The Christmas season can provide many ways to show Christ and live out the Gospel. I’m thankful for the opportunities I’ve been able to participate in and to see how God has worked through them.
People who might not otherwise choose to come to church often are happy to come to a children’s Christmas program. Although the programs always bring a certain level of uncertainty as to how they might go (ever read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever?), they are a great means of showing the true story of Christmas. One year, a small part in the program was given to two young brothers (ironically named Tom and Jerry) who came to church without the rest of their family. My pastor-dad had to quickly step in to break up a fist fight when one brother didn’t want to say the lines and the other brother tried to force him to do so.
Some years the programs at the church I attend now are just a few Christmas carols and some Scripture readings, requiring minimal practices and preparation time. Other programs have involved many hours of practicing and decorating and costume-making. No matter the level of complexity, relatives and friends and community members are always willing to come to see children sing.
Our church goes caroling at area nursing homes each December. As we walk through the hallways and sing, we stop at the rooms and visit with the residents, sometimes taking requests for a favorite carol. One year a family had gathered to be with their loved one during his final hours. They asked us to sing outside the room, and members of our group spent some time praying with the family.
For the past several years, the girls in my Sunday School class have put their creative skills to work by making cards for the residents and staff at the nursing homes. We also include a Christmas tract with each card. We often begin making the cards in the fall, taking time at the end of class to work on them, but some years we’ve had a card-making party on a Sunday afternoon. Over the years, we’ve received many notes expressing appreciation for the cards.
Each December our church also collects an offering for a family or families in need. Usually just the deacons and pastors know who the people are, but one year I was able to take some teen girls shopping for gifts for a girl who was a member of their youth group. They had so much fun selecting items with the budget the leadership team had given them.
When I was a teenager, my dad was in between churches for a year, and he filled the pulpit several times at a small church in Elkton, South Dakota. After getting back late from preaching there one Sunday, Dad had us all come out to see the car. He had folded down the two back seats of the station wagon, and the entire back of the car was full of food the church had collected for our family as a Christmas present. While we were overwhelmed and extremely grateful for the abundance of the church’s gift, one item continues to remind me that God delights in meeting not just His children’s needs but also their desires. I always enjoyed my great-uncle George’s anise candy, but by that year, he was no longer able to make it. What a pleasant surprise that someone from Elkton had included anise candy!
This year our church’s children collected items for shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. Beginning in October, the kids brought different items each week—toothbrushes one week, small stuffed animals the next, then crayons, etc. Others from the church donated money for additional items as well as shipping costs. The project became more personal when our youth pastor shared how special it was for him to receive one of those boxes when he was growing up in the Dominican Republic. At the end of the collection time, the kids had fun packing up all the boxes and then spent time praying that the boxes’ recipients would realize how much God loves them and would come to know Christ as their Savior.
Not all of the outreach has to happen with church activities. I’ve gotten together with neighbors to bake Christmas cut-out cookies and to help our children make “gingerbread” houses out of graham crackers. We often leave cookies and candy in our mailbox as a gift for our mail carrier and have a little bag of cookies ready for the UPS or FedEx drivers who are making extra trips to our home in December.
One Christmas Eve, I was flying home after seeing my grandpa for what I knew would be the last time on earth. As I waited at a gate during a layover, a lady sat down by me and started a conversation. We soon realized that we were sisters in Christ, and God used her to minister to me (she even shared her lunch!) at an emotionally difficult time. Interestingly enough, my flight had gotten switched to a different gate. She was at the right gate and I was not, but this only confirmed to me that God saw me and cared for me as He worked out those circumstances.
The list of opportunities to live out the Word at Christmas is probably limitless, unlike your available time and resources. Watch for opportunities and be sensitive to God’s nudging. Keeping things simple is often the best plan, allowing you to have time to focus on Christ, the purpose of this season of celebration, and to share His great salvation with those who walk in darkness and need to know the true Light.
