Christmas is a wonderful time of year filled with secret shopping trips for your family and friends, hot chocolate, tree decorating, snow (if you don’t live on the West Coast as I do), and beloved Christmas songs and carols. But all those things are not what Christmas is about. No, Christmas is more than the commercialism, and while the traditions are nice they are not the essence of Christmas.
Christmas is a busy season, and it’s easy to get caught up in the “fluff” of the most wonderful time of year. It’s easy to forget the meaning that Christmas should bring.
Christmas is about wonder and marveling at the best gift there is…. and that is the gift of salvation. We would be nothing without it, there would be no Christmas without it. This is the time of year that you should be celebrating the precious gift of eternity with Him, the joyous humility of a sovereign King and the abundance of His love. You should be celebrating the Trinitarian love that came to bring Jesus to this earth, so that He may wash His righteous blood across the blemishes of our souls that beg for healing.
This is the season for celebrating the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and the unstoppable Gospel that shows us how to live our lives for the glory of the cross. We are celebrating the unending grace of a Creator whose love is incomparable, and the redemption of His people that, without Jesus, would be impossible.
This is what we should be celebrating, but the fluff and ooey-gooey feelings that this world encourages and promotes are easy to get caught up in and we easily lose sight of the real meaning of Christmas.
Chrismas is more than the fluff, and if you’ve had a wake-up call while reading this post and are looking for ways to bring the real meaning of Christmas back into your heart, don’t fret! Below are some simple activities that you can do each day leading up to Christmas to ensure that you are making the most of this Advent season.
1. Create a stocking
Get a stocking and fill it up with treats and gifts and place it (or them!) on the doorstep of a family who has lost a member of their family or is unemployed.
2. Make Christmas cookies for your local firehouse or police department
Our firefighters and police officers should not be forgotten this season, and decorated cookies will be sure to bring a smile to their face. Include a note of gratitude.
3. Volunteer
Set aside some time to go to your local homeless shelter or food bank and share the hope of the Gospel with people who so desperately need His word.
4. Write a letter
Letters are fun to receive and the person you are sending it to will appreciate the time you took to write them. Another way to do this is to write a note to each of your family members affirming your love for each individual and hiding them around the house for them to find.
5. Read a book reminding you of the reason for the season
Enjoy these gospel-rich books as they remind your heart and mind of the reason that we celebrate.
Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus by Nancy Guthrie
Hidden Christmas: The Surprising Truth Behind The Birth of Christ by Timothy Keller
Unwrapping The Names of Jesus: An Advent Devotional by Asheritah Ciuciu
6. Organize a group of carolers and go to a nursing home or children’s hospital
I did this several times, and each time I am so glad I did. To see their eyes light up with joy as we came and sang to them was something I will never forget, and I feel so privileged to have been able to participate.
7. Give a surprise gift of service to your family
Jesus taught us to serve others by washing the disciples’ feet, and that it is better to give than to receive (Acts 20:35). Give an unexpected gift of service to your family demonstrating Christ’s love for us. Clean out a closet for your mom, do your sister’s chores, or take your brother to an activity for your dad (if you are of driving age), etc.
8. Print out or download an Advent reading plan
Here is a link to a downloadable (and printable) Advent reading plan for December, and it makes for a perfect devotional either at night or in the morning before school. You can also make it a family event and do it together before bed or whenever it is convenient.
9. Make a stocking for Jesus
December is the month of gift-giving, and while we all receive something on Christmas day, I have noticed that our Loving Father never does. Hang an extra stocking for Jesus, and fill it throughout the rest of this month with notes of thankfulness and praise to the one who broke through the chains that bound us to a life of sin. In the morning, before opening your presents, read through the notes with your family and ground yourself in the meaning of Christmas before you are immersed in your gifts.
10. Have a yule log party!
In the past, yule logs were burned on Christmas Eve and friends and family would come over and have a night of prayer as the massive log burned. Host a yule log party and host members from your church or youth group, and serve refreshments such as hot chocolate, a log cake, and whatever your taste buds desire.
11. Make a meal for a single, busy, or new mom
A few mommas are a little frazzled this year; make their day by dropping off a casserole or any easy to reheat meals. They will be grateful, and you will feel good about blessing them. A win-win.
12. Pass out Bible tracts at the mall
Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Jesus, and the message of hope, restoration, and life that the Gospel gives. So why not share that message this year? Don’t keep the Gospel to yourself; God’s word is meant to be shared and I can’t think of a better time than this Advent season. The Rebelution has a great article on this topic.
Teenagers, Please Share The Gospel.
13. Offer to help out at your church’s Christmas concert, program, or evening service
Christmas concerts, programs, and Christmas Eve services are the perfect opportunity to serve the body of Christ and give back to your church. Offer to stay after for clean up, run errands, or do whatever needs to be done. Have fun serving others and helping things run smoothly.
