What Are You Doing for Christmas?

    Here it is….Christmas season! Are you ready? Decorations up? Gift list completed? Shopping started? Plans for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day settled? Let’s talk about that.
    While most everyone talks about Christ being left out of Christmas, I find that Christians are as guilty of that as anyone. While we say Christmas is about Jesus’ birth, we get our kids more excited about the myth of Santa than we do about the truth of Jesus (and in doing so causing a lot of later doubts–see my blog dated November 29, 2009). We cook a big meal, have extended family in, and then claim to not have enough time to honor Jesus’s birth and worship with our Christian family on Christmas Eve. We overextend ourselves with plastic credit, buying things that no one really needs for people who don’t really have needs, but give virtually nothing tangible to Him for His work at that time of the year. Yet, we still claim our celebration is all about Jesus. Is it really? Does He think it is?
    So if we are going to keep Christ in Christmas, what is that going to look like?
    First, find a way a to be Jesus to those who need Him. Look for creative ideas to be a blessing to some who are struggling. It might mean calling a couple of nursing homes to find a few people who rarely if ever have visitors. It might be volunteering for the Salvation Army or at the children’s hospital. We have a hats, mittens & scarves give-away for the homeless planned on the 17th. Join us! Maybe there are some at your workplace, neighborhood, or our church who have no family in the area and could be blessed by an invitation to join you and your family on Christmas Eve (for church as well as whatever else you have planned).
    And I do hope you are making plans to worship on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. It’s hard for us to say that we are celebrating Christ’s birth when we are spending all this energy, time and resources on a celebration and can’t find the time (or perhaps unwilling to make it a priority) to gather with His family to worship and remember the meaning of his birth. We have two fantastic Christmas Eve services planned here at The Bridge (4 p.m. & 6 p.m.).
    Here are a couple of other practical suggestions:

• Sit down as a family and write out your Christmas season priorities
• Decorate early and together….make it fun!
• Talk about the meaning and value of gift-giving (establish some guidelines)
• Research and tell the real story of Saint Nicholas (much better than the make-believe)
• Find a Christmas program at an area church and attend it
• Schedule time in the evenings leading up to and on Christmas Day to read portions of the prophecies of the Messiah and the story of His birth.

    More than anything keep the season as uncluttered as possible and talk about the meaning of Jesus’ birth wherever possible.
    It is a wonderful time of the year! Enjoy it!