Christmas is Jesus' birthday…not Santa's birthday…not Rudolph's birthday…It is Jesus' birthday! Jesus is the reason for the season!
Christmas is a Christian holiday. It is meant to be celebrated in a Christian manner, and it is up to us as Christians to do everything in our power to make sure that we do so, and to encourage others to do the same.
Luke 1:14 says “And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.” Let us, as Christians, lead the way in “rejoicing at his birth”. Hold on to the miracle of Jesus' birth, our Savior who came to earth and died for our sins. Jesus is the “Messiah”
Put out your advent wreath and light your advent candles. Make or purchase an advent calendar to use in explaining the true meaning of the season to the children in your life. Give your nativity a featured place in your home or yard.
Purchase only Christmas cards and gift wrapping paper which relay the true meaning of the holiday. Many beautiful cards and wraps are available printed with nativities, angels and Christian messages.
Engage your children in baking a birthday cake for Jesus, and give it a special place on your Christmas table. Include the lighting of a single candle on the cake with the saying of grace at your Christmas Day dinner.
Give the gift of “yourself” in helping others and focus less on the gifts that money can buy. Remember Christ's humble life - born in a simple manger - living a simple life. His life serves as an example of how we should live.
Teach your children to give by having them sort out a toy to give for less fortunate children, or taking them to pick out a toy for your area toy drive. Teach them to serve by helping at a local food pantry, or by doing chores or errands for an elderly neighbor.
Encourage local store owners to highlight the true meaning of Christmas in their displays and recognize those who do by shopping in their stores and encouraging your friends to support them as well. In the same regard, let the businesses who don't do so know that you will not support them with your patronage.
Conveying the true meaning of Christmas to others may not be “politically correct” but shouldn't it be more important to be “spiritually correct”?
While I agree that the birth of Christ was according to prophecy, and it was the beginning of a journey that resulted in His payment for the sins of a world that for the most part will never accept Him as the Messiah, I find it hard to agree with much else...
I have to be careful here....Please do not take anything that I type as a personal vindeta against you or anyone else...
I have studied the topic of Christmas for many years, and I am shocked at the result....First off, I would like you, or anyone else for that matter, to show me strictly from the Bible only, where December 25th is given as the date of the birth of Christ....I can save you the time....It simply is not there...So, when was Jesus born?...Most scholars agree it was somewhere around what we call October or November..
So, what about this December 25th date anyway?....It does not take much study to find out that this date, what we call December 25th, was the date of the birth of Tammuz......I will leave it at that, and let you do your own study...
If it really does not matter when we celebrate the birth of Christ, which by the way is not commanded in the Scriptures, then why not have a celebration in September, or March or even really have Christmas in July?.....I am not trying to be cold, just bringing out the point...
Making a birthday cake for Jesus is a little over the top...I understand your motive for this as we have some in our family that do the same thing....Jesus is not here to cut it or eat it...Having a \"birthday party\" for Jesus may send the wrong idea to children - cheapen the event so to speak...
Finally, when my mother in law found out that I told our children the truth about \"santa claus\" - or should I say \"satan claus\", she was upset...She informed me that I simply could not deprive our kids of Christmas...
So, I told her, as I will tell you now, what I thought...
If I tell our children that Santa loves them very much, he is watching over them all year to see if they are \"naughty or nice\", and he lives far away, and I tell them that Jesus loves them very much, He lives very far away, and He is watching over us every single day, what do you suppose they will think when they get old enough to understand that I lied to them about Santa, and how will that relate to what they might think about Jesus?....If I lied to them about Santa, why would they not believe that I lied to them about Jesus as well?....It is a dangerous thing to play with a child\'s emotions....
So, all that being said, I would ask that you simply consider my little note here, and prayerfully reply...
Just so you will know, we still put up the tree, and exchange gifts at our house and even on Christmas...However, our children have known for many years that this time of year is not really when Jesus was born, and the gifts came from mom and dad....
Some might say that it is the best time for witnessing, and I would have to agree....Many think about \'spiritual things\' at this time of year more than any other....Still, without Scriptural evidence of the date, we must be careful...Perhaps a little bit more study into \"Christ Mass\" would reveal even more as to where this date came from...
I wish you and yours many blessings as you serve the Master...
Harry