When and Where
When: Thursday, December 19, 2024 at 7:00 pm
Where: Trinity Lutheran Church, 346 W. Pine St. Lake Mills, WI 53551
Who: Anyone looking for healing and encouragement in the holiday season. You do NOT have to be a Trinity member!
What is it?
The “Blue Christmas” worship service, also called “Longest Night,” is a service of healing and solace in the days leading up to Christmas, usually on or near the longest night of the year. The need for this service grows out of the fact that disappointment, grief, apprehension and tragedy are part of our human condition, and they affect our relationship with God. When things go wrong, often God is the only one who could have made it different, and thus God becomes the target of our dismay, By the same token, God is often the only hope we have to make things better. With regularity, God is the only hope that we will see our loved ones again, or that our wounds will be healed, or that our shame will be taken away, or that the wrong will be made right.
We tend to celebrate Christmas as a time of presents and joy and peace on earth and family and lights. But this particular service remembers that Jesus came for the darker moments as well. To the best of our knowledge, Jesus never bought a Christmas gift or wrapped a present. He never sent a Christmas card, or wore a Christmas sweater, or sang “Joy to the World”. In the Bible, Jesus is constantly taking time out from whatever he is doing, to heal people who are sick, to include those who are outcast, to feed those who are hungry, to listen to the those who are powerless, and to raise those who are dead.
So this service is a little different than Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve makes a big deal out of Jesus’ birth, because it is a big deal. Jesus came to save his people from their sins. But this service remembers that Jesus came not only for the moments of joy, but also for the trials. In the Blue Christmas worship service we remember that in the darkness of life, Jesus is our light.
What does it look like?
When life is unpredictable, it’s nice to know what we are getting into, so here’s the content of the service and a picture of the sanctuary. We hope you will be able to join us.
