reaching people ~ christmas eve service
2013 Christmas Eve Service
Christmas Eve Candlelight service will be at 7p.m. Desserts will be provided. Have your Christmas Eve dinner and then come enjoy dessert with us as we celebrate Jesus' birth and look at why he was born where he was born - a cave.
Live Nativity
Anyone interested in being part of a live Nativity on December 15th, please sign up at the refreshment table or contact Pastor Cal.
2012 Christmas Eve Service
Christmas Eve Service will be at 7 p.m. Come and enjoy desserts and let us focus together on the the truth of Christmas! We'll be focusing on receiving the Gift of Christ.
2011 Christmas Eve Service: Dessert Theatre
Christmas Eve Service will be at 7p.m. A drama and video will be featured. Come and enjoy desserts and let us focus on the truth of Christmas! There will be no service on Christmas morning. Heritage will provide a devotional for families or individuals to engage in on Christmas morning.
2010 Christmas Eve Service: Dessert Theatre
This year's Christmas Eve Service was held on Friday, December 24th at 7 p.m. at the Dansville High School Commons. Everyone who attended enjoyed the time to quiet our hearts and focus on the birth of Christ and how that impacts us. We also enjoyed the drama "Between the Giants" and many delicious desserts.
2009 Christmas Eve Service: Dessert Theatre
On the eve of Christ's birth, families and friends came together to enjoy dessert and some theatre. "Dateline Bethlehem" captured our imaginations and our hearts. Part of the production was performed through video footage created by the children of the community attending E-Zone at the Youth Center. Thanks to everyone who helped create a wonderful night for those in our community.
2008's Living Nativity
It didn’t look much like Bethlehem. Pine trees and snowy slush were everywhere, cars sped by just a few feet away, but the sun was shining and the air was clear. We didn’t have the donkey we’d hoped for, but Eric Moser’s Jersey cow was there. Two Sweers’ chickens were loose, wandering around while Vanilla, their white poodle, took on the role of ‘sheep on a leash’. Two Sweers’ goats watched inquisitively from their pen by a ‘stable’ of 4x4s and pine branches.
We positioned the stable to face M-36 as best we could, avoiding holes left by the tree spade, somehow finding the ‘right’ spot – level, clear and hole-free. Our presentation may not be accurate Biblically, but it was the best we could do. A whirlwind of last minute preparations and phone calls marked HUB’s first ‘Living Nativity’. It was the first event of the season, so early leftover turkey was still in the refrigerator. No one had given Christmas much thought.
After laughing and playing awhile, our children changed into shepherds’ cloaks and Magi robes, transforming them into a cast of ancient characters and instantly transporting those watching back to another day in another time. Everyone stood transfixed as the scene began to unfold – the innocence of those angelic faces, our children’s faces, quietly watching, listening and moving on cue as Pastor Cal read from the Book of Luke the story of the birth of Christ.
Twilight fell quickly and the scene took on a surreal setting. The backdrop of pine trees outlined by an orange and blue sunset, stars appearing overhead, gentle animal sounds and the stillness of twilight focused all eyes on the lighted stable. “And she gave birth to her first born son…” ‘Mary’ raised the tiny baby up for all to see. Little 2 month old Daisy Demers stole the show, staying calm and content, cuddled up in her cousin’s arms for 2 hours as temperatures hovered around 30o and the scene replayed again and again.
We’ve heard Pastor Cal talk about misconceptions surrounding that first Christmas: not a wooden stable but a cave, not a stand-alone manger but a trough carved in rock and by the way, they weren’t three, they weren’t kings and they weren’t from the Orient. But we did get one thing right - we got “the point”: the birth of the Christ child, the dawn of redeeming grace, the humble arrival of our bright and morning star, the Word that “became flesh and dwelt among us.” In a lowly place, in an insignificant village not unlike Dansville we’re reminded how God can use the weak to lead the strong and foolish things to confound the wise. He will use us if we’re looking for Him. If we glance away, we may miss the opportunities He presents, the unanticipated chances to hear Him say, “Be still and know that I am God”.
And as if assure us we did get it right this time, that we got the “point”, Venus and Jupiter appeared in the southwestern sky over our stable with its little star held high by a crooked stick. Why a holy and almighty God would come to earth to share our afflictions, to forego the glory and honor that are His just to be with us– it’s hard to comprehend., but as we watched quietly in the cold, the Christmas message- the true message, began to ring out loud and clear in our hearts. To celebrate the life of the One who came to restore the relationship we have with God the Father – we did get that part right! To experience His presence for a brief and touching moment in the busyness of life, what a gift!
We positioned the stable to face M-36 as best we could, avoiding holes left by the tree spade, somehow finding the ‘right’ spot – level, clear and hole-free. Our presentation may not be accurate Biblically, but it was the best we could do. A whirlwind of last minute preparations and phone calls marked HUB’s first ‘Living Nativity’. It was the first event of the season, so early leftover turkey was still in the refrigerator. No one had given Christmas much thought.
After laughing and playing awhile, our children changed into shepherds’ cloaks and Magi robes, transforming them into a cast of ancient characters and instantly transporting those watching back to another day in another time. Everyone stood transfixed as the scene began to unfold – the innocence of those angelic faces, our children’s faces, quietly watching, listening and moving on cue as Pastor Cal read from the Book of Luke the story of the birth of Christ.
Twilight fell quickly and the scene took on a surreal setting. The backdrop of pine trees outlined by an orange and blue sunset, stars appearing overhead, gentle animal sounds and the stillness of twilight focused all eyes on the lighted stable. “And she gave birth to her first born son…” ‘Mary’ raised the tiny baby up for all to see. Little 2 month old Daisy Demers stole the show, staying calm and content, cuddled up in her cousin’s arms for 2 hours as temperatures hovered around 30o and the scene replayed again and again.
We’ve heard Pastor Cal talk about misconceptions surrounding that first Christmas: not a wooden stable but a cave, not a stand-alone manger but a trough carved in rock and by the way, they weren’t three, they weren’t kings and they weren’t from the Orient. But we did get one thing right - we got “the point”: the birth of the Christ child, the dawn of redeeming grace, the humble arrival of our bright and morning star, the Word that “became flesh and dwelt among us.” In a lowly place, in an insignificant village not unlike Dansville we’re reminded how God can use the weak to lead the strong and foolish things to confound the wise. He will use us if we’re looking for Him. If we glance away, we may miss the opportunities He presents, the unanticipated chances to hear Him say, “Be still and know that I am God”.
And as if assure us we did get it right this time, that we got the “point”, Venus and Jupiter appeared in the southwestern sky over our stable with its little star held high by a crooked stick. Why a holy and almighty God would come to earth to share our afflictions, to forego the glory and honor that are His just to be with us– it’s hard to comprehend., but as we watched quietly in the cold, the Christmas message- the true message, began to ring out loud and clear in our hearts. To celebrate the life of the One who came to restore the relationship we have with God the Father – we did get that part right! To experience His presence for a brief and touching moment in the busyness of life, what a gift!