Holiday prayer breakfast draws crowd
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Dec. 9—HIGH POINT — The Rev. Chris Hodges brought figurines to the prayer breakfast lectern Friday morning to make a point about Christ's birth in a manger and how it symbolizes the role of Jesus in people's lives.
For centuries, images of the manger show Christ as an infant at the center, encircled by Mary and Joseph, the shepherds and wise men. But Hodges said too often people put others at the center of their lives.
Hodges moved the figurines around on the lectern, placing the shepherds in the center to reflect work and a job, the wise men to represent wealth and possessions, even the sheep to show devotion to pets or hobbies.
But the proper placement of the manger scene reminds Christians of what should be at the center of life — Jesus.
"You can't have Jesus in your life but not at the center of your life," said Hodges, senior pastor at the Church of the Highlands out of Birmingham, Alabama.
Hodges, who leads the second-largest church in America, was the guest speaker at the 51st annual Christmas Prayer Breakfast. High Point University's event drew more than 1,000 people to the Nido and Mariana Qubein Arena.
Hodges titled his address "Jesus at the Center." He told the audience that in his decades as a minister, he's met many people whose lives are disrupted or unrealized because Christ is at the margins, not at the focus, of their outlook. Hodges termed the role of Jesus in someone's life as a "priority relationship."
In addition to the audience in the ballroom of the arena, HPU President Nido Qubein said that thousands of people were watching the event on a livestream.
The arena was decorated for the Christmas season. In the lobby, a 20-foot-high replica tree had been created by carefully stacking poinsettia plants together, and a poinsettia adorned each table for breakfast.
A pianist and a horn section played festive music. At the beginning of the program, the members of the audience rose collectively and sang "Joy to the World."
pjohnson@hpenews.com — 336-888-3528 — @HPEpaul
