Our Advent Worship Series at Northside Church is entitled Classic Christmas Movies. Last Sunday’s feature film was A Christmas Carol, starring Patrick Stewart.

In Charles Dickens’ novella, the fearsome ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future visited Ebenezer Scrooge. He awoke on Christmas morning a transformed man.

Dickens reminds believers that we celebrate Christmas in three tenses. PAST: We remember how the Son of God became incarnate as a tiny babe. PRESENT: We recognize Christ’s Spirit present in our daily lives. FUTURE: We anticipate the day our Lord will return again in glory.

It’s telling that Charles Dickens entitled his story A Christmas Carol. Ebenezer Scrooge discovered the true meaning of Christmas that terrible, wonderful night. Faced with the reality of his life, he also discovered God’s power to change.

Christmas reminds us that it’s never too late to become the people that we always hoped to be.

“God bless us, every one.”