It is the Christmas season once again. It is a time of laughter and spreading good cheer. Here are some fun ways in which to celebrate the Christmas Season.
1. Get your youth group or community group or club to create a living nativity scene one night a week in front of your church.
2. For a few laughs and a lot of fun, get together with friends or family members and drive through the villages to look at Christmas lights and decorations.
3. Form a string band and go caroling – do not ask for any money, do it just for fun.
4. Take the family out for a drive and visit the big Christmas tree lighting displays in the various communities.
5. Drop anonymous notes to your parents, siblings, teachers, friends, partner or spouse thanking them for sharing their gift of love with you. You may want to include a message about the greatest gift of all, Jesus!
6. Make your own creative wrapping paper using paper and festive stamps.
7. Go to your church one evening when no one else is there. Carry a single candle to light and sit in the silence, enjoying the peace of the season. (Be sure you’ve cleared this with somebody on the church staff before you do so.)
8. Grab your siblings for a fun day of shopping for your parents. After you have purchased the gifts, find a good place to sit and watch people. Try and guess whom they are shopping for and what they bought.
9. Make popcorn and sit together as a family. Talk about Christmases of the past and favourite traditions.
10. Try a holiday recipe from a different culture and share with other friends.
11. Make a mixed tape of familiar Christmas carols sung by famous musical artists and have a contest to see who can guess who is singing; award the tape to one who gets the most correct.
12. Read the Christmas story (Matthew 1 and Luke 2:1-20) several times before Christmas; write down some new insights God gives you as you read.
13. Offer free babysitting for a busy mom in your church or neighbourhood while she goes shopping.
14. Give out candy canes at your group meetings with a little note that explains where this tradition came from. If you don’t know, the shape of the staff represents the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ; the red is his blood; the white is the purity of Christ.
15. Create the Christmas mood -Turn off all the lights and read the story “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” to your children by candlelight.
16. Get your youth group to clean or decorate the church or churchyard with Christmas lights and trimmings.
17. Keep a journal of all your favourite Christmas memories from this year so you can thank God for each one and remember them next Christmas!
Remember, whatever you decide to do keep Christ in your Christmas celebrations this season.
