Christ Was Born On Christmas Day

“We’re going to do something a little different” were the words spoken by a minister I was listening to online. Those words thrill me when I hear a preacher say them. Those words mean a preacher or other church leader is shaking things up a bit. Those seven words invite us as church practitioners to practice our craft. We stand up out of our comfort zones during a worship service to shake one another’s hands, pray with our neighbor, offer a word of encouragement to our fellow travelers along this journey of life and there in our midst, Christ is with us. What joy there is when we "do something a little different!"

A pastime I’ve grown to love is listening to some great church leaders online. Randy Frazee, Max Lucado, Rick Atchley & Phil Ware speak for congregations in San Antonio, Ft. Worth & Abilene, Texas. Since I live too far to drive to their congregations every Sunday morning, I have to rely on the Internet to bring me their messages each week. Strong messages about living a Christian life, listening to God, obeying His leading and recalling Bible stories like the one describing the night Jesus Christ, Immanuel, was born. That holy night when God came to earth and dwelt among us as one of us.

While so many Christians are concerned that greeting each other with “Happy Holidays” is taking Christ out of Christmas, I am concerned that many of my beloved brothers and sisters don’t put enough Christmas into this season. Its one of those quirks about growing up Church of Christ that I am glad to say appears to be fading away in most of our brotherhood. Though still, there are some traditionalists who think nothing of the Sunday before Christmas as anything special. Sunday worship usually continues as if nothing different was happening outside the walls of the building in December.

Last Saturday, our family Christmas gathering was held at our house with our three sons, their wives and children. My mother and father in law were also here and we had a grand time laughing, singing and enjoying the Christmas cheer of the season. A special activity I wanted all of the family to share was to attend church on Sunday morning in the congregation in which our sons had grown up. To have all three boys and families in one place at the same time are rare and for that gathering to be at church was almost extinct! So, I was anxious for them to visit this particular day because I was certain there would be no special reference to Christmas. True to what I thought, that was the case, save a single carol, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”, which was sung first before all by kids and boys arrived to hear it. (With that many getting ready for church in the same house, they were a little late.) Our family loves to sing and we do a decent job of it, so it was somewhat disappointing that we didn’t sing more seasonal songs of Christ’s birth. However, the most disappointing part was the message delivered by a visiting missionary who preached on fearing God. “Fear God!” should have been, “Christ is born in a manger, let us worship and adore him! Glory to God in the highest!”

Advent, anticipation of the Christ’s birth, should be part of our traditions. We don’t have to know the exact date of Christ’s birth to celebrate and since the rest of the free world has chosen December 25^th as that day, why do we not join them?

Many Churches of Christ have already joined the majority of Christians in celebrating Christ’s birth at this time of year. My Internet worship is evidence of that fact. Many of their pastors talk on Sunday mornings before Christmas about that holy night and the days leading up to the host of angels singing. So many Churches of Christ has long ago become followers of Advent for the entire month of December. Perhaps one day the place where I have worshiped for 35 years will also move toward Bethlehem with anticipation of Christ’s birth at this time of year in a more corporate worship manner.

Parties are nice and fun, but usually focus more on Santa and not as much on Jesus' birthday. Santa, as my mother used to tell me, is a fun character to read about in pretend stories, but we need to remember he is not real. Jesus is real. A real baby, our Savior, was born in a stable to a virgin those many, many years ago in Bethlehem. My prayer is that soon all will come and adore him as Christ, the Savior during the Christmas season.