Saturday 12/20/25 – Adams Village Baptist Church Sermon Title: “Blue Christmas/Longest Night” Service – “How We Move Forward!” Psalm 80:1-7, Hebrews 10:32-39, John 16:31-33 (Saturday December 20th – 6:00 PM)
Brothers and sisters, friends, welcome once again, to our
first ever “Blue Christmas/Longest Night” service here at the Adam’s Village
Baptist Church. I hope that this is the first of many of these annual worship
services.
You might have noticed that this service is called both
Blue Christmas and the Longest Night service. There is a reason that this
service has both titles, and I want to explain briefly what a “Blue Christmas”
service is, and what a “Longest Night” service is. They can be very interwoven,
as we are doing tonight, and hopefully when I am done explaining what each of
these services are, we will understand more the reason that this worship
service tonight has two titles.
As
far a “Blue Christmas” service, here is a good description of what a “Blue
Christmas” service is:
“Blue?
Yes, blue as in the blues. As in "I am feeling blue." Not everyone is
up and cheery for the Christmas holiday. Dealing with the death of a loved one,
facing life after divorce or separation, coping with the loss of a job, living
with cancer or some other dis-ease that puts a question mark over the future,
and a number of other human situations make parties and joviality painful for
many people in our congregations and communities. There is growing
attentiveness to the needs of people who are blue at Christmas. Increasing
numbers of churches are creating sacred space for people living through dark
times. Such services are reflective, accepting where we really are, and holding
out healing and hope”. “Some churches hold a service of worship on the longest
night of the year, which falls on or about December 21st, the Winter Solstice.
There is an interesting convergence for this day as it is also the traditional
feast day for Saint Thomas the Apostle. This linkage invites making some
connections between Thomas's struggle to believe the tale of Jesus'
resurrection, the long nights just before Christmas, and the struggle with
darkness and grief faced by those living with loss” (https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/blue-christmaslongest-night-worship-with-those-who-mourn).
This service of course is also called the “Longest Night” service,
and here is why:
“The winter solstice (or hibernal solstice), also known as midwinter, is an astronomical phenomenon marking the day with the shortest period of daylight and the longest night of the year” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice).
This day of course is tomorrow, Sunday December 21st,
2025. This Blue Christmas/Longest Night service was created therefore, so that
on this long, dark, and cold night tonight, tomorrow night, and in general, we
can shine the light and the warmth of Christ everywhere, even if some of us
feel a little “blue”. The reason that we are not having this service tomorrow
on the actual “Longest Night,” is because it can be a lot to ask of people come
to a church service in the morning on a Sunday and then ask them to come back for
another service on Sunday night.
Now that we all understand a little bit more what a “Blue
Christmas” service and a “Longest Night” service is, what I want us to consider
tonight is this, “How We Move Forward!” Perhaps tonight you are not feeling “blue”
or feeling any sense of loss at all tonight, or maybe you feel very “blue,” and
have a deep sense of loss. We can all call upon are Lord Jesus Christ to fill
us this night and always as we consider our lives, and all potential losses I
mentioned earlier in this service. Perhaps there are losses and struggles that
we have that were not listed in our “Naming the Loses We Have Suffered” that were
spoke out earlier in this service. Perhaps lighting a candle of Hope has lifted
us up, even if just a little. Perhaps the anointing prayer that we will offer for
those who want it at the close of this service will offer us more hope.
The real question though is this my brothers and sisters,
if we feel “blue” in this this Advent season and very soon to be Christmas season,
and if we will lament on some level on the longest night of the year tomorrow
night, what do we do? Tonight, I want to talk about how as believers in Christ,
as and as a church, “We Move Forward!”
I have told a short story to some of you probably a few times
now, as Pastor Paul tends to repeat stories. This story was about my first week
in seminary school back in late August/Early September of 2010. All of us
students had received all of our class books, we got checked in and went around
the room introducing ourselves and explaining why God called us to the seminary.
After this, the head of the seminary told us that we had a homework assignment,
to which I heard few groans from my classmates. The head of the seminary then
assured us that the homework assignment would not be more reading or another
paper that we had to type.
