Just Do It

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…” – Ecclesiastes 9:10.

When Solomon says, “Whatever your hand finds to do,” he means that there is always work to be done. There is always something to do. Famous British preacher Charles Spurgeon said, “One good deed is worth more than a thousand brilliant theories.” I believe this verse challenges us at Christmas time and any other time to grab hold of the day-to-day responsibilities we face, and do them to the best of our ability.

Some of us grow bored with the ordinary. Many of us dream of greatness, of someday being someone important, someone respected for their accomplishments. Here’s the rub: we live in the here and now. I believe it is better to take this day in hand and “do it with all your might” than to waste hours dreaming about what we would rather be doing.

Reformer Martin Luther said, “A dairymaid can milk cows to the glory of God. If your job is shoveling manure, than do your best and shovel that manure for the glory of God.” Luther’s point is that if we do our job well each day we honor God just as much as the brain surgeon who extends someone’s life.

Even though none of us wants to hear that we are going to the grave, it is a fact we all need to face sooner and later. This life is not a dress rehearsal. We only get one chance to do whatever we’re going to do here on planet earth. Our time on earth will be over sooner than most of us care to admit. Nobody wants to have a legacy of “I was fixing to do that” or “my intention was to do that soon”or “I wish I had dome more to show the love of God to others.”

“Whatever your hand finds to do . . .” Judges 9:33 reads, “Then in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, rise early and rush upon the city. And when he and the people who are with him come out against you, you may do to them as your hand finds to do.” In 1 Samuel 10:6–7 Samuel tells Saul, “The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.”

The idea expressed here isn’t to do whatever we want to do. But at some point, we have to entrust ourselves to the Lord and do what our hands find to do. Another way of understanding this phrase is to do “whatever you are able to do” with what is right in front of you. If you’re a student, apply yourself to your studies. There are many other examples. As Christians, there are opportunities right in front of us to make others Christmas a little more merry and bright. We just need to do it.

It is not easy, but don’t worry if these acts of giving seem unappreciated or unrewarded. We don’t have to make sense of it all, because we know God works all things for the good of those who love and wait for Him. In this way, Paul writes in Colossians 3: 23-24: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

Discussion Questions:
1. Read Ecclesiastes 9:10: how should we treat everything we do ?
2. Who is your ultimate master, boss, employer? To whom do you give your best energy, time, and resources?
3. Pray that the Lord might enable you to “work at it (God’s calling on your life) with all of your heart… as you are doing it and giving it for the Lord?

4. What can we do this Christmas to make a white Christmas for others?

Seize the Moment

“You’re never guaranteed about next year. People ask what you think of next season, you have to seize the opportunities when they’re in front of you.” – Brett Favre

Having watched quite a bit of football, I have come to the following conclusion about prevent defenses: it prevents you from winning the game. Somehow it seems playing it safe, playing without risks, is the surest way to lose the game. The defense becomes vanilla, unimaginative, and does not take advantage of the opportunities the short clock provides them.

God does not want us to play it safe. In fact, the life of a Christian is an adventure. The journey with God is full of surprises. It is based on the fact that you never know what is around the next bend. Nor do you know that in the next minute you will have the opportunity to change your life or someone else’s life for all eternity. The most important decisions of our lives will require us to stop being invisible and risk becoming visible. A little dramatic? Maybe. But, we must never underestimate the importance of one moment, one word, one deed in the life of another human being. And these moments seldom come at a convenient time and they never come if we tend to stand on the sidelines.

Basically, we can either seize the moment to give of ourselves, or to walk on the other side of the road as we learned in the parable of the good Samaritan. Seizing the moment is simply stepping up and God stepping in. How often do we start the day with this question: What can I do today to make a difference in the world? Like the prevent defense, if we don’t seize these defining moments, we will miss the opportunities that come with them. And those opportunities can be anything from listening, to praying, to giving somebody a ride to work, to buying some groceries.

Seizing these moments is not simply about opportunity, it’s about the kind of life you live as a result of the Christian you are becoming. The early disciples in the book of Acts seized the moment. Acts 16 tells the story of three very different individuals that God saves in very different circumstances. The conversion of Lydia and her family, the conversion of the Philippian jailer and his household, and the casting out of the demon in a slave girl, are three different yet defining moments. I encourage you to read Acts 16 and see how Paul and Barnabas seized the opportunities that God provided for them.

Discussion Questions
1. How would you rate your ability to recognize and act on defining moments?
2. From your experience, do seizing the moment ever fit the script and are they usually outside the box?
3. Write several defining moments that changed your life because you saw it and acted on them. Write several defining moments that you probably missed and the consequences.
4. How does your personality impact your ability to seize the moment?
5. Pray and ask God to open your eyes to the opportunities that He presents to you and then pray for the wisdom on how to seize the moment to give this Christmas season.

Tell Me, What Do You See?

“Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.” – Zora Neale Hurston.

