Christmas TV Schedule, Countdown and Quick Thought – Monday, December 25, 2023 (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: “Miracle on 34th Street”
Hulu Movie: “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”
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, IFC and OWN
• “It’s a Wonderful Life,” airs throughout the day on E! from 6 a.m. until midnight.
• The 1951 version of “A Christmas Carol” and “FX’s A Christmas Carol” will alternate throughout the day on FXM
• For those die-hard fans of “Die Hard,” Paramount will show the film on repeat between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.

• “Arthur’s Perfect Christmas,” 6 a.m., PBS
• “The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper,” 6 a.m., AMC
• “Jack Frost,” 6 a.m., IFC
• “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,” 6:15 a.m., AMC
• “Sleepless in Seattle,” 6:30 a.m., BBC
• “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer,” 6:45 a.m., AMC
• “Disney’s A Christmas Carol,” 7 a.m., Freeform
• “CMT Christmas,” 7 a.m. and 8 a.m., CMT
• “A Christmas Carol,” 7:19 a.m., Encore
• “Miracle on 34th Street (1947),” 7:45 a.m., AMC
• “Scrooged,” 8 a.m., MTV
• “Mickey and Minnie Wish Upon a Christmas,” 8:10 a.m., Disney
• “Home Alone,” 8:12 a.m., Starz
• “Let’s Go Luna: Luna’s Christmas Around the World,” 8:30 a.m., PBS
• “Mickey Saves Christmas,” 9 a.m., Disney
• “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” 9:56 a.m., Starz
• “40th Anniversary Disney Parks Magical Christmas Day Parade,” 10 a.m., ABC
• “Four Christmases,” 10 a.m., AMC
• “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town,” 10:30 a.m., Freeform
• “The Santa Clause,” 11:30 a.m., Freeform
• “Holiday Affair,” 11:45 a.m., TCM
• “The Polar Express,” noon, AMC
• NBA: Milwaukee at New York, noon, ESPN
• “Home Alone,” 12:11 p.m., Encore
• “White Christmas,” 12:15 p.m., Sundance
• Nickelodeon’s NFL Nickmas Game: Las Vegas at Kansas City, 12:58 p.m., Nickelodeon
• NFL Football: Las Vegas at Kansas City, 1 p.m., CBS
• “The Santa Clause 2,” 1:30 p.m., Freeform
• “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” 1:57 p.m., Encore
• “Jeff Dunham’s Very Special Christmas Special,” airs every hour from 2 p.m. until 10 p.m. on Comedy Central
• “Christmas With the Kranks,” 2 p.m., AMC
• NBA: Golden State at Denver, 2:30 p.m., ABC and ESPN
• “Miracle on 34th Street (1947),” 3 p.m., Sundance
• “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” 3:30 p.m., Freeform
• “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” 3:45 p.m., TCM
• “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” 4 p.m., AMC
• NFL Football: N.Y. Giants at Philadelphia, 4:30 p.m., FOX
• “Frosty the Snowman,” 4:30 p.m., Freeform
• NBA: Boston at L.A. Lakers, 5 p.m., ABC and ESPN
• “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town,” 5 p.m., Freeform
• “White Christmas,” 5:15 p.m., Sundance
• “Home Alone,” 6 p.m., Freeform
• “In the Good Old Summertime,” 6 p.m., TCM
• “Elf,” 6:15 p.m., AMC
• “Disney’s Prep & Landing,” 6:30 p.m., Disney
• “The Naughty Nine,” 7 p.m., Disney
• “The Great Christmas Debate,” 7 p.m., Fox News
• “Call the Midwife Holiday Special,” 8 p.m., PBS
• “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” 8 p.m., NBC
• “The Waltons’ Homecoming,” 8 p.m., CW
• NBA: Philadelphia at Miami, 8 p.m., ESPN and ESPN2
• “Who Can Forget Christmas,” 8 p.m., Fox News
• “Miracle on 34th Street (1947),” 8 p.m., Sundance
• “The Wizard of Oz,” 8 p.m. and 10:15 p.m., TBS
• “MasterChef Junior: Home for the Holidays,” 8:08 p.m., FOX
• Monday Night Football: Baltimore at San Francisco, 8:15 p.m., ABC
• “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” 8:15 p.m., AMC
• “How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000),” 8:30 p.m., NBC
• “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” 8:30 p.m., Freeform
• “Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to All!,” 9 p.m., Disney
• “A Duck Family Christmas,” 9 p.m., Fox News
• “A Christmas Story Christmas,” 9 p.m., TNT
• “White Christmas,” 10:15 p.m., Sundance
• “Elf,” 10:30 p.m., AMC
• NBA: Dallas at Phoenix, 10:30 p.m., ESPN
• “Deck the Halls,” 11:15 p.m., TNT
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.