CityLine Women | Volume 26 / Issue 3
Hello, CityLine Women!
Christmas is upon us! We are so grateful for what God has done through our church and CityLine Women. Thanks to everyone who joined us at Feed My Starving Children in November for a sweet time of sisterhood and celebration of God’s provision.
Please be on the lookout for an invitation to our next CityLine Women Paint & Praise on Jan. 11. Details and registration are forthcoming. I also look forward to seeing you at our next women’s conference on March 8. Save the dates!
Finally, please have a look at Jim and Kris Austin’s request regarding our Special Care group below. The Austins are truly acting as the hands and feet of Jesus for this beautiful community in our church. Please consider coming alongside these individuals to care for them.
This month, our sister Christine Trevino has written an encouraging and timely reminder as we prepare our hearts to celebrate the birth of our Savior. I pray this devotional will be a blessing to you during this season.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Grace and peace,
Susan Zachariah
CityLine Women’s Interim Coordinator
O CHRISTMAS TREE
We put up the Christmas tree on Election Day this year. I know it was obscenely early but this whole election cycle has been insane. We needed something to smile about and be hopeful for, to leverage perspective by focusing on what is true spiritually, while the world continues its crazy, unpredictable spin.
I can’t think of anyone better to focus on than Jesus.
Obviously, Jesus is not in a Christmas tree. He is not more present in our home by its standing in the corner of the living room. There is nothing magical about its branches and nothing redemptive in the lights and ornaments that hang from them. There is little spirituality in ritual that’s been embraced by secular and even pagan traditions.
And yet, within the right context, maybe there could be a little bit of both.
There are many legends that attempt to identify the beginnings of the Christmas tree but there is little truth, redemptive or otherwise, to the tales. What is most likely is that Christmas trees began to be displayed and decorated in Germanic Europe during the Middle Ages as a way to help people “see” the story of Christmas (Bertaina, 266).
At this particular time in history, the masses could not read or write (Bertaina, 266). Scripture was locked in a language that was no longer spoken or understood. Before heroes of the Reformation translated Scripture into the common language (Doney, 9-13), Bible stories were communicated through plays (Bertaina, 266).
December 24 was the traditional feast day for Adam and Eve. In plays performed for that celebration, the medieval equivalent of modern stage crews displayed a Paradise Tree to represent the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil God placed in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9). They were decorated with apples symbolizing the fall of man and round pastry wafers symbolizing the body of Christ remembered through Communion. The actor playing Adam would have walked this tree through town to illustrate the arc of redemption. By one tree Humankind fell, on another we were redeemed (Bertaina, 266).
There were many things Medieval clergy got wrong (Doney, 11), but this they captured beautifully. You cannot fully celebrate Jesus’ birth without remembering that He came to die for our sin.
Now if we fast forward to today, a Christmas tree means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. For some it evokes feelings of family and child-like wonder. For others it is a commercial representation of a secularized holiday. Some may even be overcome with sadness because it reminds them that someone they love is gone.
I think the lesson here is that the value we assign to it matters. When we look at a Christmas tree what do we think, feel, remember? I love that our church has decided to celebrate Christmas with joy and wonder, choosing to focus on who we are and what Good News we have to celebrate through the sights and songs of the season. Perhaps this is what inspired the early arrival of Christmas to our own home.
In a world that has become so divided by party lines and policies, election winners and losers, believers need to remember what unites us and Who we follow. The Lord’s hand is not stayed by Republicans or Democrats, nor is it moved except according to His will. This has been true throughout time and will continue to be true as long as the world continues to turn (Lamentations 3:37, Daniel 4:32b, Amos 3:6b, Ephesians 1:11b).
God is still in control. He is still the King and this, my friends, is not our country. The heroes of our faith understood this truth well.
These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
Hebrews 11:13-16 ESV
We can be grieved or grateful in this season, but we must hold tight to what is absolutely, unequivocally true. Jesus laid aside the glories of heaven to become like us (Philippians 2:7) so He could rescue us from our sin. There is no comfort or gladness to be found in the manger unless we also embrace the cross. Christ is as much our hope and joy as He is our deliverance and redemption, a wonder that is so aptly summarized in the illustration of our decorated Christmas trees.
