It’s obvious the Christmas season has begun. The decorations have been up in the shopping centres for a few weeks now. The shops are starting to get busier as Christmas shopping gets into full swing. Families are planning for Christmas Day get-togethers and holidays. And we as a Church start pulling together the various Christmas services and events that will dominate the December calendar.
In our part of the world Christmas gives us such a great opportunity to engage with our community and evangelise our contacts. Even in a country like the USA which most Americans still consider a strongly Christian country, people are more likely to talk about ‘the holidays’ rather than Christmas as such. Here in Australia, people still talk about Christmas. We don’t wish each other ‘happy holidays’, we say ‘Merry Christmas’. And even though the season has been taken over by Santa and rank commercialism, there is still a connection to the event that Christians celebrate at this time of year – the coming into the world of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. His name is still there in the greeting that people extend to each other. And so there’s an opportunity for us to make the most of that connection. We want everyone to know what a truly merry Christmas is – the joy of knowing the peace of sins forgiven and the certainty of eternal life through the Christ we celebrate at Christmas. And so we want to make the most of the opportunities we have to introduce our community and the people in our lives to him this Christmas.
At this time of year people are even more likely to come to a church service or an event like our Carols when you invite them. Most growing churches are churches where most people have invited a friend or contact to church in the last twelve months.
So let’s make the most of this easier time to invite people. Start praying for the friend, parent, child, brother, sister, neighbour, shop-keeper in your life who you’ll invite to church this Christmas. Then invite them – nice and early so they have plenty of time to book it in. Let’s really engage with our community and bring people to hear the life-changing message of the Christ at the heart of Christmas this year.
God bless,
Paul
In our part of the world Christmas gives us such a great opportunity to engage with our community and evangelise our contacts. Even in a country like the USA which most Americans still consider a strongly Christian country, people are more likely to talk about ‘the holidays’ rather than Christmas as such. Here in Australia, people still talk about Christmas. We don’t wish each other ‘happy holidays’, we say ‘Merry Christmas’. And even though the season has been taken over by Santa and rank commercialism, there is still a connection to the event that Christians celebrate at this time of year – the coming into the world of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. His name is still there in the greeting that people extend to each other. And so there’s an opportunity for us to make the most of that connection. We want everyone to know what a truly merry Christmas is – the joy of knowing the peace of sins forgiven and the certainty of eternal life through the Christ we celebrate at Christmas. And so we want to make the most of the opportunities we have to introduce our community and the people in our lives to him this Christmas.
At this time of year people are even more likely to come to a church service or an event like our Carols when you invite them. Most growing churches are churches where most people have invited a friend or contact to church in the last twelve months.
So let’s make the most of this easier time to invite people. Start praying for the friend, parent, child, brother, sister, neighbour, shop-keeper in your life who you’ll invite to church this Christmas. Then invite them – nice and early so they have plenty of time to book it in. Let’s really engage with our community and bring people to hear the life-changing message of the Christ at the heart of Christmas this year.
God bless,
Paul
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