Prepping for Christmas… again.

Its that time of the year.  You know what its all about:

• 42 community holiday events in 25 days.
• Kids in angel and shepherd costumes.
• Christmas songs on the radio from the musical genius of Justin Bieber.

But seriously, from the pastor’s perspective, the holidays are one of the most fun and most challenging times of the year.

On the fun side: people are willing to get together and do stuff more than other times of the year.  There’s lots of food, way too much sugar, and lots of gestures of service and charity.

On the challenging side: the Christmas story is one of the most well known stories in the world.  Yes, there are some fun things to do with the story: there are certain personal elements o the story things a preacher can try to “bring to life”,  there are a handful of tidbits from the traditional story that are historically and Biblically inaccurate.  But I’ve already preached on those.

The amazing thing is that as I read the story for the umpteenth time, I’m still surprised.

I’m surprised at how certain elements of the story speak to certain things going on in my life right now.

I’m surprised by certain characters’ responses in ways I haven’t seen before.

I’m surprised by parts of the story that make me laugh.

So instead of trying to be super creative, or academic, or theologically awesome… I’ll be preaching from the elements of Jesus’ birth story that surprise me this year.

If you’re in southeast Colorado, stop by on a Sunday morning.  Anywhere else, check the church’s site or iTunes for the sermon uploads.  You might be surprised too.

Now its time to get back to the soothing tunes of “White Christmas”, Bieber-style.