The Dark Side of Christmas…revisited

16 Dec The Dark Side of Christmas…revisited

15 December 2025

“The Dark Side of Christmas” revisited…

Well…what felt like a lighthearted remark Sunday morning, felt like a stone in my stomach by Sunday night as the news of two mass shootings & a 3rd targeted attack in Holland filled the news feed.

Bondi Beach, Brown University, and a concert hall in Amsterdam may seem to have nothing in common, but as  Hanukkah celebrations begin this year, each became the focal point of a directed, & at times deadly, attack on Jews. This is simply one of the faces of evil in our world: the specific hatred of an entire race of people. This is not Anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism is just ignorant prejudice in one’s daily life. That polite cleaned up word cannot describe the darkness & evil that motivates taking loaded weapons into crowded public celebrations & vulnerable unguarded spaces & deliberately killing as many unarmed innocents as you possibly can. Today, as on 7^th October 2023, this is the fruit & flower of hatred aimed at the world’s Jewish population. Psalm 122:6 reads, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May all who love this city flourish.” God has never abandoned his promise to Israel, & bids us, the new, true Israel in Christ, to pray for the repentance & shalom of his historic people. All who have an in-built ideological hatred of the Jews are a special kind of evil & are to be named as such & resisted as such. Would that our political leaders understood this.

So…please pray for those who lost loved ones, who were wounded, or who witnessed the outworking of evil firsthand. Pray for those who ran toward the danger to save others instead of hiding behind parked cars while their state-issued weapons were in their holsters…between 10 & 20 minutes elapsed from the first shots to the last. That’s just too long. Pray that we have the national courage to say “Enough” and mean it.

If you know any of the musicians who shared such a glorious Christmas with the Con concert last Saturday evening…give them a huge “Thank you!” from the rest of the community. The rain proved no obstacle in the long run & the evening was truly blessed.

We’ve got a pretty full schedule heading into Christmas…AND if you’re scheduled to serve, but suddenly are unable, please let Liz or me know! Now…what’s up?

• Zoom Bible Study Catch-up
  Friday 19th December 2025 @ 1:00 p.m.
  Join Zoom Meeting  —  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81948547170?pwd=cbEiGEsayMOWYFUwtsC2mWJdiuHaHa.1  — Meeting ID: 819 4854 7170 — Passcode: 155350  — You might need to enter the passcode this time.
• Sunday 21^st December – Morning Tea after worship! You know what to do…
• Christmas Worship @ Living Water
  •     Christmas Eve – Wednesday 24th December @ 7:00 p.m.
  •     Christmas Day – Thursday 25th December @ 9:00 a.m.
• Sunday 28^th December – Regular worship schedule resumes
• Sunday 4^th January 2026 – New Year’s Morning Tea! AND a worship series just right for the new year: Where is Jesus… It’s a time when we learn how to see what Jesus is doing in our world right before our eyes, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY to join him! Don’t miss a Sunday!

I was reading Colossians earlier this week…Colossians is one of my favourite books of the New Testament, but this part I don’t think caught me like it did this time. Colossians 4:5-6 – Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone. What really struck me this time was the realization that our lives as followers of Jesus are ALWAYS lived in the sight of unbelievers. When we die, or simply walk away, what will they remember of us? How will they be different because of their interactions with us? How will they experience Christ living in us?

Yep…pretty big challenge for each of us. So…how are you working on the answers to those questions? I’d love to chat about that at some point…See you Sunday, or somewhere between now & then!

John