{"id":1366,"date":"2019-12-24T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-24T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/?p=1366"},"modified":"2019-12-07T13:00:51","modified_gmt":"2019-12-07T18:00:51","slug":"rest-in-a-candlelight-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2019\/12\/24\/rest-in-a-candlelight-service\/","title":{"rendered":"REST IN A CANDLELIGHT SERVICE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cFor a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on His shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this.\u201d  Isaiah 9:6-7 CSB<\/a>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

We are on the eve of Christ\u2019s birthday.  We have focused our attention on Him all year long.  We\u2019ve struggled, we\u2019ve grown, we\u2019ve rejoiced. Now it is time to prepare our hearts for the celebration of His birth.  I wanted to share a candlelight service with all of you to do just that.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine you are in a dimly lit church, the pastor has just finished speaking about the truth of Jesus.  The choir has shuffled quietly back on to the stage. The candles that were handed out when you walked in the door are now ready to be used.  They are slim, white candles with a paper disk surrounding them to protect your hands from dripping wax. Ushers begin to walk down the aisle, lighting the candles of the person on the end of each row.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love this simple moment of unity as people share their light with the people next to them.  Soon the entire gathering is holding a lit candle and the lights begin to dim. The first few notes of Franz Gruber\u2019s \u201cSilent Night\u201d begin to float through the silence:
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Silent night, holy night<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All is calm, all is bright<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Round yon Virgin, Mother, Mother and Child<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holy infant so tender and mild<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sleep in heavenly peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sleep in heavenly peace.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Verse 2]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Silent night, holy night!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shepherds quake at the sight<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glories stream from heaven afar<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heavenly hosts sing ‘Alleluia!<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christ the Savior is born<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christ the Savior is born
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Verse 3]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Silent night, holy night!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Son of God, love’s pure light<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Radiant beams from Thy holy face<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the dawn of redeeming grace<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus Lord, at Thy birth<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus Lord, at Thy birth
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the pastor steps quietly to the pulpit, he blesses God\u2019s people for the night ahead.  Candle\u2019s are extinguished and people quietly shuffle out of their seats. Their hearts centered on their Lord.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today I\u2019m going to find rest in candlelight.  How can you find rest today?
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cFor a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on His shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David… Continue reading REST IN A CANDLELIGHT SERVICE<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1366"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1428,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1366\/revisions\/1428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}