Reflecting on the Christ Candle means recognizing Jesus as the “Light of the World,” dispelling darkness, bringing hope, love, and peace, and symbolizing His pure life and presence among us, prompting believers to carry His light through selfless acts and share His message, transforming the world one flame at a time. It’s a call to open our hearts to God’s immense love, follow Him, and be His hands and feet in a world needing His transformative power, especially as the Advent season culminates in Christmas.
Core Meanings & Symbolism
- Jesus, the Light: The white candle signifies Jesus Christ, the pure, eternal light entering a world of darkness, fulfilling prophecy and bringing salvation.
- Hope & Joy: Its flame banishes fear and despair, symbolizing God’s goodness breaking into the world, making us confident that He can make things right.
- Presence & Love: It’s a tangible reminder of “Immanuel” (God with us) and God’s great love, inviting Him to dwell in our hearts.
- Spreading the Flame: Passing the flame to others (or lighting personal candles from it) shows how Christ’s message and love spread, uniting believers in a common purpose.
Calls to Action & Personal Reflection
- Share God’s Love: How can you be a light by showing kindness, forgiveness, and generosity, echoing Mary’s “yes”?
- Follow Christ: Acknowledge Jesus’s call to follow Him, allowing His light to guide your steps and overcome personal darkness.
- Be Courageous: Let Christ into your life so you can be brave and share His peace and presence, even when things are difficult.
- Live the Message: Your actions, like cooking a meal or writing a note, become evidence of Christ working through you.
Key Scriptures & Themes
- John 8:12: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life”.
- Matthew 1:23 (Immanuel): “God with us”.
- Philippians 2:13-14: God works in us, helping us shine like stars by doing good works.
Worship Calendar
Dec. 28 – The Horror Before the Blessing Matthew 2:13-23 Rev. Eric Lee
Jan. 4 – Decisive Moments Isaiah 42:1-9 & Acts 10:34-48 Rev. Eric Lee
NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Weekly News
Please be advised that there will not be a Weekly News next week on December 31. The weekly news will resume on January 7. Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to you all.
Church Envelopes
The 2026 weekly church envelopes are now available, please check your mailbox. If you do not have envelopes and would like to receive a set please see Jackie Taylor and don’t forget you can also sign up for PARS monthly direct debit or send a donation by e-transfer to givings@graceview.ca
Graceview Balanced Budget Matching Gift Campaign
In order to help achieve a balance budget at Graceview this year, one of our members (who wishes to remain anonymous) has generously offered to match any special offerings (not regular weekly offerings) given by other members of the congregation to help balance the budget, up to a maximum of $5,000 in matching donations. In other words, if other members donate $3,000 in special offerings the donor will match that to make a total of $6,000, if other members donate $5,000 the donor will match that to make a total of $10,000, and if other members of the congregation donate more than $5,000 the donor will top that up by an additional $5,000. For example, if other members donate $7,000 that will become a total of $12,000. Please consider making a one-time special donation in order to help balance our 2025 budget and to take advantage of this generous offer.
To make a donation please use the envelope enclosed with the bulletin or one of the additional envelopes at the back of the church on the offering table and put your special offering on the collection plate as usual. Alternatively, you can use an e-transfer in the normal way, just indicate on the transfer that it is pursuant to the Balanced Budget Matching Gift Campaign. You will receive a tax receipt for that special offering, also as usual. Thank you for considering this and thank you to the anonymous donor. If you have any questions please speak to Al Bishop, who is not the matching gift donor but who is organizing this on behalf of the donor.
A Winter Devotional Update (December 2):
A new edition of Our Daily Bread (December/January/February), as well as the current edition of These Days (January/February/March) are available on the table in the church vestibule and in the devotional
Box on the front porch.
New Year’s Prayer Hour – January 1 at 1pm
We invite you to a gentle and reflective New Year’s Prayer Hour on New Year’s Day at 1pm. This will be a peaceful time with hymns, projected images, and quiet space for personal prayer.
This new initiative was suggested by our organist Glen De Line, who will help co-lead the hour.
Come start the year in calm, hope, and God’s presence.
Coffee Sign-Up
It is that time of year again when we are looking for volunteers to serve coffee and tea after worship. The sign up sheet is on the bulletin board in the Adamson Lounge.
Dec. 28 – Iris & Maureen
Jan. 4 – Mission Team
Jan. 11 – Mission Team
Jan. 18 – Susan & Mission Team member
Jan. 25 – Mission Team
Thank you to all of you who have given so willingly of your time and efforts. We appreciate you!!
