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Messiah Here with Us · Centrally Speaking

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Centrally speaking, it's the Central Schroinfeller Church's podcast.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: It speaks about issues that would be of interest to our society.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: In particular, it addresses how a Christian worldview intersects with Western secular culture.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: In the spirit of the church's founder, we take the perspective of the Middle Way, which is in agreement with the historic Christian Church.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_02: I'm Dr.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_02: Drake Williams, Minister of Mission and Theology of the Church.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_02: Our website is www.csdfamily.org.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: The contemporary worship service, Messai, here with us, will be presented on Friday, December 30th at 7 p.m.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: at Central Schwingfelder Church, located at 2111 South Valley Forge Road in Lansdale.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_02: It's my pleasure to be joined today by Wayne Wirtz.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_02: Wayne is our worship team coordinator at the Central Schwenkfelder Church and has been that coordinator for 12 years now.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_02: He's a graduate from Westchester University with minors in music as well as in biology.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_02: He's also a lifetime Schwankfelder at the Norristown Church and now also at Central Schweckfelder Church.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_02: He's married to April, happily married, and to have had four children together.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_02: And we're talking about today introducing Messiah, gear with us, the upcoming contemporary Christmas program here at Central.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to the show, Lane.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_02: Well, thank you, Drake.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_02: Appreciate it.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_02: I appreciate the opportunity to be with you.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_02: Glad to be able to ask you a few questions about the upcoming show.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_02: Which uh which day is it on this year?
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_03: So this year we decided to move it to the Friday after Christmas at 7 p.m.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_03: We will have our annual program and really looking forward to bringing it to the not just the congregation, but to the community at large.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_02: How many years has this contemporary Christmas program been here at Central?
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_03: In 2010 is when, uh matter of fact, the date is right here.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_03: December 19th of 2010 was our first official program.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_03: It started prior to that as a Sunday school program that Tim Heebner and I kind of brainstormed together, and we thought of the ability to pull in different Christmas songs, Christmas carols with the scripture in between.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_03: And over the years it's grown.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_03: Of course, we've missed a few years, the COVID years.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_03: This year's program will be the first in three years.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_03: The last two years, we did not have it.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_03: Everybody's really looking forward to vocalists coming back together.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_03: Well, why did you start it some 13 years ago?
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I think for Tim and I, and me being a drummer, me being a piano player, keyboard player, and loving music.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_03: I love all styles of music and respect all styles of music.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_03: And with this, it was just trying to find a way to bring forth a message, maybe with a slightly different beat, a slightly different feel, but also really trying to connect with the youth and young adults of the church, love the hymns and love the carols and whatnot, and we do include them.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_03: But at the same time, there are other songs that are written.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_03: Some have been written within the past few years, and some, of course, are 100 years old, and maybe it's a new flair to those songs, but really looking at it from a musical standpoint to try to find something that is maybe catchy but scriptural and biblical and brings the message of the birth of Christ.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, each year we look at this program and we look at songs.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_03: Matter of fact, I think there's only one song that has survived every single year, and that is Angels We Have Heard on High.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_03: The team does it well and we have fun with it.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_03: But again, you know, we always say nothing in this program has to stay.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_03: So each year we kind of look and say, you know, do we need to freshen this, freshen that, change this, change that, based on the scripture uh that we're reading through and we look for those opportunities.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_03: But at the same time, it's an opportunity for the worship team.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_03: You know, each Sunday we have the worship team instrumentalists and vocalists come in, they follow rotation.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_03: It is worship where we're truly focusing everything, point doing everything to point to God.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_03: And with this program, it's an opportunity to maybe do more what we call horizontal worship.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_03: Vertical worship is singing to uh the Lord, whereas horizontal worship can have we've done some fun songs, which kind of maybe poke fun at family gatherings, but still points to Christ in the song.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_03: So it's I always say it's kind of an opportunity for the worship team to let down our hair a little bit and just have a fun, enjoyable night.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_03: And it means I know it means so much to so many of the musicians, instrumentalists and vocalists, with to have this program.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_03: It really helps them kind of step into the season.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_03: And you have a meal associated with the program.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_03: It didn't start that way, it started as a program, and then probably Jane Krupp, who came to me and said, Hey, what do you think about a potluck dinner beforehand?
