Christmas Eve

I seem to have gotten a little behind with my blogging again!

I've had a great Christmas in Rocklin with the Hobsons. One of the highlights was the Christmas Eve service at Bayside. The YouTube video here was the online "advert" for the service!



Well the service more than lived up to the expectations raised by the preview! The service was more like a professional show (and was free!) than a traditional church service. We went to the 12'th of the 13 services that were offered (starting a week before Christmas). As it was Christmas Eve, we expected a crowd so we got there early. They had set up a huge tent in the courtyard in front of the church to provide some shelter for people waiting for the services to begin. They had gas heaters in the tent to (try to) keep the cold at bay, and a group of three women singing Christmas songs to provide some entertainment. Our timing was impeccable, because we arrived early enough to be close to the front of the queue, and the doors opened about five minutes after we arrived, so the wait-time in the tent was minimal. We ended up with better seats than we usually get on a normal Sunday morning!

The service itself started off with some communal singing of Christmas carols, and then got into the less traditional part. The usual (very accomplished) worship band had a small string section join them for the musical items. They performed the music that accompanies the YouTube video (Carol of the Bells — a beautiful piece of Christmas music that I had not encountered before this year). There was also a female soloist who did a lovely version of Oh Holy Night, which is probably my favourite Christmas carol. The pastor gave a very good, topical message, which was itself interspersed with some video clips (some funny, some very thought-provoking).