Believers and unbelievers celebrate Christmas very differently. While both groups might celebrate Christmas with a lot of food, laughter, gifts and a wonderful time with family and friends, only one group celebrates Christmas for the very reason it exists: Jesus Christ.
As such, believers and unbelievers in the Lord Jesus celebrate Christmas very differently. One has a meaningful celebration, the other has just a "fun" or "good" time. Sadly, because both groups look happy and satisfied, many believers don't try to reach out to the unbelieving.
Fellow believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, I urge you. Christmas is not just a time for food and laughter and church events. It's a time for us to make an unbeliever's Christmas meaningful. How?
By sharing the Gospel of Christ.
Make it meaningful
Many churches around the world keep saying "Jesus is the reason for the season" without really sharing His love to people. We who are saved know that He came to show us the Father's love and to pay the price for our sins and redeem us, but the unbelieving do not know that. They don't know God's love, and neither do they feel or experience it.
If they did, they would have believed. But how would they know if we don't tell them and show them? (Romans 10:14)
The thing is, many unbelievers remain unbelieving because believers don't reach out to them. We are all busy with our personal activities. We are busy preparing for the Christmas dinner. We are busy putting decorations up. We are busy exchanging gifts in church and attending all our church's activities.
We are busy with many things, but we don't give time to doing what Christ wants us to do more than anything else:
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen." (Matthew 28:19-20)
And so, my dear friends, I encourage you. Let's make their – and our – Christmas meaningful by doing these things:
1) Reach out to unsaved family members and share the love of God to them
Share God's love to someone in your family. Tell them the Christmas story of how and why Christ came to earth for God's will to be done. Watch movies together about the birth of Jesus or other Christian themes. Write Bible verses in your Christmas cards. Invite them to your church's Christmas craft fayre or carol service.
2) Reach out to unsaved friends in the community and share the love of God to them
Visit friends and tell them about Christ. Give them Christmas cards with the Nativity on the front, not some secular image or slogan. You can give gifts and use these as an opening to share the Gospel. Or throw a Christmas dinner for non-family members and start by reading the story of the Nativity before everyone tucks in. Give out free Christmas food parcels with your church that include some Bible verses.
3) Reach out to family friends in far away places and tell them about God's love
Make use of technology. Contact far-away family and friends through the internet and send them a message that tells them about God's love. Tell them what you are doing with your church this Christmas, send them photos of your candle-lit carol service.
Friends, let's make our Christmas more meaningful by doing what Christ said. And most of all, wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!
