5 WAYS TO MAKE CHRISTMAS SPECIAL (Part 2)

In the last blog I shared 3 ways to make Christmas special this year – enjoy family advent devotions, sing traditional Christmas carols and read the biblical narratives. Here are 2 further ways……

4. GIVE A GIFT WITH A DIFFERENCE

There are many gifts we give to people who give back to us.  But how about a gift which will make real difference to someone in real need?  That gift may be financial and you may deliberately and intentionally support a person or a project with a real blessed gift e.g. this year in Newtownbreda our Christmas giving will go to the “Water for Life” project run by Fields of Life.  My gift can be added to hundreds of other gifts to make a real difference to communities in Uganda. A simple thing but surely one which reflects the God who gave at Christmas. The problem is that often we just can’t be bothered or are too lazy or just leave it to others.  Or we never really think about it or get round to it or we feel we can’t afford it or we are just tired out. But we need to conquer our lethargy.  A gift with a difference doesn’t have to be money – it could be time with someone or just your presence in a home or at an event.  The Lord Jesus himself said “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (see Acts 20 v35) More blessed. That is an irreversible principle. So we make it more special when we give – but we need to be conscious and deliberate about that.

5. GIVE OUT AN EVANGELISTIC LEAFLET

That may sound so old fashioned but we are called to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel”.(Mark 16 v15) There is power in literature (How do I know? How much junk mail falls through your letterbox this time of year? Think those companies would spend all that money if leaflets had no effect? Of course literature works!)  A carefully chosen, well presented leaflet which tells the gospel story and reveals the truth about the Son who came to this world to save us can be mightily powerful in the hands of the Spirit.  It’s a unique time of the year – a time when many are at least exposed in some way to spiritual things.  So we need to be ‘intentional’ (there’s that word again) about getting out the message of the gospel.  And if you don’t do it then who will?  Honestly?  Who? What have you got to lose?  Some people say, “I don’t like handing out literature.  I just live the life”.  Really?  Well that’s a good thing.  You should ‘live the life’ but when was the last time somebody came and asked you how they could be saved just because they thought you were such a great Christian?  When did that happen?  Thought so!  So why not let the power of the written word do its work.  Don’t be ashamed of the gospel.  Christ is not ashamed of you.

So 5 simple things to DO so that the season does not pass you by or is handed over completely to the secularist agenda of our age.  Over to you.  Over to me.  At the end of life I’m sure that, like me, you want to hear “Well DONE good and faithful servant”.  Not just well discussed or well thought about.  Well DONE so………go and do it.  

5 WAYS TO MAKE CHRISTMAS SPECIAL (PART 1)

Right about now most Christians start complaining a lot about how secular the season has become; how the world has hijacked Christmas and turned it into a long hedonistic festival, devoid of any spiritual significance.  Many believers long to turn back the clock to days when whole communities would turn out at their local church and everyone knew the words to “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” and “O Come, All ye Faithful”.  But of course such days are long gone and it seems that the Christian voice is constantly drowned out by the secular anthems of 21st century society.

So what can we do?  Well I believe we should start with ourselves personally and with our families and do small but significant things that allow us to be intentional about keeping Christ in Christmas.  No point bemoaning how secular it has all become if we just mindlessly follow suit and just tack on an odd bit of religion along the way.  So here are 5 things you can do to make Christmas special again. 

1. Enjoy Advent Family Devotions.

Be intentional about getting the family to focus on the Christmas narratives around the dinner table if possible.  But don’t just read them, probe them, look at them, apply them together at the different levels of understanding in your family unit. Even the youngest children need to be led into a sense of reverence and awe at this great God whose son entered this sinful world.  Teenagers need to know of the God who can help them in their difficulties as “Immanuel” God with Us! Older folks need to be reminded of the faithful, unchanging God.  There are many good books to help you with this.  This year in our family we are using “Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room “by Nancy Guthrie but there are many equally as good. Find out what works.  Take time.

2. Sing Traditional Christmas Carols

Some secular Christmas songs are great and play a very big part of our festivities.  They remind us of the sentiments of happy Christmases from our childhood and hopes and wishes for a better future.  Michael Buble probably is worth an airing every year and how could it be Christmas without Slade’s “I wish it could be Christmas every day”?.  But if we are ever going to turn back the secular trend in society then we have got to uphold and promote the theology of the Incarnation and that means turning back to classic carols.  When you sing…………….

                                                        “Veiled in flesh the godhead see
                                                                Hail the Incarnate Deity”

you are reminding yourself of something incredibly profound – the wonderful truth of the God who took on flesh, the Infinite who became an Infant.   Similarly when you sing

                                                          “Pleased as man with man to dwell

                                                                       Jesus our Immanuel”

you are brought to the lofty heights of gospel truth. He dwelt among us - literally he pitched his tent.  It doesn’t matter if you cant sing, sing them anyway or play them often in your home or car.  Revisit the words, the theological immensities which are taught.

 

3. Read the Biblical Narratives

I'm amazed at how Christians think that the Incarnation is confined to the familiar stories of Matthew 1 and Luke 2.  Read them certainly and look for details you may have missed but don’t forget Genesis 3, John 1, Isaiah 9, Micah 5 and Titus 2 : 11-14.  Read them carefully and prayerfully as if for the first time.  Ask the Holy Spirit to illumine them for you to show you wonderful things in the Book.  Read into the culture and the background – get to know what gold was used for, and frankincense and find out what on earth myrrh is. Understand what it meant for the Romans to be in occupation and what it meant for Herod to feel threatened by the new king who had arrived.  Seek out why Bethlehem was important in Jewish history etc etc.  Remember this is truth and God has something to teach us in all of this.  Don’t let Christmas go by default. Be intentional.

Look out for the next blog when I shall share 2 more ways to keep Christmas special.