This is what our first assignment was, we were to go home
that week of the late summer of 2010, and we were to survey the area where we
lead or participated in a ministry. We were told to see what we would see. This
could be kids playing, people mowing their lawns, people washing their cars,
people riding bikes, people grilling, spending time together, etc. Then the
head of the seminary then said, and after you do this, I then want you to go
home and I want to sit in a quiet room or place where you live. Do this for
about twenty minutes and think about what you do not see. Think about those
people behind closed doors that are depressed, grieving the loss of their husband
and wife. Think about someone who is trapped in domestic violence and or
addiction. Think about those who are crying themselves to sleep, and those are hungry
and without. The head of the seminary then said, “how do we reach those people
for Christ?”
Tonight, on this “Blue Christmas,” and officially tomorrow
when it is the actual “Longest Night” of the year, “How Do We Move Forward?” The
answer, dear brothers and sisters, is that we move forward together. Our faith
in Christ was never meant to be Sunday morning only for one hour, or an hour
and fifteen minutes if the pastor gets long winded! Our Christian faith, our
relationships and walk with Jesus Christ should be at the very center and core
of our entire identity on this earth and eternally.
At some point in our recent history in Western Culture, which
would be America, Canada, Western Europe, Australia, etc., for many people
Christianity has become just attending a weekly worship service. If people
truly want to be less “blue” though, I believe that one of the best ways that
we can do this is together! Jesus had twelve disciples, and the early church lived
their faith out together daily. When churches continue to shift from just
worship, to living our faith out actively together, then there is more hope,
more love, and less feelings of being “blue.”
I remember hearing a story from late Grandpa Winkelman about
a fellow farmer who fell off his barn roof while trying to do some repairs.
This was during the Great Depression, and many folks at this time had little to
nothing. Yet, the farmer’s local church, I believe a Lutheran church, was
alerted that the farmer fell off his barn room and broke his leg in a few
places. The farmer was going to be laid up for 2-3 months at least, and this
was during the Great Depression. As you can imagine, this farmer really
struggled during the healing process, as he needed to work and run the farm. He
was able to do a little more here and there as time went on during his recovery,
but not as much as he wanted or needed.
Within no time, families from the church began bringing
meals over to his house, women from the church choir would come and read scripture
and sing hymns to the farmer. That church was there every day for that man
until he was back up and full back to working on his farm. Fellow farmers even
came to help with the farm daily. This man believed in God, but usually only
went to church on Christmas and Easter, or for special occasions. He was not
really a man of deep faith or conviction. Yet by the end or his recovery, this
man was so moved by what these “Christians” had done for him and his family,
that he accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior. When was fully better, I was
told that he was not only in church every Sunday, and for all the special occasions,
but that he then started helping others the way in which his church helped him.
The farmer said, “after what my church did for me, there was nothing that I
would not do for them and others.”
My sermon title for tonight once again is “How Me Move
Forward!” The story that I just talked about, about the injured farmer, is
story not of a church that went to Sunday worship only, but that lived their
faith out daily. We have been blessed in a short time to see real growth, new
live, and new hope here at the Adams Village Baptist Church. How do we really
grow as a church though? How do people meet the needs of here in Adams, Adams
Center, and beyond? We have to continue to be like injured farmer’s church.
Brothers and sisters, the gospel that Jesus Christ that He calls us to is hard,
but if we are willing to be the hands and the feet of Christ then lives will be
changed. If we are willing to love and live like Jesus, I guarantee you that
people will be less “blue” than many are right now. This my brothers and sisters,
as Christians, and as a church, is “How We Move Forward!”
One of the prophesied names of Jesus in the Bible in Isaiah
53:3 is the “Man of Sorrows,” as has called us to be his witnesses and to serve
in a broken world every day. There are days where we are all weary. There may
even be weeks where maybe all we want to do is go to church on Sunday, but
brothers and sisters our faith is a seven day a week faith. As “We Move
Forward!” we are going to create new ministries that meet people’s needs. Next
year, I want to start a “Grief Share” support group, for people who have and
still experience different kinds of losses and heart break. People who on
different levels who are “blue,” who are right here in our communities, as Jesus
is challenging us to be His hands and feet. What I am telling you and telling
myself my brothers and sisters on this first “Blue Christmas/Longest Night” service
at this church, is when we are more like Jesus you will see things in this
church and this community happen that you cannot even imagine.
