5 Ways to Redeem Christmas
I imagine that if we were to ask 100 random people in our city what Christmas means or why they celebrate or how they celebrate, we would receive 100 different responses: Family, Shopping, Presents, Decorations, Reindeer, Vacation, Desserts, Parties, Skiing, Santa, Griswold...and the list goes on.
So how can your family redeem Christams? How can your family make this season about the things of God: Incarnation, Advent, Hope, Joy, Worship, Love?
Here are 5 ways your family can redeem Christmas and turn the hearts of your home toward the Lord:
(1) Celebrate Advent: Christmas is to be a celebration of the birth of Christ, the coming of the Savior. As we sing, "A weary world rejoices," let's lead our families to rejoice over the coming (Advent) of the Son of God to a weary, sinful, needy, dark world. Light has come--not the little lights on the tree or the lights lining your roof--but the light of the world. Desiring God Ministries offers a wonderful, free Advent devotion that you can use during your personal time of devotions each morning or during your Family Devotions this Advent seasons: http://www.desiringgod.org/books/good-news-of-great-joy
(2) Bring Carols & Cookies to your Neighbors: Going door-to-door, singing Christmas carols to your neighbors has become, more and more, a lost tradition. It's a little strange to stand in front of neighbors you don't know that well and just sing while they stand there awkwardly, wondering how many more songs they have to listen to before they can close the door. However, if you bring cookies, it's a little bit less awkward and your neighbors are a little bit more likely to enjoy the singing. Many blessings can come from this, including opportunities to meet your neighbors, serve your neighbors, bless your neighbors, sing Christmas songs with Gospel truth that is now being proclaimed to your neighbors, and teach your family about serving and loving others, even when it's outside our comfort zone.
(3) Serve another Family: Find a family in need and then lead your family to meet those needs this Christmas. It's a simple way to fulfill the family call in Deuteronomy 6 of loving God with all of our heart and then leading our families to do the same. Loving God will always overflow into love for others, and serving another family, bringing Christmas gifts and groceries to someone who can't afford these things, is a wonderful way to love one another. Some churches and ministries offer opportunities to do this through Christmas tree tags that list needs of families in your city so that you can go shopping for them. One of our bloggers recently wrote on this idea of adopting a family: http://www.gospelfamily.org/#!Loss-the-Holidays/c16ee/F76C100F-73E2-4D02-9DCB-B358B16FED17
(4) Worship Together: As you seek ways to cultivate Family Worship, take advantage of the Christmas season and lead your family to praise Christ for his birth. Read the Luke 2 Christmas story together during dinner. Take turns praying prayers of thanksgiving. Attend a Christmas Eve worship service at your home church. Sing Christmas hymns together so that "Silent Night" becomes more familiar than "Jingle Bells." Dress your kids up like the characters of Luke 2 (Joseph, Mary, Angels, Shepherds) and act out the nativity scene.
(5) Polar Express Prayer Walking: My family has a night each year that we call "Polar Express Night." We just put the kids in the car in their pajamas, grab some hot chocolate, and drive around different neighborhoods looking at Christmas lights. My kids love it. We see house after house beautifully decorated for Christmas. But, we also see house after house filled with families in need: in need of Christ, in need of the true light, in need of hope, in need of restoration, in need of prayer. What if we all coupled our Christmas light drives with prayer? What if we prayer walked or prayer drove through the neighborhoods of our city this Christmas praying heartfelt prayers for the families of these decorated homes? I believe the Lord can answer these prayers and invade these homes so that, even after they take down their decorations, they will have light all year round.
Jonathan Williams is the founder of Gospel Family Ministries and the Senior Pastor of Wilcrest Baptist Church, a multi-ethnic church of 44 nations located in Houston, TX. He and his wife are blessed with three wonderful children.
