Christmas: A Time to Share Our Faith

“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” (Matt. 1:23).

Yes, Christmas is a time to remember the birth of God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, and to worship Him. The holiday season is also a time to share our faith with family and friends. The following are some ideas to help celebrate the holiday season and share your faith.

A Birthday Party

Organize a birthday celebration for Jesus. Invite several families and friends to a birthday party for Jesus at your home or church.

Ask those that attend to bring an unwrapped gift which will be donated to a prisoner’s child, a seminary student’s child, or another Christian ministry that gives gifts to children during the holidays.

You can also create your own wrapping paper at your celebration! Using butcher block paper do potato printing or decorate the wrapping paper with fingerprint art using a stamp pad. Magic markers and crayons can also be used. Encourage families and groups to work together.

After you’ve completed the wrapping paper invite guests to create a homemade card to put inside their gift. Remind them that the child who receives the gift may not know the Lord. Think about ways your card can communicate God’s love.

Bible Charades

The following games, activities, and mixers may be used during your birthday celebration or at other times during the holiday season.

Bible charades was a favorite Bible activity at the Meyer’s home when our three children, Kevin, Coreen, and Jeffrey, were growing up. You can play Bible charades with your family and friends. Write several Bible stories that can be easily acted out on slips of paper. Suggestions include: Mary and Joseph travel to Jerusalem, The magi follow the star, The angels announce Christ’s birth to the shepherds, Noah guilds the Ark, Jonah runs away from God, Jesus feeds the 5,000, Joseph and the coat of many colors, Judas betrays Jesus in the garden, Jesus appears to Thomas. Put the slips of paper into an envelope. Divide your family or group into two teams. Let one team select a slip. Encourage them to use as many members of their team as possible in acting out the story. The other team tries to guess which story they are acting out.

A Mixer

In Advance, select a holiday theme or phrase like “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays.” Write one letter of your theme or phrase on small paper bags. You might for example select “Happy Holidays.” On the first paper bag you would write a large “H.” After you have written the letters on all the bags, begin to search your home for items which begin with the letter on the bags. Inside the “H” bag you might put a small house from a Monopoly game, a hairpin, or a handkerchief. In the bag with the letter is “A,” you might put an apple in the bag. Then look for items that begin with “P” until all the bags have items in them. Staple or tape the bags shut.

To play the game: Hand out the bags to various individuals in the group. Then give each participant a piece of paper with the phase “Happy Holidays” written on it (1. H=, 2. A=, 3. P=, 4.P=, 5.Y=, and so on.

Tell participants they are to guess what’s in the bags and write it on their paper. Explain that the items in the bag begin with the letter on each bag. You can have everyone work independently, but it’s more fun to assign teams to work together. You can also help the younger children participate by using groups. Include one or two difficult or funny items in the bags. The “A” could be air, so there would not be anything in the bag. After everyone’s had time to guess what’s in the bags, open them up and see which team had the most answers correct. Have small prizes like candy bars or sticks of gum.

The challenge question comes last. Ask each group if they can think of a way each item relates to their faith. This can often be very difficult! At times you may not be able to think of anything. Encourage them to think creatively! A house might remind them that God supplies all their daily needs, an apple might remind them of their sin, and so on.

Make Playdough

Making playdough can be a lot of fun. To make playdough, mix one cup of flour, one-half cup of salt, one cup of water, one teaspoon, powered alum, two tablespoons of cream of tartar, one tablespoon of oil, and several drops of food coloring in a metal pan.

Heat the mixture over medium heat for five minutes or until it thickens. Make sure you stir it constantly. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool. After it’s cool, wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator overnight.

Young children love to punch and roll playdough. Allow them to experiment. You might make pretend foods. Suggestions include chocolate chip cookies. Roll small circles. Let your child press the circles flat. Then take tiny pieces of playdough and make tiny circles. Place these circles on the flattened cookie to represent the chocolate chips. Other pretend foods that are easy to make include a hot dog, a hamburger, and a pizza.

You might make animals. Snakes are easy for young children. Other animals include turtles, dogs, or cats. During the holidays you could make a wreath, a Christmas tree, a star -- or use Christmas cookie cutters.

As you play with the playdough together, take time to discuss your faith. Show your child how to make a hand print in the playdough. Explain that God made each of us unique and special and that every person has different fingerprints. Tell them how much God loves them. Tell them how much you love them.

Help them roll two long narrow pieces of playdough and put them together to form a cross. Remind them that Jesus died on the cross to take away our sins and give us eternal life.

Shaving Cream Finger Painting

Sit with your child at a wooden or waterproof table and spray a small ball (about the size of a very small lemon) of shaving cream on the table. Show your child how to spread it around using different parts of their hands and fingers. Encourage them to use the palm of their hand, tips of their fingers, and the sides of their hand or fingers to create different patterns.

Younger children like to make circles. Show older children how to write the letters of their name, or draw a square, cross, triangle, tree, or house. Encourage them to be creative and design their own unique pattern.

Make a large cross together. Tell the children about Jesus who is the Savior of the world. Before long the shaving cream will begin to evaporate. This gives you the opportunity to discuss a new word with them -- “evaporation.”

Make a Snack Together

Children love to cook! Christmas is a great time to make Christmas cookies, decorate cupcakes, or make Rice Krispies treats together! Conclude the evening with a prayer. Remember to thank God for His unending love and forgiveness in Jesus. Also remember to thank Him for your family and the good time you have had together.

Kay L. Meyer is the founder and president of Family Shield Ministries, Inc. based in St. Louis, MO. Meyer is a popular author, speaker and is the host of Family Shield, heard in St. Louis on AM 850 KFUO on Saturday’s from 11:05 a.m. – 12 noon. The program is also heard on other stations throughout the Midwest. To learn more about the ministry go to www.familyshieldministries.com.