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_03: I love the idea.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know if I can coordinate it.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_03: She said, You don't need to coordinate it?
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_03: I'll coordinate it.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_03: They did, they stepped forward and coordinated.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_03: And for several years, leading up, maybe the year before COVID was the first year we didn't do a potluck dinner, but that was obviously a draw.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_03: We knew that when there was food involved, people would come and it was a great time of fellowship, followed by, you know, we all meander to our seats, the team would head up to stage and we would then begin the program.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_03: So it was kind of dinner and a show.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_03: It grew.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_03: And at one point, there was there's a lot of things going on in everybody's schedule as as Christmas approaches.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_03: And we used to do it prior to Christmas.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_03: May in the future move it back to a date prior to Christmas, but it's just a busy time.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_03: And the potluck was becoming a bit of a challenge.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_03: And somebody said, Well, what do you think about a dessert social?
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, I really like that idea.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_03: That way people don't have to rush home on a Friday evening to figure out a potluck to bring or whatnot.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_03: They can just come to the program at seven and whether they pick up a dessert or they make a dessert, uh, they just bring a dessert.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_03: And we usually have coffee, tea, and dessert afterwards, and people can fellowship after the program.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_03: So that's what we've gone with, and that's what we're going with this year.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_03: So we tell everybody to bring a dessert, we call it a bring a dessert social afterwards.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_03: So encouraging people to bring something to share.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_03: And it's a great time of fellowship, you know.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_03: And at that point, there's no stress from the worship team, the program's over, and everybody can just relax and laugh and have a good time.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_03: Currently, that's the what we're looking at, always subject to change.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_03: I'm always willing to sure to adjust as need.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_02: Well, so some of the contents of this program, Messiah, here with us.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_02: What are some of the pieces that you're singing?
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_03: So, as far as songs, as I mentioned, angels we have heard on high has been something that we have done every year at the exact same point of the worship.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_03: It's the angels announcing the birth of Jesus.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_03: We usually do an opener and an opener before we even read Isaiah, Prophecy of Jesus' birth.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_03: We usually start out with something that's just very energetic, something the team loves.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_03: In the past, we've done What a Glorious Night.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_03: This year we're actually doing Little Drummer Boy, but it's by for King and Country.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_03: So it's a relatively new version.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_03: I think both of those guys in that group are drummers.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_03: They must be because they they're wailing on the drums.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_03: And me being a drummer, of course, I lean towards that.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_03: And uh, in all seriousness, Nathaniel Colvin was the one.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_03: I heard he just loves that song.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_03: And I thought, you know what?
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_03: Let's do that song.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_03: And actually, we we have a special treat with Nathaniel this year with regards to that song uh at the program.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm encouraging everybody to come to the program at least to see Nathaniel.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_03: So we'll we will do it's what really it's almost a rocked-out version of Little Drummer Boy, and that's pre-program, kind of an opener to set the stage.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_03: Then we read the Isaiah 9:6.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_03: Basically, it's a song, scripture, song, scripture, song, scripture throughout the whole program.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_03: The majority of the scripture is the birth of Jesus, according to Luke.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_03: What we do is we break up the readings and we try to our best to find a song that fits the narrative of what that is speaking of.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_03: It's not always the easiest thing.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_03: There's an original song that I wrote that we're uh we've been using now for a couple of years now called Long Awaited One.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_03: We have Make Room, which is Casting Crowns and Matt Marr.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_03: I've done that.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_03: Here with Us, which is actually an old song, and that's what we're we're terming.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_03: It's Messiah Here With Us, but that's uh by Joey Williams, and that's been out for almost 20 years.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_03: We are doing Noel, which is Lauren Daigle sings it on Chris Tomlin's Christmas album.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_03: That's one that's been in our rotation for for a little while, but it's a very incredible version of that song.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_03: We're also doing Unto Us, which is Matthew West off of his Christmas album from three or four years ago.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_03: King of Kings, which is Brandon Heath.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_03: And uh that's not too old either.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_03: Light of the World is by We the Kingdom.