Christmas Eve Church Service

Yesterday, I went to church at night with my family, and it was soooo cool! Here are the things that happened during the service (they are in chronological order):

1.) It was really cold outside so when we stepped in, it felt so warm and comfortable!
2.) The service hadn't started yet so we got some time to have a drink apple cider that was available. There, they also had snacks like cookies (a bunch of different kinds: Christmasy decorative cookies, double chocolate chip cookies, M&M cookies, etc.), mini cupcakes (chocolate and yellow cake with chocolate/vanilla icing), brownies, and lots more! We drank the apple cider but didn't eat the sweets; we had just eaten a big Christmas Eve dinner!
3.) We went inside and headed towards the seats. There was a candle on every seat! Anyways, we sang a bunch of fun Christmas songs.
4.) After finishing a few songs, we listened to the elementary kids pastor tell us a story about a mouse named Mortimer who lived a really small and uncomfortable hole, but found a really nice home (gingerbread house) in the end. There's more about Christmasy stuff in the middle of the story but it's too long to tell right now. If you're interested, the story will be in another post.
5.) We sang a few more Christmas carols. (e.g., O Come All Ye Faithful, O Holy Night, Hark the Herald Angel Sing)
6.) We listened to our pastor talk. He talked a little about how during Christmas, we shouldn't get distracted about things like presents for example, but to focus and remember that Jesus, the messiah, was born on that day. God sent Him to the Earth to save everyone from their sins by dying on the cross. But Jesus died on the cross many years later after He was born, so don't get confused about Christmas and Easter! The pastor also talked a lot more about Christmas but if I tell you everything, then this post would be really long!
(Easter is three days after the day Jesus died on the cross. Three days after Jesus was buried, he rose from his tomb. The day he rose from his tomb is now Easter Day.)
7.) We lit the candles that were on our seats while singing more songs.
8.) We listened to announcements (things that had/will be happening). The church's goal was to raise $25,000 to dig and build a well in El Salvador so the people there could drink clean water. Probably almost everyone chipped in some money, because we ended up raising $98,000! Yay, now they could build three wells and only need $2,000 more to build a fourth! :D
9.) We prayed, then by the time the whole service was done, it was already 12:00! It was Christmas already!
10.) Outside, free books were available. One of the books (which I took) is called, The Case for Christmas by Lee Strobel. Here's part of something that is said in the back of the book:
"The Case for Christmas invites you to consider why Christmas matters in the first place. Somewhere beyond the traditions of the holiday lies the truth. It may be more compelling than you've realized. Weigh the facts...and decide for yourself."
The other book was the New Testament from the bible for new believers. I didn't take that one because I already have a bible at home which has the New Testament as well as the Old Testament.

So that was what happened yesterday during the Christmas Eve service at my church.