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: “Mary: Mother of Jesus”
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”
Max Movie: “A Christmas Story”
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, Hallmark Drama, Hallmark Mystery, GAC, BET and OWN
• Original Christmas programming will air throughout the day on Fox Business
• “It’s a Wonderful Life,” airs throughout the day on E! from 7:30 a.m. until midnight.
• “Christmas Yule Log,” airs on GAC until noon.
• For those die-hard fans of “Die Hard,” Paramount will show the film on repeat between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.
• “The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About Christmas,” 6 a.m., PBS
• “Homefront for the Holidays,” 6 a.m., Fox Business
• “White Christmas,” 6 a.m., AMC
• “Deck the Halls,” 6:45 a.m., IFC
• “Mickey and Minnie Wish Upon a Christmas,” 6:50 a.m., Disney
• “Mickey Saves Christmas,” 7 a.m., Disney Jr.
• “Disney’s A Christmas Carol,” 7 a.m., Freeform
• “CMT Presents: A Cody Johnson Christmas,” 7:03 a.m., CMT
• “The Andy Griffith Show: A Christmas Story,” 7:30 a.m., TV Land
• “Mickey Saves Christmas,” 8 a.m., Disney
• “Duck the Halls,” 8:30 a.m., Disney
• “Four Christmases,” 8:45 a.m., AMC
• “A Flintstones Christmas Carol,” 9 a.m., Boomerang
• “Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors,” 9 a.m., CMT
• “Jingle All the Way,” 9 a.m., FX
• “Disney Parks Magical Christmas Day Parade,” 10 a.m., ABC
• “The True Saint Nicholas,” 10 a.m., Fox Business
• “A Loud House Christmas,” 10:02 a.m., Teen Nick
• “The Year Without A Santa Claus,” 9:30 a.m., AMC
• “Peg + Cat + Holidays,” 11 a.m., PBS
• “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town,” 11 a.m., Freeform
• “Jingle All the Way 2,” 11 a.m., FX
• “Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love,” 11:15 a.m., CMT
• “Meet Me in St. Louis,” 11:30 a.m., TCM
• NBA: Cleveland at New York, noon, ABC, ESPN and ESPN2
• NBA: Dunk the Halls (animation of the Cleveland-New York game), noon, Disney
• “The Polar Express,” noon, AMC
• “Disney Parks Magical Christmas Day Parade,” noon, Freeform
• “A PAW Patrol Christmas,” noon, Nick Jr.
• “White Christmas,” showings from 2 p.m. through 11 p.m, Sundance
• NFL: Dallas at Washington, 1 p.m., Netflix
• “Home Alone,” 1 p.m., FX
• “Pocketful of Miracles,” 1:30 p.m., TCM
• “Jeff Dunham’s Very Special Christmas Special,” airs every hour from 2 p.m. until 11 p.m. on Comedy Central
• “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” 2 p.m., AMC
• “Toy Story That Time Forgot,” 2 p.m., Freeform
• “Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade,” 2:30 p.m., Disney
• “Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch,” 2:30 p.m., Freeform
• NBA: San Antonio at Oklahoma City, 2:30 p.m., ABC and ESPN
• “Mickey and Minnie Wish Upon a Christmas,” 3 p.m., Disney Jr.
• “A Christmas Carol (1951),” 3 p.m., FXM
• “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” 3:30 p.m., FX
• “Disney’s Prep & Landing,” 4 p.m., Disney
• “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” 4 p.m., TCM
• NFL: Detroit at Minnesota, 4:30 p.m., Netflix
• “Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors,” 4:30 p.m., CMT
• “Frosty the Snowman,” 4:30 p.m., Freeform
• “A Christmas Carol (2019),” 4:50 p.m., FXM
• NBA: Dallas at Golden State, 5 p.m., ABC and ESPN
• “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” 5 p.m., Freeform
• “A Loud House Christmas Movie: Naughty or Nice,” 5 p.m., Teen Nick
• “Home Alone,” 6 p.m., Freeform
• “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” 6:15 p.m., AMC
• “Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love,” 6:45 p.m., CMT
• NBA: Houston at L.A. Lakers, 8 p.m., ABC and ESPN
• “How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966),” 8 p.m., NBC
• “2025 NewsNation Year in Review: The Moments that Mattered,” 8 p.m., NewsNation
• “A Christmas Story Christmas,” 8 p.m., TBS
• NFL: Denver at Kansas City, 8:15 p.m., Amazon
• “A Christmas Carol (1951),” 8:20 p.m., FXM
• “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” 8:25 p.m., Freeform
• “How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000),” 8:30 p.m., NBC
• “Elf,” 8:30 p.m., AMC
• “A Very 80s Christmas,” 9 p.m., NewsNation
• “A Christmas Carol (2019),” 10:10 p.m., FXM
• “Candy Cane Lane,” 10:15 p.m., TBS
• NBA: Minnesota at Denver, 10:30 p.m., ABC and ESPN
• “Four Christmases,” 10:30 p.m., AMC
• “The Preacher’s Wife,” 11:30 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.
Reflection copyright © 2025 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.