UPCOMING EVENTS
* Tuesdays @ 11:00 AM – Walking Group – All are welcome
* Thursdays @ 2:00 PM – Worship service at Centennial Park Place
* Wednesday, Dec. 24 @ 7:00 PM – Christmas Eve Service
* Thursday, Jan. 1 @1:00 PM – New Year’s Day Prayer Hour
* Monday, Jan 26 @ 6:30 PM – Mission Team meeting (Zoom)
* Sunday, Mar. 8 @ 11:30 AM – Annual General Meeting
Prayer/Reader/Announcements for 2026
Prayer Roster Lay Readers Welcome and Announcements
Dec. 28 Nancy Green Anna Cherniak Kathy Twynam
Jan. 4 Pastor Eric Koko Ikele Bob Twynam
Jan. 11 Maureen Screen Harry Learoyd Iris Lee
Jan. 18 Susan Chopp Chris Parr Kathy Twynam
Jan. 25 Pastor Eric Susan Chopp Nancy McPherson
4 Christmas Carols That Prompt Us to Pray
Bob Hostetler
How to put a prayer—and a song—in your heart this season!
Among the delights of the Christmas season is the music. On the radio, in businesses, at home and at church we hear the sounds of silver bells, herald angels singing and yuletide carols being sung by a choir. Everyone has a favorite, but many miss the beautiful and timely prompts to prayer offered by some Christmas carols.
Whether you’re driving, shopping, working or waiting, here are a few Christmas songs that are prayers—or lend themselves to prayer:
1. “Away in a Manger”
The last verse of this familiar carol is a sweet prayer for children of all ages:
Be near me, Lord Jesus; I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever and love me I pray.
Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care,
And take us to heaven to live with Thee there.
2) “O Little Town of Bethlehem”
Phillips Brooks’s enduring classic is another carol that turns to prayer (in the fourth stanza):
O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray.
Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, Our Lord Immanuel!
3) “In the Bleak Midwinter”
This Christina Rossetti poem, set to music, is one of my favorites. I like to turn the tender final verse into a prayer by changing the pronoun Him to You:
What can I give You,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb,
If I were a wise man
I would do my part,
Yet what I can I give You, Give my heart.
4) “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”
Every verse of this ancient carol is a prayer (in fact, the verses follow the pattern of the “O Antiphons,” prayed or sung during Vespers in the last seven days of Advent in some liturgical Christian traditions). The last stanza (“O Rex Gentium” in Latin; “O King of Nations” in English) is a fitting climax:
O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of peace.
These are just four carols, of course, but they’re the ones I pray most often and fervently during this holiday season. They not only put a song in my heart, but a prayer as well, and that makes my Christmas celebration all the more meaningful.
A Nostalgic Moment – the 1957 Perry Como Christmas Show
Kathy Twynam
A few nights ago, while scanning through YouTube offerings, Bob somehow accessed the 1957 Perry Como Christmas Show. Most of you are old enough to remember those wonderful shows, a genre which exists no more. I was eleven in 1957, and I have fond memories of my entire family gathered around our single black and white TV on Sunday nights, watching shows like Lassie, Perry Como, and, as the 50’s gave way to the 60’s, Bonanza.
Bob and I were intrigued and ended up watching the entire show the other night. It was the early years of TV, and the production was pretty basic by today’s standards. There were only two commercial sponsors, Noxema and Kleenex (soft, strong, pops up too!) The few commercial breaks were very short, not like the four or five minutes that is common today.
Remember the McGuire Sisters? They were on the show that night, singing their signature song, “Sugartime.” So were Kukla and Ollie, the puppets from the old Kukla, Fran and Ollie show of the early 50’s. Anyone remember them? It was funny and nostalgic, but the highlights were still to come.
Perry’s Christmas show always featured children of the production staff and his own two kids. He would introduce them by name and then sit down with them to tell them the nativity story, in a paraphrase of the gospels of Luke and Matthew, accompanied by appropriate pictures and sacred Christmas music. It was a beautiful segment that reminded me of a simpler time, a time when Christmas for most people was more than a secular holiday but had meaning that went far deeper. In those days it would not have seemed inappropriate for the story of the first Christmas to be told on national television on an otherwise secular show. It was refreshing, inspiring and heartwarming to see Perry Como sitting there surrounded by children, reverently and sensitively relating the story of the birth of Jesus.
And then came the real highlight – Perry spotlighted on a darkened stage, singing Schubert’s Ave Maria in Latin, as he did every year to close the show. It was spine-tingling, totally awe-inspiring, just as it was the first time. Google will be happy to provide the English words. Please find below a link to YouTube if you too would like to share in this Christmas special from a far more innocent time in our lives.
Sing! Etobicoke
To register, please visit: https://www.neilsonparkcreativecentre.com/event/sing-etobicoke/
For information, please email: alex@neilsonparkcreativecentre.com or call 416-622-5294.
Mary’s Devotion
And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”—Luke 1:38 (ESV)
Reflect on the incredible devotion of Mary. As a young woman, she willingly accepted God’s call to become the mother of Jesus, despite the challenges and uncertainties that lay ahead. Do you follow His calling and trust in His plan, even when the path may seem difficult?
Heavenly Father, grant me the courage to follow Your will, no matter the challenges I face.