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_03: That group, you know, it's amazing for me.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_03: We're doing two songs by We the Kingdom, Light of the World, and Silent Night, which they include a version that they put in called Heavenly Peace.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_03: And both incredible musicians, incredible families, majority family that's in that group.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_03: The worship team has really appreciated their music, and we've been including more and more of their music.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_03: So those two songs are in there.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_03: We do still do Chris Tomlin, Born That We May Have Life.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_03: That's number two in the list of longevity.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_03: It's an energetic song by Chris Tomlin.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_03: That the team, it's almost like if I just said pull it out and let's play it, they just pull it out and play it.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_03: They don't even look at the music, they know it, they enjoy the song.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_03: Like I said, a majority of it is the birth of Jesus, according to Luke.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_03: Of course, if you're going to include the magi, which we do include the magi, we're heading over to Matthew for a brief stint there.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_03: So in a way, the scripture never changes, that's always in there.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_03: But the songs, like as I mentioned, we try to rotate based on the scripture context.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_02: Many of your songs being traditional, but a number of them also being contemporary.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm wondering if our listeners would be interested in hearing why uh contemporary Christmas music is so valuable at this time of year.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_03: You know, it's funny because you you think about the word contemporary too, and think, you know, that recently written and whatnot.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_03: Well, you could argue that there's songs on the radio, you go off of Christian radio stations and whatnot, and you hear Christmas songs that are contemporary.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_03: For me, I enjoy music.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_03: And I will self-admit that even as a child, when I listened to any music, I really never listened to lyrics.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_03: I listened to the music and the beats and the feel and whatnot.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_03: And I half the time didn't even know sometimes what people were saying.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_03: But you know, when it comes to contemporary Christian Christmas music, you know, when you're bringing forth the scripture and biblical context within songs, I love the fact that I always feel that music has an ability to write the melody on your heart.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_03: There are scripture verses that I've memorized, not because I sat in front of a Bible and read it and said, okay, I'm not walking away from this Bible until I memorize it.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_03: However, if you're going to sing it to me and that's a catchy melody or there's something about that, it's locked in the vault.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_03: And that's how I work.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_03: That's not how everybody works, but that's how a lot of people that I've met, that's how it works for them.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_03: It can really speed that process.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I I, as I mentioned, I love the traditional hymns and I never want to see any of the carols or whatnot go away.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_03: And I think it's something that that we do, we do offer in our advent season.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_03: We sing them.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_03: We sung O'Come O'Come Emmanuel in in church.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_03: We will sing Came Upon a Midnight Clear.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_03: So we will pull them out.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_03: But these songs I I like from the standpoint in that they're coming from different angles.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_03: Many Christmas songs, Christian Christmas songs, are pointing almost to the birth.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_03: Everything's kind of funneled.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_03: And that's one of the challenges we're faced with the schedule each year and what songs to pick, because a song can cover the broad spectrum of the birth or just specific sections, which is one of the reasons I wrote Long Awaited One, because I remember sitting back on, all right, I need an advent song.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, come on, come Emanuel.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_03: All right, we're gonna do that for four weeks straight.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_03: And I thought, hmm, I love the song and I love playing it, love singing it.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_03: So I I sat back and I and I wrote the song Long Awaited One, which again, I I'm thrilled this year that the the worship team, even at this point now, knows that song, enjoys that song.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, it it really speaks to the advent that the shepherds who were in the fields looking for the the birth of the savior, and and then verse two suddenly shifts into we are in our advent right now, we're waiting for Jesus' return.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_03: So there's a comparison of one advent one and advent two, and really pushing that message to to think that this isn't something that was then, this is something we know now.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_03: You know, what are we doing about it?
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_03: Because someday he will part the clouds and he will come again.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_03: And and what a what a glorious day that will be.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm thrilled, I'm humbled and thrilled that the that the team said, you know what, we like that song.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_03: Let's let's continue to do that.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, well, somebody else want to sing it because I'm good.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_02: A couple of weeks ago from the pulpit, I read some of the top 10 uh contemporary uh music songs at this time of year.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_02: Mariah Carey, All I Want for Christmas is you, Just Number One, right?