When we think about when Jesus was on earth, imagine how He
felt in the human part of himself when saw the hurt and brokenness in the world?
More than just getting more people to church, which we want, how can bring more
people to Christ. Further, how can we, how can I, be more like Christ for
others.
In
the gospel of John 1:5 says:
5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it (Jn. 1:5, NRSV).
On
cold and dark nights, on days that some are feeling “blue,” how can we be the
light of Christ? The other amazing side of this my friends, is that grace and
blessings that we will receive from God being like Jesus. I do not mean that we
all suddenly financially wealthy, but we can feel the hope and the grace that
comes only from Jesus Christ our Lord. We could start a weekly prayer meeting
in this church, so that some people get out of the house or apartment that need
to be with other people. Some weeks maybe some people pray more than they talk,
and some weeks talk more than they pray. The ministries are clever in a way.
Why? This is because the ministries of the church, hopefully, by design, are to
bring us together, point us to Jesus, and are designed to grow and build of
faith in Christ and in each other. Imagine a church where every day there is something
here for the people? A bible study. A book study. A prayer meeting. A “Grief
Share” support group. A craft club, etc. After almost fourteen years of ministry
this is what I have learned, a “craft club” is about so much more than the
crafts. Further, if people cannot come here, then we go to them. We do not have
to be alone, because we have Jesus, and we have each other. If you are feeling “blue”
on any level tonight, there is hope in Jesus, and we can also find the hope of
Jesus in each other.
To briefly touching on
our scriptures for tonight, in the reading we heard from Psalm 80:1-7 from
Marian, we hear that the people of Israel are crying out to God to restore them
and to give them new hope (Ps. 80:1-7, NRSV). How many of us have every cried
out to God for restoration and hope? Maybe you or someone you know feels that
way right now. I know that I have had times when I have felt those feelings.
Yet, Jesus says He is the light of the world. May we allow his light, life, and
love to fill us tonight, and always, and may we then share it with others, so
that light will overcome the darkness, even on the longest night of the year.
In
our reading once again from the Apostle Paul’s Epistle or letter to the Hebrews
for tonight that Cynthia read, Paul writes in 10:32-39
“But recall those earlier days when, after you had
been enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes
being publicly exposed to abuse and persecution, and sometimes being partners
with those so treated. For you had compassion for those who were in prison, and
you cheerfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you
yourselves possessed something better and more lasting. Do not, therefore,
abandon that confidence of yours; it brings a great reward. For you need endurance, so that when you have done the will
of God, you may receive what was promised. For yet “in a very little while, the
one who is coming will come and will not delay; but my righteous one will live
by faith. My soul takes no pleasure in anyone who shrinks back.” But we are not
among those who shrink back and so are lost, but among those who have faith and
so are saved” (Heb. 10:32-39, NRSV).
The
Apostle Paul reminds us that many people have suffered, and that many people have
suffered for their faith in Christ. Whatever we are suffering or have suffered,
God is with us. Jesus is with us, and He will be with us for eternity, we have
each other. This understanding of what the church is, and what the Christian
community is, challenges churches that seem to be Sunday morning only churches.
Since the last statistic I read, since about 1,500 churches are closing a month
in this country, I wonder how many of them are Sunday morning only churches?
In
our short gospel lesson from John 16:31-33 for tonight, Jesus reminds us of
suffering and persecution. Jesus once again tells us in this gospel lesson:
“Jesus answered them,
“Do you now believe? The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be
scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not
alone because the Father is with me. I have said this to you, so that in me you
may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have
conquered the world!” (Jn. 16:31-33, NRSV).
The day that Jesus was crucified, on
that first Good Friday, all Jesus’ disciples, except John, who was called “the
beloved disciple” abandoned Jesus. Yet, Jesus had his mother Mary there, Mary
Magdalene, and probably other women followers, as well. In the human part of
himself, Jesus felt all alone on the cross, know that God the Father, and the
Holy Spirit was ever present.
However, “blue”
that we might be feeling tonight, or how “blue” someone we know is feeling tonight,
we have Jesus. We are not powerful, and Jesus has called us to be together on “Blue
Christmas,” on the “Longest Night,” and etc. For this is the gospel of Jesus
Christ. This is our faith, our hope, and how Jesus calls us to transform lives
and the world. Amen.
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