14. Write a letter to a missionary
Missionaries who live overseas may not be able to afford to see their family this year, and I would encourage you to write a letter or a Christmas card to let them know you are thinking of them. The time you took to write will make their day, and be sure to include a message of encouragement as they pursue the Cross with all their heart.
15. Invite members from your church or youth group to go on a Christmas prayer walk
Prayer walks are so fun, and a great way to be engaged within your community. And since it is Christmas, why not make your walk festive? Wear light up necklaces, ugly Christmas sweaters, and any other Christmas accessories you would like to add. Pray for your fellow citizens, that they may find the peace that they desire through the power of the cross.
16. Donate to a Christian organization
Why not give the gift of food, water, or medicine to a third world country? The organization that my family and I like to donate to is World Vision, a Christan organization whose mission is change lives by providing wells of clean water, food, medical needs, and animals to impoverished families all around the world.
17. Invite an elderly neighbor or someone who will be alone for Christmas for dinner
Being alone for Christmas is depressing, and no one should have to be alone this celebratory season. Jesus encourages us to open our hearts and doors of our homes to our fellow neighbors and people we know (1 Peter 4:9), so I encourage you to open the door to your home a little wider and embrace them with Christ’s supernatural love.
18. Reflect
Reflect on the reason we celebrate Christmas, on the joy and hope that the Gospel brings. Reflect on the unending grace and patience that God has on sinners like us, and let that motivate you to extend patience and kindness to everyone around you this year.
Reflect on the glory of the Cross, the triunity of God, and the love that He pours out over us each and every day. Reflect on the righteousness of God and let that inspire us to pursue holiness with vigor and determination. Reflect on the perfect life that Christ lived and let that spur us on our journey to self-control and the fruits of the Spirit.
Reflect on the faithfulness of God, and spend time immersed in His word, journalling your thoughts and setting aside time to just be held in His awesome wonder.
This could be the year that you intentionally set aside time to make the season more meaningful instead of allowing yourself to be caught up in the commercialism and worldly things of this earth. This could be the year that you are kinder to your siblings, and family, and this could be the year that you find the true meaning and joy of the Advent season.
Fellow teenager, this could be the year that you draw closer to Christ.
Share Your Thoughts in the Comment Section!
There are currently 12 Comments
This is such a great list! Thanks Bekah!
You are so welcome!
Living in the south, I sympathize with your lack of snow. Although, it’s probably a good thing, since people go a bit nuts here whenever it does snow…
I love your suggestions! One thing my family does every year is read an Advent story book where you read a little bit each night (this year we’re reading one called Jotham’s Journey). It gives our family an excuse to gather in the living room without the TV on and often opens up deep conversations.
I’m so glad that you enjoyed this article, Cricket (great name by the way)! I love that your family get’s to do, and look forward to that every year.
Sounds like fun, and reminds me when my mom would read out loud to me when I was younger. Thanks so much for sharing a special tradition that you and your family partake in, and for your sweet comment.
Merry Christmas, friend and a Happy New Year!
Ooh, opportunity for deep theological discussion about the Trinity…(although I will respect your wishes if you don’t have the time to engage in a discussion during this busy holiday season)
The trinity is the belief that God is “three in one”; he is one God who eternally exists as three distinct persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We see this all throughout the Bible. In the old testament, God the Father reveals himself to the people of Israel and promises a Messiah. The Messiah who comes is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Thus God the Father sent God the Son down to earth to come and save us from our sins. While Jesus was on earth, he was baptized. At this point, God the Father spoke, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”, and the Spirit descended upon him as a dove. All three persons of the trinity were there distinctly, God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit. After Jesus died and rose again, he promised the Holy Spirit, our “helper”, who would come and fill us. Once back in heaven, he gave us the Spirit in us. God the Son, Jesus Christ, will return and judge the earth. Then we will live with God, Father Spirit and Son, in peace and joy forever.
I didn’t take the time to find the references for you, but this is most certainly in the Bible. The Jesus baptism scene is from the gospels–which chapter and verse, though, I don’t remember.
I know you aren’t alone in that belief, but I think most people on here believe in the trinity. Do you believe in the incarnation? That God came to earth as a baby? “Trinity”, like “incarnate” is a word that we came up with to describe the way God is presented to us in the Bible. The Bible itself doesn’t use the word trinity, but just like God came to earth as a baby regardless of whether he’s called “incarnate” in the Bible, whether or not the Bible presents a God who is three-in-one is not dependent on whether or not our word to describe it was used in the Bible.
Matthew 3 is the passage I was referring to (I just looked it up.) There are tons of examples of each person of the trinity individually, too, though, and of the Father and the Son. Matthew 11:25 or 16:17 are just a couple of examples of where Jesus claims he is the Son of God the Father. See also John 14:15-17 where Jesus promises the Father will send the Spirit.
