Thanks to everyone who attended our Christmas Eve Celebration. This year we tied the whole service together with some poorly written poetry that told a version of the Christmas\/salvation story, and I can say poorly written… because I wrote it.<\/p>\n
I’ve been a asked a couple of times where to get it, so, I thought I’d make it available here at the CrossEyedLife.<\/p>\n
It comes in five sections as a progressive story and many thanks to Sam Wilk who narrated for us… great job!<\/p>\n
THE NEED<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0Dark and barren, a formless void A vast and endless stretch of nothing to be had Then from the darkened chaos, a voice both strong and true From where there had been nothing, a something soon appeared And through the frenzied action of a universe being born \u201cIt is Good\u201d a declaration the Creator\u2019s voice proclaimed \u201cThe world is yours to live and love and enjoy forever more \u201cAs you run and reign this world made for you But a world so perfect and filled with good Broken and torn, sin entered in and death marked this place \u201cGuilty as charged\u201d cried the actions of man as tears filled his eyes All creation cringed and moaned a cry of desperation Still strong and true boomed the voice that spoke it all Judgment was stayed, by the Creator\u2019s own hand \u201cOne Day all this will be made right, One Day this world will change \u201cThough My heart breaks for my Son your debt to pay And though this man had feared the worst, awaiting death\u2019s sting One Day\u2026 hope\u2026 One Day<\/p>\n THE WAITING<\/strong><\/p>\n One Day a hope to come for broken man, One Day Weeks turned to months and months to years For the Creator had promised One Day to send a Son Millennia crawled by as the faithful watched the skies From time to time, upon the scene a messenger the Creator sent A babe would come some starry night just like a lamb Another claimed the birth, a miracle to see This messenger continued on before his words did cease Hopes grew high as waiting grew but messengers still they came A messenger spoke, \u201cThis child will come and all will be revealed Man understood only in part, for these words were hard to hear Man cried out through anguished prayers and somber songs of praise \u201cCreator God, please send Your Son, upon this earth to dwell As centuries past waiting prolonged man\u2019s eager expectation One Day\u2026 the waiting to end\u2026 One Day<\/p>\n THE DOORWAY<\/strong><\/p>\n 400 years since last they spoke, the messengers now gone From long ago the hope was cast for all humanity A sweet, young girl one starlight night awoke to words so scary And then a man, with heart so true, and righteousness his way A King to reign, the Lord of all, into this world to come The world waiting, watching, praying for a sign of something real For this young family a difficult road of fear and trepidation Listening to wise men and running from kings their lives a hefty price And in their baby\u2019s eyes they see a sacrifice deeper still His tiny cries like echoes ring through all eternity But not tonight, it\u2019s not the time, that suffering is years away For many roads are yet to walk and other lessons learn Tonight one of many beginnings, with a doorway open wide One Day, has come\u2026 this One Day has finally\u2026 come<\/p>\n THE COMING<\/strong><\/p>\n One Day, One Day, one long awaited Day has finally come to be No politicians, priests or pompous people heard the call A brilliant flash on midnight black the sky aglow with angel light Sleepy shepherds waked that night like frightened sheep within a pen Then back to night the sky grew dark as angels bid retreat And there they found a baby Boy in what became silent night Mary spoke both sweet and true, Jesus was this child\u2019s name Filled with joy, the shepherds left, and never were the same And then began, from that very moment, a change in humanity Our path now changed forever, no more condemned to die One Day is ours, Good News has come\u2026 One Day has arrived<\/p>\n THE CHOICE<\/strong><\/p>\n From time begun to present day so much has come to pass For generation after