Christmas Eve 2019 Project

THEME

The 2019 Christmas Eve theme was “Joyful Joyful.”

“And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.’” - Luke 2:10

TARGET

The Christmas Eve services host all ages and all different stages of faith including non-believers. So we wanted to make sure it would appeal to a broad demographic and feel fresh and creative. It needed to be versatile enough to work well in print, screen, and social media environments.

BACKGROUND TEXTURE

In the design process, I kept thinking of how the “news of great joy” would land on different people. Who would “repeat the sounding joy” most? So in the background I made a texture with the phrase “joyful joyful” in Braille. The concept being...A person who is blind wouldn’t be able to read it because they can’t feel it. So who can read it? Those who were blind but can now see. It’s a metaphor. We were all blind spiritually until Christ opened our eyes to the meaning of why He came. He came in our language but had to open our eyes. He changed everything. That’s good news of great joy.

THE ILLUSTRATION

I had been spending time studying Judah while reading the story of Joseph in Genesis ....wondering what it was like longing for the messiah in the Old Testament through each heart. 

Judah was born & named in a seemingly content moment for his mom Leah “this time I will praise the Lord.” But then she got insecure/competitive again...Judah kept up the family habit.... especially when his mom’s rival gave birth to Joseph (his dad’s favorite son). Then the irony hit me. Despite sibling rivalry, Joseph was mostly faithful. Most of the story centers on him. But oddly in the middle, the author records how dark Judah became. His worst moments recorded for all time. It wasn’t until late in life that Judah became repentant. What does this have to do with Christmas?

At the end, Jacob blessed Judah. Through his line (not Joseph), the Messiah would come. Judah had been jealous of Joseph for being the favorite, and yet God’s insane mercy chose Judah to be one through which the Messiah would come. Judah just didn’t know it. Christ Himself in Revelation is called the Lion of Judah.

HIDDEN IMAGES

References to Christ woven into the manger illustration. Jesus is the lion of the tribe of Judah, the good shepherd, savior, ancient of days, light to the gentiles, and Bread of Life. 

Joy has come.