I use ESV, but there are only minor differences in the words. The meaning is the same.
Of course I believe Jesus’ words, just as you believe Jesus’ words, we’re just understanding them differently, or perhaps just communicating our understanding differently. See, I believe that Jesus and the Father are one, in that God is one, there aren’t three separate Gods, there’s one God, and he has three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. I think maybe the difference between you and me is that you’re saying there’s one God and he’s only one person, maybe with three forms or appearing in three versions, while I’m saying God is three distinct persons while yet one God.
Honestly, though, I don’t think you’ve actually told me what you do believe other than its not the trinity.
I’m terrible at debating, so I’m not going to get deeply involved in this conversation, but God did say ‘us’ in Genesis 1:26 (KJV): “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”
Hi, Princess. 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to read the verse and hopefully provide a comeback. I don’t know if you are familiar with Desiring God, but some of today’s greatest theologians write there, and I find their way of discussing and expounding on different Bible doctrines very helpful and enlightening. 🙂 https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-is-the-doctrine-of-the-trinity I highly recommend you take time to read and think on this article. 🙂
Saying “Son of God” is basically the same as saying “God the Son” because the idea of him being God’s son conveyed his deity while the fact that he is a Son point to the fact there is a Father, of whom he is the Son.
And as for my initial comment, I didn’t mean to offend you, I just meant that most likely the majority of the people here believe in the trinity because, from what I’ve seen, this is a group largely made up of conservative Christians raised in a Christian home going to a traditional church, and most people that fit that demographic hold to the teaching of the trinity.
Jesus was God, therefore he is God. “Son of God” does not imply that he is a god, but is the God. We know that Jesus is God because nobody but God could live a perfect life. We also know he is the Son of God because it says in the bible.
It may be easier to understand if you read the ESV version. By NO MEANS is this any pressure but I know for me personally I understand a lot better through reading something a little more modified
Like Olivia said, ‘Trinity’ is a word humans invented to describe what (some people believe) is portrayed through examples in the Bible. My youth pastor once tricked our group by saying, ‘find a Bible verse that mentions the Trinity,’ and then watched as we flipped through the Bible looking for that nonexistent word:)
One of the verses he used to support the existence of the Trinity was Matthew 28:18 (KJV) “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”
In the KJV version (and other versions I’ve read – we have three or four different translations lying around the house) Jesus uses ‘name’ singular, instead of plural.
the trinity is not referring to three different gods (you are absolutely right in saying there is only one God and that can find that throughout scripture), but is referring to three forms (sort of) of God- God the Father, who sent Jesus, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit /Holy Ghost. And what was said about God the Father being the father of Jesus but that confused you because he was born of Mary…maybe this will make more sense.
Luke 1:27- “to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary”
it goes on to say (vs. 31) that “behold, thou salt conceive in they womb, and bring forth a son, and salt call his name Jesus”
So, it states Mary was a virgin who was betrothed to Joseph, not married. God sent Jesus into Mary’s womb. Basically, Jesus has no earthly dad. While Joseph was his adopted dad he wasn’t his blood parent. God was his Father. Jesus constantly calls God his Father, even from a young age. In Luke 2:49, Jesus (as a child) says “wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” ESV translates this to “why were you looking for me? did you not know I must be in my Father’s house?”
Sorry if that was confusing, I read ESV and was trying to use KJV to make it less confusing for you:)
Genesis 1:1-2 says “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form or void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters”.
This shows that both God the father and the Spirit were involved in creation.
It also says in John 1:1 it says “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God”. So this is emphasizing that the Word was both God (part of trinity) and with God.
John goes on to say (vs. 14) that “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seem his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth”. This is Jesus. Jesus is the word.
So princess, I can’t directly say who created the world because it was not one form of God or one “god’. It was GOD, all three forms. God the Father was there. God the Holy Spirit was hovering over the waters. God the Son, or the Word was there, with God. They are all God. So my only response can be…God created this earth!
What follows is a logical argument for the Trinity. (I am aware that, for some, what the Bible says supersedes logic, so this may not be relevant.)
God is love (1 John).
Love, in order to exist, requires an object other than oneself.
Humans cannot be that object because we were created. If an aspect of God’s character is reliant on His creation, then He ceases to be God. (Because we were not there before He created us, He could not be love until He created us.)
The Trinity fills this gap. God the Father eternally loves God the Son who eternally loves God the Holy Spirit. Because they are of the same being (made of the same stuff), they have always been around to love each other.
This argument is not flawless. For example, you may argue that it is not necessarily true that “If an aspect of God’s character is reliant on His creation, then He ceases to be God.” After all, God’s justice and mercy require objects on which to be just and merciful. Furthermore, He would not be the Creator without a creation.