According to CASRO (Council of American Survey Research Organization), spending on marketing research across the globe is in the $18.9 Billion. That is the money spent to collect data from people like you and me, either via phone surveys, or online paid surveys, or any other number of means.That is a lot of money, but it is well spent. It is impossible to sell products or services that customers do not want. Research gives the company actionable data into the needs and wants of the customer.

The church needs market research as well. We want to connect to people right where they live, and we love them too much to leave them there if they are far from the heart of God. The question is how can we better serve the people who live by one of our campuses? Titus 3:14 answers that question: ”Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives.”

Everywhere around us are broken and dying people. There are people abusing drugs, there are children begging for food, widows needing help, homeless people in torn and dirty clothes. There was a mother with two babies—she was sitting at a laundromat weeping, her tears falling down on the faces of her hungry children.

Here’s the sad part. Most of those people live within a short distance from a church. Jesus identifies Himself with the least of these—He says I was hungry, I was thirsty, I was a stranger, I was naked, I was sick, I was in prison. We see it throughout the life of Jesus; He always had time for the least of these. In fact, most of the miracles that Jesus did was when He was just out and about. He didn’t plan outreach events with the disciples. He just did what He saw the Father doing, and that was loving  people.“Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” John 5:19.

If we sing about things like God’s love, His heart, drawing closer to Him and wanting more of Him, we are going to inherit more of His heart. His heart is for you and me, and it’s also for the “least of these.” Yet do we see them? Do we cross paths with them? Can we do everything for every need. No we can’t. Can we do more? Yes, I believe we can. And that begins with opening our eyes to see the needs of people in our community.

We cannot open our eyes if we seldom wander outside the walls of the church. Nor will we meet urgent needs if we ignore it, treat it exclusively as a spiritual problem, or refer people to professionals and wash our hands of their trouble. We have a responsibility toward those who are, as Jesus says, “the least of these.”

Discussion Question:

1. Do I see the need around me, even when the need is minor?
2. What is my/our responsibility toward those who are, as Jesus says, “the least of these?”
3. Pray and ask God for wisdom in how to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives this Christmas.

A Call To Action

“I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough, we must do.” – Leonardo da Vinci

Most people like Christmas. What’s not to like. Yes, there are people who because of memories, or relational pain or for any number of other reasons tend to dread the holidays. But most people generally have a warm feeling about Christmas. Maybe it’s the collection of everything from the music, the anticipation, or the idea of thinking about yourself less and others more, due to gift buying. People just seem more merry and bright. As a pastor, I do know that more people seem open to church, religious activities and events than they do at other times of the year, some even feeling like it’s not really Christmas if we don’t go to church. Yet all this “good cheer” seems to only last for a few weeks around Christmas and then disappears for another year. The question is why.

My answer is simple. We live in an era of short shelf life and even shorter attention spans. Very little, if anything, has staying power. So sustaining something, especially something that’s seasonal, is hard to do. The reality is that for us to be really changed, we need to more like Jesus. And we need to be more like Jesus year round.

And that means giving ourselves to others. That means taking action. Jesus said in Luke 6:38: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

I would suggest Jesus is not only talking about money, it is how you give your life to others in any form. During this season, who is it that needs forgiveness, encouragement or gifts of time, money or help? As Christians we need to find a way to give it.

A generous person gives grace to those who don’t earn it, don’t deserve it and without measuring whether they will return the favor. How we give out, is how we receive. How we “measure” our giving is how it will be “measured back to you.” How can we give more?  To see God work beyond what you can see. To go out of your way to express your love for God and others by making some person’s Christmas more bright.

Instead of leaving God’s gift under the Christmas tree, let this be the year you share this gift with others. I encourage you to get involved in giving back this Christmas.

You can help others this Christmas in so many ways. First, recognize the blessings that God has given you and use them rather than wasting them. Use what you have to help others and show them that God loves them and came to earth to die for them.

Discussion Questions:
1. Pray and ask God to let this Christmas time be a reminder to you of the importance of grace and giving. Think of some ways to give to others through acts of kindness and love.
2. There are opportunities to share the good news of Jesus. Some people see them as interruptions. Why do we not like God’s invitations? What do they interrupt?
3. God’s purposes do not always line up with our plans.  They are greater than our plans. How do you feel about this? Would you respond different this Christmas knowing this?
4. If with God all things are possible, why do we not think “bigger” when it comes to giving of our time, talents and money during Christmas?

A Silent, Simple Night

Christmas is not complex.

It is not intended to send families into debt they will not recover from till the next Christmas rolls around. It is not about about who has the most toys. It is about love. It is about compassion. It is about grace. It is about redemption.

These gifts came to us in the most unexpected way and in the most unpretentious package – the birth of a Child whose crib was a manger, and whose witnesses were farm animals, and whose first visitors were shepherds. One child and one future sacrifice sent to redeem the whole of humanity from the past, present and future.

My prayer is that we don’t complicate this Christmas season. Don’t let it get cluttered. Don’t miss it’s joy. Don’t drown out the Christmas classics with the chaos around you. Don’t allow the venders and merchandisers to reduce you to borrowing money from Uncle Bob, who you don’t like all that much. Don’t allow materialism to take the place of God.

