REFLECTION QUOTES
The Meaning Behind the Twelve Days of Christmas
“MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME”
“My true love” represents God. The repeating lyric tells the story of how God gave us all the following gifts:
DAY 1 – A PARTRIDGE IN A PEAR TREE
The partridge is symbolic of Jesus Christ, and the pear tree is Jerusalem. The symbol is pulled from Luke 13:34, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem how often I would have sheltered you under my wings as a hen does her chicks, but you would not have it.”
DAY 2 – TWO TURTLE DOVES
The turtledoves represent the Old and New testaments.
DAY 3 – THREE FRENCH HENS
The three French hens represent the three theological virtues faith, hope and love from Corinthians 13:13.
DAY 4 – FOUR CALLING BIRDS
Calling birds represent the gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
DAY 5 – FIVE GOLDEN RINGS
The golden rings refer to the first five books of the Old Testament. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
DAY 6 – SIX GEESE A-LAYING
These geese a-laying and bringing forth new life represent the six days of Creation.
DAY 7 – SEVEN SWANS A-SWIMMING
The swans symbolize the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit – prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation, giving, leading and compassion.
DAY 8 – EIGHT MAIDS A-MILKING
The milking maids speak of the eight Beatitudes: Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the cure in heart, the peacemakers and those who are persecuted for righteousness sake.
DAY 9 – NINE LADIES DANCING
The ladies dancing represent the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control from Galatians 5:22.
DAY 10 – TEN LORDS A-LEAPING
The ten lords are the Ten Commandments.
DAY 11- ELEVEN PIPERS PIPING
The eleven pipers refer to the eleven apostles.
DAY 12 – TWELVE DRUMMERS DRUMMING
The twelve drummers are drumming about the 12 points in the Apostles’ Creed.
SERMON PASSAGE
Matthew 1:1-17 (ESV)
1The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
2Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, 4 and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of David the king.
And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, 7 and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, 8 and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, 9 and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10 and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, 11 and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
12And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, 15 and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.
17So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.
A Messy, Human, Family
Matthew 1:1-17; December 18, 2016; Pastor Ryan Bouton
December 18, 2016 • Ryan Bouton
The Light of Christmas
December 24, 2023 • Don Willeman • John 1:1–5, John 1:9–14, John 3:16–21, John 8:12
QUOTES FOR REFLECTION “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” ~Source Unknown “Darkness is only the absence of light. Turn on a light and it banishes the darkness.” ~Terry Pratchett (1948-2015), English author and satirist “There are two ways of spreading light; to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” ~Edith Wharton (1862-1937), first woman to win Pulitzer Prize in Fiction “The darkness always passes, and the light comes back.” ~Khaled Hosseini in The Kite Runner (2003) “Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.” ~Victor Hugo in Les Misérables (1862) “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” ~Martin Luther King Jr. in Strength to Love (1963) “The deepest thing in Christianity is God’s love for earth. That God is rich in his heaven is something known also by other religions. That he wanted to be poor together with his creatures, that…he wanted to and did indeed suffer for his world, and that through his Incarnation he enabled himself to prove the suffering of his love to his creatures: this is the hitherto unheard-of thing.” ~Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905-1988), Swiss Theologian “The Bible is God’s anthropology rather than man’s theology.” ~Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972), leading Jewish theologian-philosopher of the 20th century SERMON PASSAGE John 1:1-5, 9-14; 3:16-21, 8:12 (ESV) John 1 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it…. 9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 3 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” John 8 12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Jesus, the Gift of a Cure
December 24, 2020 • Don Willeman
REFLECTION QUOTES “We’re in a time where we exclude one major component out of this whole thing called life: God.” ~Kendrick Lamar, rapper, songwriter and producer “We don’t have any control. And so, if you don’t have any control, then maybe everything you have is a gift.” ~Riz Ahmed, actor and rapper, speaking on NPR about the pandemic “The Bible is God’s anthropology rather than man’s theology.” ~Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972), leading Jewish rabbi and theologian “…the mystery…that Almighty God would come down…in the person of Jesus Christ and became one of us…. There is really nothing like that incredible social inversion of Almighty God coming here and living with us and dying with us.” ~Anne Rice, author of The Vampire Chronicles “That a god should put up with adversity, I could understand. The gods of Hinduism face their fair share…. Adversity, yes. Reversals of fortune, yes. Treachery, yes. But humiliation? Death? I couldn’t imagine Lord Krishna consenting to be stripped naked, whipped, mocked, dragged through the streets and, to top it off, crucified…. [D]ivinity should not be blighted by death. It’s wrong…. The Son must have the taste of death forever in His mouth. The Trinity must be tainted by it; there must be a certain stench at the right hand of God the Father. The horror must be real. Why would God wish that upon Himself? Why not leave death to the mortals? Why make dirty what is beautiful, spoil what is perfect? “Love. That was Father Martin’s answer.” ~ Pi’s response to hearing the Christian gospel in Yann Martel’s The Life of Pi “If you stumble at mere believability, what are you living for? Isn’t love hard to believe?” ~Yan Martel in Life of Pi “Love is divine only and difficult always.” ~Toni Morrison (1935-2019), novelist and college professor “Life is short. Death is sure. Sin the cause. Christ the cure.” ~Source Unknown SERMON PASSAGE Luke 2:8-12 (ESV) 8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”