For several years now (it has become a tradition) we enjoy going to the late Christmas Eve service in one of the historic Valley Grove Churches.
As we walked in we noticed the huge decorated Christmas tree in the front of the sanctuary, and a Hardanger fiddle, flute and an organ filled the church with beautiful music.
Then the church bells rang to announce the start of the Christmas Eve service.
We enjoy this service for many reasons, one being… there is a time for just singing Christmas carols. The congregation make requests for different carols and we all sing to our hearts content the old familiar tunes.
Pastor John Gorder, gave a sermonette. This year he included thoughts about the beloved, old, oak tree that a tornado ripped down last September. This tree was love by many folks. The rings of the tree indicated the tree was there long before the settlers, in 1862. I can only imagine all the special events that happened around that tree.
There was a branch from the tree in the church, in front of the Christmas tree. It was holding a photo of the old oak tree before it fell. Pastor Gorder had visited the stump of the oak tree a few weeks before the service, and found an acorn from that tree. The acorn… a small seed grows into a great tree, so with baby Jesus… born to be a great King.
As is tradition in many Christmas Eve services, we lit candles and as the lights dimmed, sang Silent Night, Holy Night, a favorite.
We saw a few friends and said “Merry Christmas” as the ringing of the bells accompanied us out of church, after the service. A beautiful Christmas night scene met us as we walked out of church – with a bright moon and stars, and a few wispy clouds in the night sky near the old stone church and I imagined a stable long ago.
Thank you God, for giving us a holy night indeed.