CHRISTMASTIDE
PREPARE HIM ROOM: CHRISTMASTIDE 2024-25
As the darkness and waiting of Advent give way to joyful celebration of the birth of Christ, we want to encourage to continue to Prepare Him Room. The 12 days of Christmas are meant to be a time of feasting and joy and fellowship because the light has come. Celebrate with family and friends and brothers and sisters in Christ, and be sure to make much of Christ and wonder in awe of what the incarnation means for us. GOD IS WITH US!​​​
​​
Weekly Examen
PERSONAL DISCIPLINE
Christmastide only lasts 12 days and is likely filled with fun and activities. However, we encourage you to find a moment during this short season to consider and begin implementing one simple practice - The Weekly Examen.
The Weekly Examen is an invitation to pause and reflect on both the week behind you and the week ahead. It provides an opportunity for you to see your actions and inactions through the lens of God’s love for you, and gently consider points of growth in your life.
​
You will find a few pages to guide you through this practice each week in the Planner Pages of the City Church Prayer & Practice book.
Take a moment during Christmastide to be overwhelmed by the Incarnation!
Grown-Up Resource
Kids & Family Resource
Alison Mitchell
Engage the children in your life (and yourself) in the excitement and anticipation of a New king... a Rescuing king.. a Forever king. All our hope was fulfilled in the birth of Jesus, and this book helps us celebrate the Christmas promise realized.
YEAR-ROUND RESOURCE
​
Prayer & Practice Book - A City Church book of common prayer.
With short daily liturgies, planner pages, and collections of breath prayers, blessings, and more, this is intended to be a daily resource to help us integrate the many pieces of our lives.
Download PDF here or email us for a printed copy.
Year-Round Resource
LITURGICAL YEAR
The liturgical calendar follows the life of Christ and, in its cyclical rhythm, invites us to enter the movement of his life on a yearly basis. As we observe each season, we can observe Christ. We pray that as you allow the seasons of the church year and anchor your life to the life of Christ, you’ll discover that a fuller joy and vitality marks your days.
​
Lesslie Newbign writes, “the business of the Church is to tell and to embody a story, the story of God’s mighty acts in creation and redemption and of God’s promises concerning what will be in the end. The Church affirms the truth of this story by celebrating it, interpreting it, and enacting it in the life of the contemporary world.”
Each Sunday we see the arc of God’s story rehearsed and embodied (God is Holy, We are Broken, Jesus Saves Us, Jesus Sends Us)... but how do we “enact it in the contemporary world” of our homes, where we can create culture and habits that form us.
​
The church calendar, much like Sunday Service, moves us through a story. Specifically the story of Jesus with his incarnation in Advent all the way through the sending of the church in Pentecost.
​
-
ADVENT - the future hope of Christ
-
CHRISTMAS - the joyful birth of Christ
-
EPIPHANY - the perfect manifestation of Christ
-
LENT - the temptation and death of Christ
-
EASTER - the world-changing resurrection of Christ
-
PENTECOST - the renewing Spirit of Christ