Depending on the age of your children, most young children love to play dress up and put on plays. Maybe you could reenact the birth of Christ, if you have enough players. Or tell the story in glowing terms (not boring) with a nativity scene.
Or you could have a birthday party for Jesus. Kids love parties. At the party, you could take turns telling your favorite stories about Jesus.
Or do both.
But whatever you do, may it be a wonderful celebration of Christ's birth.What would Christmas look like if Jesus really were #1 on Christmas morning?
Lil miss Is right you can't make it be about christ and not have it be a big let down to your kids. If you want him to be the center of it you can't have the tree or the gifts or anything else like that. So if you really want to but Christ in Christmas please do it right and get rid of all that it will let down your children but you'll be following your God. And really what's more important to you? Your children should be but a good Christian knows to put God before all else.What would Christmas look like if Jesus really were #1 on Christmas morning?It's for this reason I've suggested to my wife that we have a religious Christmas and a secular Christmas - one on 12/25 and the other on the Epiphany. She's not sold on it yet, but ...
A Christ-centered Christmas would involve going to services (Mass or otherwise), having a family meal, and then spending a day in service. That's my impression of it, anyway. I'd rather be working at a soup line in the city than drunk and opening presents that people shouldn't have spent the money on for me.
Relatedly, no one in my family took seriously my request to give me a gift from Heifer interational. Yes, it would mean more to me to give a flock of chicks or a pig to a family in a third world country than to get a Wii.What would Christmas look like if Jesus really were #1 on Christmas morning?
well, if you want to make it more "christ" centric, firstly I recommend that you get rid of the tree, the presents, and change the date of your celebration.
December 25th started as a pagan holiday, celebrating the winter solstice. Christianity just hijacked the celebration over time.What would Christmas look like if Jesus really were #1 on Christmas morning?God bless you for trying Brittney, but there are some things you need to understand about Christmas.
Christmas is a Catholic invention that inserts biblical themes into a pagan holiday.
Jesus wasn't even born in December.
Nevertheless, Christmas has become widely accepted in many cultures, and we all have our own ideas of what Christmas really is. For those who are real Christians, it's a time of year when we reflect on the wonder of God becoming man and entering his creation in order to save us. We also partake in many of the traditions that have been handed down to us ~ like the tree and the gifts.
My advice is to do both. Enjoy the traditions of the holiday, but also teach your kids about Jesus.
There would be no trees, no mistletoe, no electric lights, no super sales person in a red suit, no commercialism, etc.
Those who believed in Jesus and who professed to adhere to his teachings would gather to cook a large feast which, after having been offered prayerfully to Jesus, the same would be distributed to the poor and needy, the sick, the elderly, the widowed and the orphans. The left overs would feed the "Christians".
After the meal and the distribution, the believers would gather and recite the stories of what Jesus said and did, what he taught and how he lived, how he died and how they understand the same in their own lived experience.
They might collectively sing songs in praise of God and Jesus as well as offer their heart felt thanks.
Then, still keeping the thought of God in their hearts, minds and souls, they would clean up and return home or go back to work.
The next day, they would repeat the same actions.
They would do so the day after that, and the day after that and the day after that...
By the love they demonstrated for all others, even ahead of love of self, they would be known to all as followers of Jesus and each day would seem like "Christmas".
Sadly they do not and never have done this since Constantine made Christianity the state religion of Imperial Rome almost two thousand years ago.
Happy holidays and peace to all.
namasteWhat would Christmas look like if Jesus really were #1 on Christmas morning?
Nothing. The Winter Solstice (the tilt of the planet and it's relation to the sun) is the REAL 'reason for the season'. The ONLY thing about 'Christmas' that's Christian is it's name and the nativity scene, which was DESIGNED in the 15th century by an Italian monk.
IF Jesus had actually existed, he would have been born in the summer. The flocks would not have been out at night during the winter.
Edit: Actually, I think Space Monkey has a good idea...teach your children to GIVE at the Salvation Army or something Christ-like. I doubt his existence but the idea of the character is at least decent. (the NT character. The OT deity is a monster!)
If you want to "put the CHRIST back in christmas" get rid of the gifts, the tree, and anything not christian. It's Pagan and you know it. The yule tree is the original reason for the season, jesus was born in spring or early summer.
So in all honesty, if you want to make it about jesus- have a nice family dinner and read the bible. Nothing more, nothing less.What would Christmas look like if Jesus really were #1 on Christmas morning?
Yes, I have to laugh quite hard sometimes at the fervor over "Keep Christ in Christmas"... because it would be so simple to do so IF the people actually cared about it.
IF everyone was so concerned about Christ....they would all give to Salvation Army or other good charities at Christmas instead of the mass present giving/getting gluttony that does go on.
One of my gal pals was lamenting that "oh I can't buy more than one or two presents this year, what will I do?? I'm so depressed!!!" I told her the above- because she is one of those "rabid" Keep Christ in Christmas Christians... and when I said well, teach your kid the REAL Christ-like thing to do and don't get or give presents this year,then! She stammered... well well.... but I LOVE getting presents... it's "christmas"!!!!!
I roll my eyes. Whatever. The gluttony comsumption and useless gifting is not serving Christ, but the world.
So, I see that even among the Church-going folk- they are not about to stop the "true pagan" feast/gifting thing of the season at all.
I guess you means the ideas which some writers attribute to him, since he has been long-dead.
Some were good ideas, but impractical the way society has evolved. Also impractical because very few people are willing to live that way, or even admit that they aren't living that way.
I wait until Christmas afternoon, around 4 pm and we have a birthday cake for Jesus. I try to invite a few of my child's friends. If you have kids, it is simply unrealistic to get them to think about anything but presents. They're kids. And for us adults, the fun of the gifts is seeing the excitement of the kids. I don't know how old your kids are, but at almost 13, my son adds in his prayers that we will not forget the true meaning of Christmas, so even kids start thinking about this at a certain age.
I am one of 5 kids from a preacher's family. I can tell you what my parents did. On Christmas eve, we all sat around the piano and sang some Christmas songs, then we took turns reading Luke 2. Then we opened the gifts. Most of us have varied that for our own kids. I just think if you cannot celebrate this feeling like you can give God glory, don't celebrate it. But atheists and JW's aren't going to determine this for me and my family.
I dont know about younger kids, but my family has teens and we are just exchanging one gift per person. allthough our focus might not land on Christ ( i wish it would) there would be so much materialism involed in a great celebration. Plus less wrapping paper to clean up
Make it like genuine Christian holidays - the first Sunday in Advent, Palm Sunday, etc. None of those have a long list of pagan customs attached.
If Jesus really were #1, you would go to church, maybe have a big dinner, and that's about it.
We shouldn't be celebrating in Dec when He wasn't born then. It was more than likely in Oct or early Nov when Jesus was born. We should all celebrate when it really happened not this made up time on Dec 25. How many out there really know this though.
Perhaps you could let your children nail you to the Christmas tree; then have the neighbors come round and remark about how much you must love them to let them do that to you, and scold the children for being so unworthy of that love...
To make Christmas Christ centralled you could help the poor people on the day of Christmas and forgive others who have harmed you.Read http://www.Read-the-bible.net to know more about why Jesus was born?
How about you stop indoctrinating the poor children with this crap?
THE BEST DAY THAT THIS EARTH HAS EVER SEEN SINCE CHRIST WALKED IT SO MANY YEARS AGO!!
It will look the same for me, either way.
Try focusing on having a great day with your family. Don't the kids get enough Jesus at church?
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