Moravians (a group of devout Christians) started Watch Night services around 1733 on the estates of Count Nicholas von Zinzendorf in Hernhut, Germany.  This count from childhood longed to serve God.  He established the earliest Protestant missions and had a strong influence on John Wesley the founder of the Methodist movement.

Over the years, the Methodist continued the tradition of Watch Night services.  These include New Year’s eve watch night services, but they were also done on other evenings. The most famous watch night was when slaves waited on December 31, 1862 for the dawn of freedom.  The Emancipation Proclamation came into effect on the first.

The purpose of the Watch Night centered on evaluating your relationship with Christ.  The evening should be spent in contemplation of where you would stand if tomorrow you were called to face God.  We have no idea when Christ will return or when we…

What are they which are but seven?
Seven liberal arts hath God sent down
With divine skill man’s soul to crown:

Let’s zoom in on our nativity scene for a minute.

We have elite sages from some where in the East headed to Bethlehem.  They represent nobility and the highest levels of knowledge for their times.

Mary, probably 15 or 16 years old, descended from the great King David lives a humble peasant’s life in the small village of Nazareth.  A women described as favored by God.  A teenage women God trusted with His only begotten son.  Basically, you can say Mary is a small town teenager who loves God.

Joseph, we have no idea of his age, but we know he was also of the family of David.  We know he was an craftsman.  He worked with his hands to create the things needed by others.  Many believe he was a carpenter though the word can be used for any of the crafts.  This man knew he could have dealt…

What are they which are but six?
Six days to labor is not wrong,
For God himself did work so long:

Educated men in a land to the east of Israel saw a star which indicated to them that a great ruler would be born.

Matthew 2 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

² Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

We see evil in our world but deny its existence.  Horrible terrible things occur and we strain to understand. We struggle to find some reason for the evil even when there is no logical rationale.  We search for answers where the answer may simply be there is evil in this world.

We look at the Christmas story and see the beauty of the story.  To be honest, the love of Christmas in many ways fits our ideals about love.  A man and a woman engaged to be married have angels suddenly appearing in their lives.

The first angel informs the woman that the Holy Spirit will come upon her and place a child in her womb.  We skim over the fact her society would have been harsh on a young woman pregnant before the final marriage vows are taken.  She says she is willing to accept God’s will in her…

What are they which are but four
Four sweet Evangelists there are,
Christ’s birth, life, death which do declare:

What are they which are but three?
Three persons in the Trinity
Which make one God in unity:

The early traditions of the church held that the days before Christmas were fast days.  A time  preparing one’s heart for the celebration of Jesus birth.  The true Christmas season ran from Feast Celebrating Jesus birth to the Epiphany. The ancient church actually established the Feast of Epiphany prior to the settling on the date of Jesus birth. There are 12 days from the first feast day Christmas to the eve of Epiphany.

Wreaths and other Christmas decorations go up near the 25th of December in the western branch of the church and remain up until the eve of epiphany.

Specific traditions for the Twelve Days of Christmas vary as you move around the world.

In our modern hustle bustle society,  I think a fast, of a negative type, often occurs during the days from December 1 until Christmas day. This is the type of fast we should never experience…