a plan. Izzy’s Dad had gotten the dollhouse even before his daughter had started asking for it, and he knew exactly when he wanted to give it to her – Christmas Eve. He would slip it simply into the house without a lot of fanfare and place it unwrapped in the living room. And in spite of Izzy’s pleas, that’s just what he did. Very carefully, her Dad assembled the dollhouse on the dining table and left it there for her to see as soon as she came home.
After church on Christmas Eve, Izzy arrived and pleaded once more, “Is it time?” She looked around the living room and saw wrapped presents under the tree. She kept running around, looking behind and under everything. But Izzy couldn’t see that the one thing she had asked for — a four-foot dollhouse — was sitting in the middle of the dining table, right in front of her.
“When the fullness of time had come,” God sent His Son. And when He did, the people of Israel who had been crying out for a Savior didn’t recognize that their hopes and promises had been fulfilled. They cried out for centuries, not seeing that God had a plan and would only unveil it when the time was right to fulfill all of the promises and prophecies about the Messiah.
He has been with us now for more than 2,000 years, and still, too many people don’t recognize Him, even though He’s standing right in front of them. Don’t make that mistake this Christmas. Instead of running around and filling your season with busyness, you can find true fulfillment by looking in the one direction that will fulfill you – Jesus Christ.
Reflection copyright © 2023 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.
