You Can’t Miss It!
December 8th, 2009 | Category: From The Pastor
“You can’t miss it!” is a common response when someone asks for directions.
“You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger,” was the “you-can’t-miss-it” directions given to shepherds the night Jesus was born. While the shepherds quickly found the Christ child and went their way rejoicing, most of Bethlehem, like the nation of Israel, seemed to miss it. “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not” (John 1:11).
On Friday through Sunday, December 11-13 we at Clear Fork Alliance Church will host our annual Experience Bethlehem. During that time between 600-900 guests will make the pilgrimage through specially decorated rooms which depict the biblical drama of Christ’s birth. All this culminates with the arrival in “Bethlehem,” where our church’s Outreach Center has been transformed into a Judean village reminiscent of 2000 years ago. Shops will be marketing products such as bread, sandals, grain, fruit, wheat, flowers, etc. which visitors may buy using a bag of “gold coins” which are provided as they enter the town. From the banging of the blacksmith’s hammer, to the shouts of vendors plying their wares, the sites and sounds take you back to the time of Christ’s birth. Roman soldiers patrolling the streets and the village jail prominently located on a street corner are a reminder to shop keepers to pay their taxes and to guests not to get out of line. Guests may relax as they listen to the angel choir but should not expect to spend the night because there is no vacancy in the Bethlehem Inn.
At the end of the journey the Star of Bethlehem shines down on the nativity which is found in the stable at the far end of town where a special baby has been born. He is, of course, God’s own Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Prominently marked by the “Star of Bethlehem” and accentuated by the sounds (and smells!) of barnyard animals, “you can’t miss it,” or can you?
Several years ago, one of our guests remarked to me. “I was so caught up in all the sites and sounds of the village that I never did get to see the baby Jesus!” Two thousand years have come and gone and people still miss the “reason for the season.” We are so caught up in everyday living, gifts and the latest gimmicks that it is easy to “miss it.”
I hope you won’t miss the real meaning of Christmas. Oh, and don’t miss Experience Bethlehem either!
Dr. Michael Stine was called to serve Clear Fork Alliance Church in March 1984. He graduated from Ohio State in 1974 and received his Master of Divinity degree from Ashland Theological Seminary in 1978. In June of 1984 he was awarded his doctoral degree, also from Ashland. Pastor Mike married Patricia Maglott of Bellville in 1975. The Stine's have three daughters; two married and a teenager at home.
