Night in Bethlehem is Coming!
It’s a time when all hands are on deck to create an unforgettable experience where people flock from both inside and outside our church to experience what life was like in Bethlehem and ultimately worship Jesus, God’s gift to the world.
It’s a time when we experience the real WCC, a body of believers: “So in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” Romans 12:5. From carpenters to musicians, to administrators, crafters and creators, cooks, actors, to just everyday people of all ages serving the Lord with the goal of letting Him speak through them to draw others closer to Himself and being transformed to be more like Him as a result.
When my older tweens and I first visited Night in Bethlehem, we thought we would just walk through for a moment ... .it would be an event for younger children. But as we walked from shop to shop, we could not help but immerse ourselves in the event and returned to the shops we had just passed by. I thought, “This is high quality like I’ve never seen!” Angie Biniker says, “The impact of this night is powerful. My boys wanted to see baby Jesus over and over on the same night. They didn’t care if they had no coins left over for all the shops, JESUS was why they were there. There is a feeling and meaning in that manger that kids just GET… and they still talk about it to this day.” Becky Medley, who began the event 14 years ago along with Lisa Davis and the amazing crafts of Anna shares that, “The manger is ALWAYS full at the end of each night with coins, bread, candy, and crafts from the shops as kids spontaneously offer what they have to Jesus.” She recalls, a mom waiting in the cafe for a tween that had to go back and see Baby Jesus one more time and a special needs adult crying at the manger because she couldn’t believe that Baby Jesus would grow up to die on the cross for her sins.
In subsequent years, we returned to serve others as shopkeepers. It has been amazing to watch my children take the little ones under their wing and meet others from our church. I always see someone I wasn’t expecting to see such as a neighbor or coworker. As Becky says, “This event is WCC’s gift to the community and is much bigger than any of us…you can just feel the Spirit of God in that room.”
Jim Russ, who has grown his hair out specifically for this event, is passionate about proclaiming the Shema to parents.
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Adonai Elohim. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
May we all come alongside and support our families in this mission. To love and serve as Jesus did, click here to serve in Night in Bethlehem. Night in Bethlehem will be from November 29 - December 1. November 29 will be our Adaptive Night and November 30-December 1 will be open to the general public.