Christmas TV Schedule, Countdown and Quick Thought – Saturday, December 23, 2023

2 Days Until Christmas!

Song: “O Holy Night,” by Johnny Mathis
Christmas Album: “Home for Christmas,” by Amy Grant; “A Christmas Album,” by Amy Grant; and “A Christmas to Remember,” by Amy Grant
Christmas DVD: “Miracle on 34th Street” (1947)
Netflix Movie: “A Christmas Prince,” “A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding” and “A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby”
Amazon Prime Movie: “Scrooged”
Disney+ Movie: “The Santa Clause,” “The Santa Clause 2,” “The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause” and “The Santa Clauses”
Hulu Movie: “The Polar Express”
Hallmark Movie: “Northpole”

On TV:
New programming in bold
• “CMT Christmas,” 7 a.m. and 8 a.m., CMT
• “Arthur’s Perfect Christmas,” 8:30 a.m., PBS
• “Miracle on 34th Street (1947),” 7:45 a.m., AMC
• “A Christmas Wish,” 8 a.m., BET
• “Next Stop, Christmas,” 8 a.m., Hallmark
• “The Naughty Nine,” 8:30 a.m., Freeform
• “Last Christmas,” 9 a.m., FXM
• “Jack Frost,” 10 a.m., AMC
• “Christmas Deja Vu,” 10:30 a.m., BET
• “Miracle on 34th Street (1995),” 10:30 a.m., Freeform
• Birmingham Bowl: Troy vs. Duke, 12 p.m., ABC
• Camellia Bowl: Arkansas State vs. Northern Illinois, noon, ESPN
• “Fred Claus,” 12:30 p.m., AMC
• “My Norwegian Holiday,” 10 a.m., Hallmark
• “Snowed Inn Christmas,” 11 a.m., Lifetime
• “A Wonderful Time of the Year,” 11:35 a.m., TMC
• “Sealed With a List,” noon, Hallmark
• “The Santa Squad,” 12:30 p.m., Lifetime
• “Hip Hop Holiday,” 1 p.m., BET
• “First Christmas,” 1 p.m., OWN
• “Disney’s A Christmas Carol,” 1:05 p.m., Freeform
• “Arthur Christmas,” 1:30 p.m., TBS
• “Catch Me If You Claus,” 2 p.m., Hallmark
• “Mistletoe Match,” 2 p.m., Lifetime
• “Four Christmases,” 3 p.m., AMC
• “A Chestnut Family Christmas,” 3 p.m., OWN
• “12 Dates of Christmas,” 3 p.m., FXM
• “Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch,” 3:10 p.m., Freeform
• Armed Forces Bowl: James Madison vs. Air Force, 3:30 p.m., ABC
• Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Georgia State vs. Utah State, 3:30 p.m., ESPN
• “Christmas for Sale,” 3:30 p.m., BET
• “Last Holiday,” 3:30 p.m., POP
• “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” 3:30 p.m., TBS
• “Christmas in Notting Hill,” 4 p.m., Hallmark
• “Christmas at the Chalet,” 4 p.m., Lifetime
• Sunday Night Football: Cincinnati at Pittsburgh, 4:30 p.m., NBC
• “The Preacher’s Wife,” 4:50 p.m., FXM
• “The Polar Express,” 5 p.m., AMC
• “Home Alone,” 5:10 p.m., Freeform
• “Love Actually,” 5:30 p.m., POP
• “Christmas Belles,” 6 p.m., BET
• “Time For Us to Come Home for Christmas,” 6 p.m., Hallmark
• “A Christmas Dance Reunion,” 6 p.m., Lifetime
• “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” 6 p.m., TBS
• “Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas,” 6:50 p.m., Disney
• “Elf,” 7 p.m., AMC
• 68 Ventures Bowl: South Alabama vs. Eastern Michigan, 7 p.m., ESPN
• Las Vegas Bowl: Utah vs. Northwestern, 7:30 p.m., ABC
• “Home Alone: Lost in New York,” 7:40 p.m., Freeform
• “When Christmas Was Young,” 8 p.m., CBS
• “Christmas With The Chosen,” 8 p.m., CW
• “Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas,” 8 p.m., Disney
• “Mystery on Mistletoe Lane,” 8 p.m., Hallmark
• “Mom’s Christmas Boyfriend,” 8 p.m., Lifetime
• “Deck the Halls,” 8 p.m., TBS
• “The Shop Around the Corner,” 8 p.m., TCM
• “A Wesley Christmas,” 8:30 p.m., BET
• “A Saturday Night Live Christmas Special,” 9 p.m., NBC
• “Mary Berry’s Highland Christmas,” 9 p.m., PBS
• “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” 9 p.m., AMC
• “Christmas Revisited,” 9 p.m., OWN
• “In the Good Old Summertime,” 10 p.m., TCM
• “Christmas on Cherry Lane,” 10:01 p.m., Hallmark
• “A Christmas Noel,” 10:03 p.m., Lifetime
• “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” 10:20 p.m., Freeform
• Hawai’i Bowl: Coastal Carolina vs. San Jose State, 10:30 p.m., ESPN
• “Christmas With the Kranks,” 11:15 p.m., AMC
• “Holiday Heartbreak,” 11:30 p.m., BET
Recipe: Perfect Cranberry Sauce

Quick Thought for Christmas

Read

Luke 2:8-17

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.
Luke 2:15-16

Reflect

Have you ever gotten some very good advice to do something, but held up from doing it because you just weren’t ready. I can’t count the times that I should have done something, only to find out later that I missed the chance; had I acted, I would have benefitted in a significant way.

Imagine if you had $1,000 to invest on August 19, 2004, the day that Google released its initial public offering. A friend told you that it was a can’t miss investment, but instead of investing, you held on to that money because it just seemed too risky. That $1,000 would have gotten you about 12 shares of stock. But instead, you buried it under a rock. Today, your $1,000 would be worth about $1,470, adjusted for inflation. But if you’d bought just 12 shares of Google back then, your stock value today would be roughly $34,000. If only you’d moved on that unheeded stock tip.

Waiting can be costly if the time to move is right now.

On that first Christmas Eve, shepherds standing in their field were greeted by an angelic host and were told, “There’s something wonderful going on in Bethlehem that you should see!” They had a choice – they could continue to stand there in the field, watching the sheep and getting cold, or they could go and see if the wonderful thing was truly there. Few could have blamed them if they hadn’t gone. After all, it was an outlandish claim made by what could have been attributed to a hallucination.

But these shepherds saw something else. They believed what they had seen, and they decided immediately: “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” They didn’t wait, and because of their immediate action, they were eyewitnesses to the most historic birth in the history of the world.

We won’t often be given such amazing spiritual opportunities. But God does frequently call each of us to some sort of action. And each time He does, we have the option to get up and move, or sit and wait it out. In these last two days leading up to Christmas, keep a keen eye and ear out for what God is calling you to do. It may be something as simple as putting a quarter or a dollar in a Salvation Army kettle. Or it may be more. But when He puts something on your heart, don’t wait. Because you may just miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime.