A unique way of sharing the Good News

“A Christmas Advent calendar has been purchased for you,” read an email message which appeared in our “inbox” a few days ago. I recognized the name of the person who had given us this gift. It was from Paula, a long time friend. I decided to write her just to make sure that it would be ok to download the calendar onto our computer. Paula wrote back that same evening affirming that she had sent it and that it was “delightful.”

So, I followed the directions and amazingly was able to download the advent calendar onto my laptop. A quaint village appeared with different points of interest which were numbered from 1 to 25, corresponding to the days until Christmas.

Paula was right. It really was delightful and educational too. Each day there was a glowing ornament appearing in the window of a house, over the theater, in the marketplace or near a church. Clicking on the ornament opened up a scene with animated characters and music.

The first day I happened to peek into the village was Saturday, the 17th of December. There was a surprise waiting in one of the little homes. It was the story of the Christingle, a brand new idea to me.

First there appeared an orange, which represented the world. Next came four dancing toothpicks which landed on the top of the orange. Gumdrops and candies came along — three for each toothpick. The sticks were symbolic of the four seasons and the sweets symbolized the blessings that God gives to us all because of his great love.

Then a candle dropped down onto the orange where the stem would have been. Soon the orange was aglow, symbolizing Christ, the light of the world. Finally, a red ribbon wrapped itself around the middle of the orange. This was to remind us of the blood of Christ which was shed for the forgiveness of our sins.

A scroll opened up to reveal the story behind the decorated oranges. The Christingle, meaning “Christ’s light,” was first thought of by a German bishop in the eighteenth century, as a way to bring the message of Christmas to the children in his church. He gave them each a candle wrapped in a red ribbon on which was written the prayer, “Lord Jesus, kindle a flame in these dear children’s hearts.”*

The oranges were introduced by the Anglican church of England during the 1960’s and have been given out at Christmas time by the Children’s Society of England ever since. After seeing the animated one on the Advent Village calendar, I decided to have some of the neighborhood kids make them at our annual birthday party for Jesus. What a great way to think about the message of Christmas and to share the good news!

Dear Lord, please “kindle a flame” in each of our hearts this Christmas, that we might take the good news of your birth into the world around us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” — John 3:16 NIV

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” — John 8:12 NIV


You can read more at Judy’s blog, goodnewswithjudy.blogspot.com.