generation man was a broken clan We know the words and believe them, each and every day And every year we celebrate a season marked with tinsel and with light We\u2019re busy and we\u2019re hurried with this holiday we celebrate From brokenness this day was born, our need to be made well A victory chant, a party deluxe, seems right for this occasion Let\u2019s sing the songs and have our fun, but we always must remember And why you say does this world hit pause at Christmas time each year His name is Jesus, the Author of creation and the Savior of mankind Christ, The Firstborn from the Dead and Hope of True Salvation Lord of Lords and Lamb of God, Passover Sacrifice This Christmas time we celebrate the coming of The Day The choice is yours and must be made, this we know for sure One Day has come, already now, though 2,000 years have past One Day has come, The Day of Life\u2026 today is still The Day<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Thanks to everyone who attended our Christmas Eve Celebration. This year we tied the whole service together with some poorly written poetry that told a version of the Christmas\/salvation story, and I can say poorly written… because I wrote it.<\/p>\n I’ve been a asked a couple of times where to get it, so, I thought I’d make it available here at the CrossEyedLife.<\/p>\n It comes in five sections as a progressive story and many thanks to Sam Wilk who narrated for us… great job!<\/p>\n THE NEED<\/p>\n Dark and barren, a formless void
\nOur universe an empty nothing
\nNo light, no warmth, no life to be enjoyed<\/p>\n
\nFrom beginning to end,
\nA hole in sheer blankness, neither good nor bad<\/p>\n
\n\u201cLet there be light!\u201d
\nEchoed through the blackness, words powerfully breaking through<\/p>\n
\nRays of light now came to show
\nGalaxies were forming, and a God to be revered<\/p>\n
\nA spark of life
\nMountain, tree, bird and whale, even man this world adorned<\/p>\n
\nOver all that had come to being
\nThere was nothing for which to be ashamed<\/p>\n
\nNow go and play and live today
\nAnd always remember this one simple chore<\/p>\n
\nAvoid one tree not meant for man
\nTo show your love for Me is true.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nFelt the sting of deception
\nBetrayal and greed as before the tree, man\u2019s only man stood<\/p>\n
\nA universe, which knew only good
\nNow cold and naked awaiting judgement\u2019s embrace<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve taken this precious gift of life
\nAnd made it something to despise\u201d<\/p>\n
\nAwaiting the just destruction
\nBut wait\u2026 why the Creator\u2019s hesitation<\/p>\n
\n\u201cMy love for you is far too strong,
\nFor I will save you from this fall.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThough punishment was just
\nHe told this man of His plan<\/p>\n
\nThrough the seed of man
\nMy Son will come your guilt His life exchanged<\/p>\n
\nParadise restored, wrongs made right
\nThis I will do, One Day.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nHe turned his tear stained eyes toward heaven.
\nRealizing he\u2019d been given everything.<\/p>\n
\nBut in this mess of sinfulness
\nHope seemed so very far away<\/p>\n
\nThough the waiting was long
\nHopes and prayers calmed the fears<\/p>\n
\nAnd the fallen, dirtied, chaos
\nOf this world be undone<\/p>\n
\nLooking for a sign of Promise
\nThat One Day\u2019s hope would soon arrive<\/p>\n
\nWith words of love and yearning
\nThe hearers pondered what they meant<\/p>\n
\nInto a small, nothing town
\nThe locals there call Bethlehem<\/p>\n
\nFor the mother of this child
\nA virgin she would be<\/p>\n
\nA child be born
\nWonderful, Counselor the long awaited Prince of Peace<\/p>\n
\nStories of hope and light and faith
\nEach different yet all the same<\/p>\n
\nFor a Suffering Servant He will be,
\nBy His stripes we will be healed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nTheir sins cast upon this perfect Son
\nWould then draw the Creator near<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWe cannot stand here all alone
\nLike fire burning in our chest, our heart it is ablaze!<\/p>\n
