Celebrating Christmas in the Home

   December in our homes and lives is like no other time of the year. Schedules go out the window. Gradually, every square on the calendar is scribbled full of reminders. Holiday preparations take precedence over normal routines. We even rearrange our living room to make room for the tree and decorations. Everywhere there is excitement and joyful anticipation. Christmas is coming!

   Christmas, perhaps like no other season in the year, is a time for Christian people to grow in faith, love, joy and hope. Christian parents can do much to make Christmas a celebration of Jesus Christ. After all, that’s what Christmas is all about.

The meaning of Christmas

   Christmas means many things to God’s people. First and most important, Christmas is a birthday celebration for Jesus Christ. That’s why Christ’s people go to church to hear and talk about the birth of Christ, to sing songs o f joy and praise, to honor Jesus Christ as Savior from sin (John 3:16). As Christian people worship, by the Holy Spirit’s power, they believe and grow in faith and readiness to serve. Attending worship services is an important aspect of celebrating Christmas.

   Christmas is also a family affair. Of course this is true for most people, even in non-Christian homes. In Christian homes, however, there is a difference. Christmas is a family affair because Christ really is a member of the family as he lives in the lives of parents and children. Speaking to his disciples, Jesus said, "Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother" (Matthew 12:48,49). Through faith in Christ, we become the sons and daughters of our heavenly Father. WE are members of God’s family.

   Christmas in the Christian family is a special time for families to acknowledge Christ as a family member. It is a time for speaking, singing and hearing about Jesus, for remembering his birth, for confessing sins and seeking forgiveness, for speaking to Christ in prayer and praise. Christmas is also a time for families to remember and reach out to other members of the Christian family who are alone, widowed, single or in need.

   Christmas is a time for gifts. Christ, the Babe of Bethlehem, is our heavenly Father’s gift to us and the whole world. "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him" (! John 4:9). Through faith this priceless Christmas gift becomes ours.

   Love prompted God’s gift to us. Love prompts Christian people to give gifts - first to Jesus who fist loved us and then to others. Always, the best gift is a gift of love. Gifts given and received in Christian love can be celebrations of Jesus Christ, the Christmas Christchild. Christmas is a good time to look beyond our own households and touch the lonely and needy with gifts of love.

Christmas ideas

   Family traditions at Christmas time are important in helping dads, moms and children remember the real meaning of Christmas.

• What are the traditions in your family? How do they add to the celebration of the Christchild, Savior of the world?
   
• What new traditions might you begin in your family?
  
  Advent wreaths are used in many churches and homes.

• How can the lighting of Advent wreath candles be and event in the home which helps family members remember Jesus?
   
• How can family and personal devotions help focus on the Christchild during the Advent season?

   Giving gifts is an important aspect of family Christmas Celebrations.

• What appropriate gifts can we bring to our Savior? (Remember the work of Jesus’ church: missions. Christian education, special ministries, etc.)
   
• Other than money gifts, what can families give to Jesus to show their love for him?
   
• How does the giving of gifts often detract from celebrating Christmas - the birth of Jesus?

   Ideas for families with children:

• Plan a birthday party For Jesus. Involve children in planning, preparing and participating.
   
• Send and give Christian Christmas greetings. Involve children in preparation of greetings. Include children’s "special people" and friends.
   
• Help children participate in programs and activities of church, school and community. Help them understand and interpret the meaning of Christmas.
   
• Remember always, the true spirit of Christmas is a gift of the Holy Spirit. As parents live that spirit, so children learn it and live it.

   Something to think about

1. Discuss why Christmas is not a time of joy for many. How many people do you know who have heard of the Baby in Bethlehem but not the Savior on Calvary? What can you and your family do to change that for them?
    
2. What can you do if you feel that your own Christmas is "missing something"?
    
3. What danger is there in emphasizing the Baby of Christmas over the Good Friday Man on the cross? How can you make Christmas a happy time for your children and yet brine home to them the fact that it is only the prologue to the story of human redemption? Read about God’s "Christmas tree" in 1 Peter 2:21-24 and Colossians 2:13,14.

Prayer

   Dear Lord Jesus, help us to prepare ourselves and our whole family for Christmas. We are getting ready for "Christmas," but by your grace may we also be ready for Christ. Help us in our family to see ourselves more fully as the sons and daughters of your Father, and therefore also your brothers and sisters. Let our celebration provide opportunities to grow in faith, love, joy and hope. And let it contain an unmistakable witness to the true meaning of the season. In your name we pray. Amen.

The Family of God series is copyright © 1985 Northwestern Publishing House. and is published under the auspices of PACE (Partners Advancing Christian Education), Wisconsin Lutheran High School Conference, Milwaukee, WI. Reprinted by permission.

Northwestern Publishing House
1250 N 113th Street
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA 53226-3284
Phone: 1-800-662-6022

“Christmas is a family affair because Christ really is a member of the family as he lives in the lives of parents
and children.”
 

All content on this entire site, including images and graphics, are © Copyright 2000-2008 by St. John’s Ev. Lutheran Church and its licensors. All rights reserved.
Total pages: 105