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_02: Mistletoe, Ariana Grande said to tell me Brendel's uh rocking around the Christmas tree.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_02: And there are others too, but those are contemporary songs.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_02: Don't wish to be guess too critical, but uh there doesn't seem to be too much Christian related in these.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_03: If anything, there's an energy that comes from it, and you know, I I I will admit, my does my toe tap when rocking around the Christmas tree comes on?
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_03: Sure, that's the musical side of me and just picking up a feel or or a beat.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_03: And it's not to say that they can't be enjoyable, but you know, the reason for the season is is Jesus' birth.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_03: We should in enjoy our times with family and friends and strangers, even Christmas time and share that love, but at the same time, really pointing to the reason, you know, that we have Christmas to begin with.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_03: This is really where it began, and humbly coming to him and really just doing as much as we can to focus our energies that direction.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_03: Like I said, it's for me at least, it's not to say if if I hear those songs that I don't kind of go, hmm, you know, it's musically.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_03: I I I appreciate that song and and uh you know, and I can appreciate parts of the lyrics.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_03: Even some contemporary Christian musicians will do songs that, like I said, kind of veer that direction, but ultimately they sh they funnel back in by the end of the song to the reason for the season, because you know, times with family and and whatnot can be fun, can be challenging, can be all sorts of different things.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_03: But if we have Christ in our heart and we're looking to love him and serve others, then it neutralizes going back to the contemporary aspect.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_02: It's good that people are writing contemporary songs when there are other contemporary songs that are coming out that uh don't have the Christian content to it.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_02: So rocking around the Christmas tree could be fun, right?
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_02: And there's nothing wrong with having fun around a Christmas tree.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_02: If the songs seem to be too antiquated or from another era, I guess that's a problem if we're talking about a message that's still just as relevant today.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly, still resounds thousands of years later.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_02: Thousands of years later.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, is there any specific piece you'd like to highlight from uh this this program this year?
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_03: I love them all.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_03: I already mentioned long-awaited one.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_03: When you can write something down and uh have a vision for it, and then you hand it off to other musicians and you you work on it for a little while and whatnot, and they begin to, you know, that that vision comes alive.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_03: It's humbling.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_03: It's not to say every song I've ever written has been a resounding yes.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_03: Matter of fact, I think when I wrote that one, April and I, I was at the piano at the house and I was right uh singing and playing.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_03: And from the kitchen, I think I heard her go, no, no, no, no, that's not the melody, it's this.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, Nah, I don't like that.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_03: I like this melody.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_03: She goes, No, no, no, I think you should do it.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_03: We were we were back and forth bantering.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_03: So I said, Well, come here and sing it next to me.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_03: And she did.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_03: And it turns out what she was singing was a harmony to what I was doing, and it and it and it worked very well.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_03: And I said, you know what?
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_03: How about we do this?
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_03: I'll take verse one, you take verse two, and then we'll come in together on that harmony.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_03: It's always neat when you can pull something together and having uh a family of musicians with opinions can volley in and contribute.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_03: It's fun to do that.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_03: And this year, I think April, actually, Tara, uh, Schivetti and April will be singing that song.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_03: I think they are sharing it.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_03: I'm back on drums and this year.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_03: I'm usually on keyboards, but we had an opening in the drums, and I just said, you know what?
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_03: On the drums, it singing is different.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_03: My body's doing sometimes way too many things to be able to sing a rhythm while body parts are doing other rhythms, especially with this song.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_03: So I handed that off.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_03: I will tell you the song Make Room by Casting Crowns and Matt Marr is a song that when I introduced it, it was a jaw dropper for many of the team.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_03: It's not energetic, it's very humbling and just a soft song.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_03: And even the congregation went, Where did you get that song?
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, Oh, it's on Casting Crown's latest critical.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, people started downloading it.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_03: And it speaks to, you know, Mary and Joseph coming into Bethlehem and there was no room.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_03: And then it goes, Do you have room in your heart for God to write his story?