Even if you’re not an early decorator like me, by now, the trees are everywhere – adorning shopping malls and church altars alike – quietly beckoning us to remember Who we celebrate and inviting us into hope for the future He has promised those who believe.
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
Revelation 22:1-5
Surely friends, He is coming again soon. May our hearts welcome Him this Christmas and bid Him come (Revelation 22:20).
Come, Lord Jesus, come.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, open our eyes to the symbols of Christmas all around us. Make our hearts tender and soft before You this season. Help us to keep You at the center of our celebration and may we live our lives in blessing to Your name.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
Christine Trevino
ABOUT THE WRITER
Christine is wife to Michael, homeschooling boy momma of three, and a lover of words. She’s an author, freelance writer and blogger who also loves to sing, sew, and drink coffee (in no particular order).
MINISTRY SPOTLIGHT: SPECIAL CARE
Jim and Kris Austin
CityLine Special Care welcomes our neurodivergent population and anyone with special needs. Many of the group have learning disabilities and mental health issues. We do not know what most of their disabilities are, but we focus on the fact that God made all of us for a purpose, on purpose!
This community group began in April of 2021 to complete the Rooted study in-person as the starting members were struggling to meet over Zoom. We started with about five people meeting in our home over a meal, and we really wanted it to be a welcoming group to get to know one another as a family. Since then, the group has grown to 12 members who come regularly, and, praise God, we have gained one additional leader with a heart for this group. The group ranges in age from 23 to 74, but they truly care for one another, pray for one another and laugh together. We have cooked hundreds of meals–they love to eat! We also go out to restaurants and have joined the Senior Saints with some of their outings, such as viewing Christmas lights and attending a Cubs Game. Twelve of us attended the Matthew West’s “Don’t Stop Praying” concert in November. Cityline Serve Day is a favorite, and for three straight years, we have gone to Love INC in Waukegan to sort clothes, fill orders for homes and make welcome kits. We attend service at CityLine together, and, on a few occasions, we have served as ushers and greeters. We have moved three members out of their apartments and into Nursing Homes for safety.
We have also celebrated several new lives in Christ, as well as four baptisms–with another planned soon. Last year we took the whole group through SHAPE, a Shepherd’s College Course for Special Needs and had a banquet at the end where each member shared their final presentations and received certificates. This year, we have focused on relationships, both with Christ and with each other. We always share praises and petitions around the table and spend time praying for each other.
Several of the group have little to no actual family that are involved in their lives. The members who live in group homes and nursing homes are mostly on Medicaid with little income per month for extras like attending special events, going out to eat, purchasing new clothing or other personal items. For the last three years, we have hosted a Christmas Party with a few small gifts for each person. This year, we are asking CityLine to come alongside us to sponsor one of the group, much like Angel Tree. We also invite you to pray for that person, their needs and their walk with Christ throughout the year. If your group is led to host the group for regular gathering one Sunday after second service, we would be so grateful!
“I consider Special Care my second family,” says Mathew Jaworski. “It’s changed my life a lot.”
Thanks for loving on them this Christmas Season. Most weeks you can find them on the front row at second service. Please don’t hesitate to say hello!
If you’d like to assist with this group, please contact Jim Austin: jim@cityline.church or 847-204-7469.
CONNECT AT CITYLINE!
Serve
- If you feel led to pour into the next generation, Children’s Ministry needs you!
Study
- Join a Women’s Community Group today and enjoy Bible study, fellowship, accountability and fun!
- Come to the Well! Join us for worship, prayer and connection during our next Well Night at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 13. The evening’s theme will be “Faith over Fear.”
Socialize
- Do you have young children? Join our CityLine Moms of Littles Group Chat! E-mail susan@cityline.church to be added.
- Join us at our next Paint & Praise on Jan. 11. Unleash your creativity while enjoying fun and fellowship!
- Mark your calendar for the next women’s conference on March 8. It will be a blessed time of encouragement and connection. Registration and further details forthcoming.
For a full list of upcoming events, please visit our events page.