Over the next eight days, Christian leaders will be sharing favorite Christmas memories with readers. Today we hear from Arron Chambers, lead pastor of Journey Christian Church in Greeley, Colo. Check back every morning, through Christmas Day, for more recollections.
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By Arron Chambers
My parents, Roger and Linda Chambers, worked hard to make Christmas special for me and my three siblings each year.
It was always about Jesus, but it was also about family, giving, and making memories . . . like the memory I’m going to share with you right now.
One of my favorite traditions was going to see the “Glory and Pageantry of Christmas” at what used to be known as Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. This was a very popular—and free—living nativity in the amphitheater by the lake—which included a telling of the Christmas story, all of the animals you could imagine being at the birth of Jesus, fantastic outfits—all accompanied by music from the Disney singing group, Voices of Liberty.
My family would always arrive early because seating for the show would fill up early.
One Christmas, we’d arrived early and had great seats! It was about 30 minutes before showtime when—without any warning or prompting—my Dad stood up in front of probably 1,000 people and loudly asked, “Anyone want to sing Christmas carols?”
His question was met with a resounding, “Yes!”
My Dad, a preacher and NOT a choir director—proceeded to lead the crowd in a set of well-known Christmas carols.
I will never forget that night for many reasons, but let me share a few.
Even though I was mortified when Dad initially stood up and started leading carols, by the end of his set, I was so proud of Dad and the magical experience he’d given our family, and so many others, that night.
I saw my Dad’s love for Jesus in an even more powerful and poignant way. Dad was always the real deal. What people saw in the pulpit and classroom—and in the bench seating of that lakeside amphitheater that cool December night—was exactly what me and my siblings saw at home. It was so inspirational to see how Dad’s love for Jesus impacted the lives of so many people that evening.
I witnessed—because of uncontainable joy Dad had for Jesus and all things Christmas—a Christmas prophecy being fulfilled in that amphitheater. The angel who appeared to the shepherds—to announce the birth of Jesus—prophesied, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people” (Luke 2:10). That night I saw my dad spread the joy of Jesus to every person in that amphitheater . . . just like the angel foretold.
Oh, I forgot to tell you the best part!
Voices of Liberty took their place on the side stage to start the show, but the song Dad was leading wasn’t done yet, so that group of professional singers had to wait in their starting positions while Dad finished leading a choir of average people—and below-average singers—through the last verse of the song, “Joy to the World.”
You can’t skip the verse that proclaims, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come, let Earth receive her King. Let every heart prepare Him room, and Heaven and nature sing, and Heaven and nature sing, and Heaven . . . and Heaven and nature sing!” Am I right?
I pray your heart is prepared to make room for Jesus this Christmas and for the type of joy that might lead you to stand up and spontaneously lead a group of strangers in a set of Christmas carols tonight.
Merry Christmas!
Arron Chambers serves as lead pastor of Journey Christian Church of Greeley, Colo.
(Arron shared this link from the Orlando Memory website that provides information about Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village; the first part of the article focuses on “The Glory and Pageantry of Christmas.”)
Thanks for the memory!
Arron –
This is not a Christmas memory, but it certainly fits well with yours. When I was 13 years old, my brother and I joined a team of about 20 kids from an acapella Church of Christ in Missouri on a mission trip to Mexico.
After two weeks, on our return trip to Missouri, we stopped for a day at Six Flags over Texas. Well, at some point during the day, about a dozen of us were sitting in a theater, waiting for some sort of musical extravaganza to start – but it was running late. So, as we waited, we did what we’d been doing whenever we had a little down time during the trip – we started singing: “Amen! Amen! Amen, amen, amen! See the little baby …”
To our surprise, a few bars into the song, the band in the orchestra pit joined in! It was kind of funny to see my acapella friends suddenly looking at each other, wondering, “Is this OK? Should I be singing along with the instruments?” Thankfully, they all chose to keep right on singing!
Before we knew it, the whole theater full of people was singing along! It was an amazing experience!