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_03: So the title of the song is called Make Room, and it's and it's a very simple song.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_03: This year we will have cello and violin as part of the program.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_03: And uh, we've written out parts for them.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_03: It adds a whole layer of you know, contemporary music sometimes can get the moniker of well, it's just drums and guitars and whatnot.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_03: And uh, I've never ever wanted to be pigeonholed with that.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_03: So we've had flutes, we've had violins, we've had cello.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_03: So having that versatility and that song features it.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_03: It's a very simple song, yet very powerful in its lyrics.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_03: It's a memorable song when people hear it.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_03: I still have people ask me, What's the name of that song?
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_03: you know, and they usually describe it.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, Oh, that's make room.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_03: So I would say, you know, out of all of them, I as I said, I I love them all in so many ways and different ways.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_03: But I see We the Kingdom, you know, they've been out now for a couple of years, the Cash family.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_03: It was blessed to see them at creation this past year, uh, just blown away in in so many different ways by them, musically, um, scripturally, and and what they're writing and how they're writing and putting things together.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_03: So those two songs.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_02: Well, we look forward to the program very much.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_02: How how long is the program?
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_03: It's an hour long.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_03: We work hard at really trying to keep at that.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_03: So it begins at seven.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_03: Our goal is to end, conclude with silent night, you know, as we finish that, the lights come on and we head to the dessert social as as brothers and sisters in Christ, you know, as the worship team comes down and and we get to say hello to whether it's family or friends.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_03: This year we did something different.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_03: We made tickets this year.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_03: What I did this past Sunday is I brought these tickets into church, and I went up to a lot of people after the service and I said, Hey, I'd like to give you some tickets, but I don't want you to use them.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_03: You're welcome already to come.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_03: I want you to give these to a friend, a neighbor, someone.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_03: Invite them along to our Christmas program.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_03: And uh everybody was willing to take at least two.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, some people took eight.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_03: It's a card, but it looks like a ticket.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_03: So you know, we're we're hoping that uh the key information is on there that as that goes out.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_03: Uh when you do programs like this, I've realized in doing this for 12 years now that family is almost automatic.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_03: They'll always come, they want to see their child, uh, you know, or their grandchild or whatnot as part of it.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_03: And and that's great.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_03: I love catching up with the families and friends of the musicians and whatnot.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_03: But when it begins to extend further than that, you you never know how the spirit will work and whether or not, you know, this brings people not just into a church building, but also how the spirit may work in their heart and whether they come to central or they they end up in a church somewhere that's really always the ultimate goal.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_03: We've had over a hundred people at this program in in years past.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, this is the first one since COVID.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_03: And uh we continue to to to just pray that it would be a ministry that would reach people, maybe start a spark in one person and see how the the spirit will work.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_01: For those that are listening in, do you need a ticket?
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_01: No, okay.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_01: No, no, anyone anyone is welcome.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, we will not turn you away.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_03: The ticket was more the idea, it's it's kind of uh, hey, this has key information on it, and give it to someone and you know, and explain to them.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, there's no admission program, we're not even taking an offering.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_03: It's just, you know what, this is the reason for the season.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_03: Let's come celebrate it together.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_03: And this year we're extending the Christmas holiday because we're doing it almost a a week, five days after Christmas, which, as I said to the worship team when we decided to do that, I said, you know, as a child, I always remember Christmas not just being one day.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_03: You know, there could have been a buildup to it, which the buildup seems sometimes to be longer and longer nowadays.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_03: But then it's it's almost like it got shorter and shorter on the other side.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, Epiphany Sunday, you know, there there's there's so many things that you know, the kids are off of school, and there's lots of things that that that I think funnel into that.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, moving it to the following week to me was I don't want to say a no-brainer, but it definitely eased uh some things pre-Christmas.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_03: But you know, I've also heard from the team that they they like having it.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, and thank you for answering questions for us today about uh the program, and uh we wish you uh success with that and also Merry Christmas to you.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Merry Christmas to you, Drew.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: The contemporary worship service, Messai here with us, will be presented on Friday, December 30th at 7 p.m.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: at Central Schroenfelder Church, located at 2111 South Valley Forge Road in Lansdale.