\nWe need Him more than anything
\nO Come, O Come Immanuel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nOf the hope that One Day would surely come
\nAnd finally bring Salvation.<\/p>\n
\nThe Creator silent, the world await
\nListening for a Savior\u2019s song<\/p>\n
\nBut the promise now will come to pass
\nThrough two near Galilee<\/p>\n
\nA babe, Our God, The Christ to bare
\n\u201cYour will be done\u201d said Mary<\/p>\n
\nCalled to raise a child not his
\nJoseph to Mary he pledged to stay<\/p>\n
\nNot through some door of majesty
\nBut a carpenter\u2019s step son<\/p>\n
\nBut hidden in the most common home
\nThrough peasants our Hope concealed<\/p>\n
\nScoffers would scoff and laughers would laugh
\nAt their unique situation<\/p>\n
\nDown every road and pathway lead
\nThe burden of sacrifice<\/p>\n
\nLife poured out, a body broken
\nAnd blood for all will spill<\/p>\n
\n\u201cMy body and my blood to give
\nDo this in remembrance of me\u201d<\/p>\n
\nTonight this couple hold their babe
\nAnd in a manger stay<\/p>\n
\nFor thousands of years mankind has looked
\nAnd for this Savior yearned.<\/p>\n
\nThe wrong made right, and healing come
\nTo Bethlehem\u2019s hillside\u2026<\/p>\n
\nMan\u2019s broken eyes open wide
\nTheir Lord and Savior, Immanuel to see<\/p>\n
\nFor the Creator\u2019s winged warriors
\nAnnounce to shepherds, an end to the Fall<\/p>\n
\nVoice thunders out, \u201cTown of David,
\nBorn to you\u2026 Savior, Lord and Christ\u201d<\/p>\n
\nAs angelic chorus thundered
\n\u201cGlory to God and peace to men\u201d<\/p>\n
\nBut rushing, running these shepherds went
\nA king in stable they would meet<\/p>\n
\nAs each man\u2019s heart raced because they knew
\nCreator had come, to the world a Light<\/p>\n
\nMessiah, Healer, God\u2026 with\u2026 us
\nBringing end to all our shame<\/p>\n
\nTaking the place of angelic voice
\nProclaiming that He came<\/p>\n
\nLost and torn and hopelessness
\nReplaced now by certainty<\/p>\n
\nFor shepherds gave good news to all
\nAngels we have heard on high!<\/p>\n
\nAnd now we know our Savior\u2019s song
\nA tune you can\u2019t surpass<\/p>\n
\nBut made it right, and sealed it tight
\nThe Son and Great I Am.<\/p>\n
\nGod sent his Son, man\u2019s sin undone
\nHis own life He chose to pay<\/p>\n
\nWith songs to sing and gifts to wrap
\nIs there really ever Silent Night?<\/p>\n
\nBut traditions and fun we hold so dear
\nTo our Savior, do they relate?<\/p>\n
\nCreator\u2019s Son sent from heaven
\nTo save us all from hell<\/p>\n
\nBut do not miss what\u2019s important here
\nKeep Christ in the equation<\/p>\n
\nWhy children laugh and nations stop
\nOn the 25th<\/span> of December<\/p>\n
\nThere\u2019s only one Reason, the one for the Season
\nThat we have any need to cheer<\/p>\n
\nThe Alpha and Omega, First and Last
\nHe is Divine<\/p>\n
\nGreat High Priest and Holy One
\nKing of every nation<\/p>\n
\nSon of Man and Son of God
\nResurrection and the Life<\/p>\n
\nThat all men had been waiting for
\nTo take their sins away<\/p>\n
\nMan is still broken, bent and wrong
\nBut Jesus, He is the cure<\/p>\n
\nThe choice is ours this Christmas Day
\nChoose Christ, choose life, hold fast<\/p>\n
\nOur universe an empty nothing
\nNo light, no warmth, no life to be enjoyed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[15,20,169,46,203,204,125],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crosseyedlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crosseyedlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crosseyedlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crosseyedlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crosseyedlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=745"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.crosseyedlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":747,"href":"http:\/\/www.crosseyedlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745\/revisions\/747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crosseyedlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crosseyedlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crosseyedlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}