My purpose, though, is simply to try to explain why some people choose to believe in the Trinity, even when the Bible doesn’t mention the word. For some, the evidence seems to point in favor of the Trinity, but this is not the case for everyone.
Yes! We have Tabitha’s Travels and Bartholomew’s Passage (one for lent), but we never finished B’s Passage (hopefully this year!) I think Jotham’s Journey is one of my favorites:)
Yes, friendly is vital. I’ve been on the side of arguments where I’m the only one defending a particular view, and it can feel overwhelming.
If you need a break, or decide you’ve heard enough and want to just think about it, please say so. We come together as friends, and we want to leave as friends.
My mom explained the Trinity to me this way, “God is one being (substance), but three persons.”
A bit like a three-headed dragon, but the dragon loves you and…hmm, comparing God to a dragon doesn’t really work, does it? (trying to keep the discussion light)
Love this article, Bekah! Excellent ways to make Christmas deep and meaning instead of just being dazzled by the “fluff”. 🙂
Great article, Bekah! Thanks for sharing all those great ideas with us! 🙂
Hey, just wondering… what do you mean by not believing in the Trinity? What part do you not believe in? And could you support your beliefs with scripture? TheReb is a great, relatively safe place to hash out ideas and wrestle with hard topics. But some context and clarification would be super helpful!
Rebekah, this is such a beautiful, thoughtful post! Thank you for sharing!
https://createinmeblogger.wordpress.com/
*alarms bells ring* HERESY DETECTED RED ALERT
Lol well when you word it that way, I don’t exactly have a choice now do I?? 😂 what’s up?
Hi, Princess-in-training! I was at an out-of-town wedding yesterday, and it seems like I missed most of the excitement in the debate!
I want to thank you so much for feeling like you can express your views and for being willing to discuss them here. I sincerely enjoyed the chance to talk to someone who has different beliefs from me, yet shares my love for God.
From what I have read in the discussion, it is clear that both sides believe they rest wholeheartedly on the Word of God, and it is our interpretation of His Word that leads to our different beliefs. It also doesn’t appear that either side will change its mind.
I know I have absolutely no authority on this site, but I would suggest that we call an end to this debate. So far, both sides have expressed their views with grace, and I believe it is important that we end on a positive note. Friends, and all:) If someone believes it is worth continuing, perhaps we could see about it getting put on the discussion forum?
I have been impressed with your absolute reliance on God’s Word, Princess – that is a very good place to be in your Christian walk. If you would like, you may consider this a forfeit on my part – although I might step back in if this indeed goes on the discussion forum!
Thanks again for being open with your beliefs and willing to talk with others who disagree with you. I hope we’re all still friends!
Hi, Princess-in-training! I was at an out-of-town wedding yesterday, and it seems like I missed most of the excitement in the debate!
I want to thank you so much for feeling like you can express your views and for being willing to discuss them here. I sincerely enjoyed the chance to talk to someone who has different beliefs from me, yet shares my love for God.
From what I have read in the discussion, it is clear that both sides believe they rest wholeheartedly on the Word of God, and it is our interpretation of His Word that leads to our different beliefs. It also doesn’t appear that either side will change its mind.
I know I have absolutely no authority on this site, but I would suggest that we call an end to this debate. So far, both sides have expressed their views with grace, and I believe it is important that we end on a positive note. 🙂 If someone believes it is worth continuing, perhaps we could see about it getting put on the discussion forum?
I have been impressed with your absolute reliance on God’s Word, Princess – that is a very good place to be in your Christian walk. If you would like, you may consider this a forfeit on my part – although I might step back in if this indeed goes on the discussion forum!
Thanks again for being open with your beliefs and willing to talk with others who disagree with you. I hope we’re all still friends!
Hi! If you happen to still be on here (I see you posted this 5 minutes ago) please hold while I type…
I believe we can email the Rebelution and ask for it to be placed as a discussion question – the guidelines should be under ‘submissions’.
I’m glad you also enjoyed the discussion! If, at any point, you felt backed into a corner, I apologize. I can also understand why the comment made by ‘guitar with arms’ aggravated you. I don’t know what your future plans are, but if you move, go to college, or otherwise attend a different church, you will probably be exposed to more people who will say your beliefs are wrong. I REALLY hope you don’t use that as an excuse to stay away from church (or the Christian community in general) – not that I think you will, since I have seen how resolutely you can support your beliefs!
Holding… 😉
I am so glad you feel that way! I look forward to interacting with you more, Princess-in-training, whether in friendly debate or just as friends on the Rebelution 🙂
=D friends (hug)
I’m going to back out of this too you guys! Thanks for letting me have this opportunity to have a word-centered friendly debate on this issue! 🙂 If this does become a discussion, you can count on me joining you guys