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How to focus Christmas on Christ

Posted on Dec 15, 2008

Whatever our age, it is easy to get lost in the commercialism of Christmas – decorations to put up; food to buy and prepare; presents to buy and wrap; end of year parties to attend. The list is endless and takes a great deal of our time - the spiritual elements of Christmas are sometimes a vague allusion in the atmosphere. As we think about building faith in children, Christmas is an important time to install good values into their lives from an early age. If we focus Christmas on Christ, each time they remember past Christmases, they will have great memories of what they learnt about Jesus, not just the presents they received. Even for adults, it’s never too late to focus Christmas on its most important character. Here are some tips to help keep Christ in your Christmas.

1. Think about your Traditions - The first year I had Christmas in my home, I decided that I would begin my own Tradition. Even though it was not usually part of my family’s schedule, I told my parents they were in my home this year and I was going to create my own Tradition. We began with reading the Christmas story, asked each family member to say what they were thankful for and to pray before any presents were opened. Mum and Dad happily engaged in this addition to the Christmas schedule.
What are your Traditions, where is Christ in your way of celebrating Christmas? Each family creates a pattern in which they celebrate special events; these are then handed down from generation to generation: but you can create new Traditions of your own that will be passed on. Take time to stop and ask this important question “What Traditions would I like to hand down to the next generation?”

2. Make Jesus a Birthday Cake - Anne created the Gift of Christmas website which has some excellent suggestions on how to keep Christ in Christmas. She says, “Each Christmas Eve my children and I make and bake a birthday cake for Baby Jesus. It isn't fancy, we use a cake mix and frosting, write ‘Happy Birthday Jesus’ on it, but there’s always only one candle. We sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and the youngest member of the family gets to blow out the candle. It helps us remember why we celebrate Christmas.

3. Family Goals and a Gift to Jesus - Here is another idea from the Gift of Christmas website: ― Each Christmas Eve we sit down as a family and write out (younger children draw) what we will do as a gift to Jesus during the coming year. It could be "I will read my scriptures every day", or "I will try not to fight with my brothers." Each person writes down something they need to work on to improve themselves, and thus act better for Jesus. We put the papers with the goals in an envelope and place it under the Christmas tree ― it’s always the first 'present' opened on Christmas Morning.

4. Engage with the Christmas story – It’s great to see the story of the birth of Jesus at the Christmas programme,  but it would really bring greater understanding of Christ to engage with the story.  Is the story part of  a Tradition in your home? Is there 20 minutes that you can spare during your holiday season to focus on the real story?  We have included on our website some finger puppets for you to download of the Christmas story, they come from the book “Christmas  Wrapped up” by Scripture Union.  This book is filled with activities, games, skits for churches and families to use to celebrate Christmas and focus on Christ – why not have your family re-enact the story? There are some great Christmas DVD’s, one option would be to take the time to watch the DVD together.  But even further not just to act it out or watch it, but to talk about it, dwell on it and have it present in your home this Christmas.  Find ways that connect you with the story of what God has done for us.

5. Focus on ‘Giving’ not just ‘Getting’ – Even we adults are all excited about what we receive, but Christmas should really be a time to give. We were given so much when Jesus came to the earth, the wisdom and direction but even more, the ultimate gift of His sacrifice. That’s a reason to give at any time of the year. Why not bake some yummy biscuits and share them with the neighbours; leave a Christmas cake for the person who collects your garbage; how about a little Christmas hamper for the police who have to work on Christmas Day? Just look around you and you will easily find people who don’t have family to visit on Christmas Day ― you could invite them to join your family? There are a million ways that your family can give as well as receive this Christmas.

Merry Christmas!! May your Christmas be filled with much love, joy, peace and a sense of the gift that Christ is to us.

Pr Kylie Ward
Children’s Ministries Director NNZC