Instead, let us thank God for His unspeakable gift of Jesus Christ on that silent night so long ago.

Discussion Questions:

1. How can we stand in awe, and wonder together this year with the shepherds at the manger in Bethlehem?

2. How can we kneel with the wise men and lay our treasures, along with theirs, at Jesus’ feet?

3. How can we allow our hearts to be impacted by the ultimate sacrifice that awaited this Baby for the price of our salvation?

4. How can we allow the overwhelming wonder of this season that drew Christ to earth, along with unspeakable joy for the gift of life and eternity, move us this season?

 

Silent Night…Sounds Good

In the Christmas Classics teaching series, we are looking at some of the classic Christmas carols and how they can apply to our lives. In the first week of the series, I chose the song Silent Night and for good reason. It is one of my favorites. It just would not be Christmas without the singing of Silent Night. I think part of the reason I like that song so much is because it is my dream, and maybe yours, to truly have a Silent Night and to sleep in heavenly peace. Sounds good, doesn’t it?

But that is not the world we live in. The song Silent Night on the radio is replaced with the wail of sirens some where off in the distance. I have face-to-face conversations and emails with and from members of the church about losing their job, or battling a serious disease or failing in a relationship. There are stories of people whose loved ones lost their lives and others that have lost their way. There are days when I leave the office that it would be pretty difficult to offer a spontaneous and heartfelt “Merry Christmas” to all in earshot.

My intent is to not depress you, but to make a simple point. Life keeps moving and so it did on the night that Jesus was born. Babies were being born. The shepherds were doing what they did every night, tending to their sheep. Lives were disrupted as groups of people were forced to return to their ancestral homes for a Roman imposed census. Wise men were traveling from the east.

In very much the same way, life goes on here. I wish that Angela never had cancer. I am sad that people are sick and for those struggling with anxiety and depression. I pray for those struggling with addictions of all kinds. My heart breaks for the countless children who suffer with not enough food to eat. I hurt for the teenage boys and girls who do not know what unconditional love is. But while life goes on, everything changed on that Silent Night.

It was God coming into the world. It is God breaking through all of the barriers. It is strength and power and might redefined in the form of a newborn baby. Christmas is peace, love, joy, and hope. It is not about “happily ever after.” It is about the presence of God in the midst of real life. Now that makes me want to yell “Merry Christmas “ at the top of my lungs.

At Northstar, life goes on as well. We’ve laughed and cried together, dreamed of helping the whole world find and follow Jesus. We mourned for those we lost and prayed for those who are hurting and sick. We’ve shared our scars, worried a little bit too much, and occasionally stumbling forward with a heavy dose of God’s help. There has been energy, excitement and good things happening. I can see Northstar, redeemed by Christ’s love, reaching out into the world. That is the difference between life going on before and after that Silent Night so long ago.

Maybe that is why this song is so special to me. It is a reminder that right here in the world is a promise that God is with us. Right here with the cancer is hope. Right here with the struggle and upheaval is peace. Right here in the gathering of Christ’s people is joy. Right here with people, hurting, sinning, and failing, is love.

And that is classic.

Discussion Questions:
1.Where would we be without that silent night when Jesus was born?
2. What is so significant about God revealing His plan to the shepherds? Why do you think God chose them?
3. Life goes on. Read Matthew 1:18–24. How did Joseph follow through with God’s plan? How might his life have been a little harder after following through?
4. How might God use you to fulfill His plan and purpose on this earth?
5. Pray for God’s blessing on our Christmas events and services being held in December. There are many who attend who do not know the Lord. Pray, also, for our hearts to be softened that the true meaning of Christmas would be fresh to us and that our celebrations would be worthy of Him.

Hope in the Midst of Worry

Christmas should be a time of hope. Think about this, Christmas is poised at the end of one year and the beginning of the next – at the crossroads of the past and the future. A previous year, with its blessings and its trials, is gone. A new year looms ahead, full of uncertainty. Yet, here is Christmas – the celebration of a birth that took place 2000 years ago – a perennial bright spot on our calendars – because God has give us hope. Christmas is a time of hope.

In Isaiah 9:6-7, we read the following prophecy: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.”

And one night in Bethlehem, this hope was finally fulfilled as this prophecy came true. In the first chapter of Luke, we read about God speaking as He sent an angel to appear before Mary and give her this important message: “You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” Nine months later, one silent night in Bethlehem, this hope for mankind had a name. God fulfilled the desire of the people in a person, his Son, Jesus Christ.

Jesus is why we celebrate Christmas – we recognize his arrival into the world as a child born to us, a son given by God. Just like He personified hope to the first century Jews who were waiting for a Messiah, a Savior, He is hope to each one of us.

And the best part is, we don’t have to wait for His Kingdom. It is available to all of us to become a part. It offers a better life both now and for eternity. Not a better life in perhaps the way you have tried to script your life, as king of your own kingdom, but a better life in the way God wants you to live as a child in His kingdom. A life filled with hope, joy, love, and peace.

When we celebrate Christmas each year, we remind ourselves afresh of the hope we have in Christ—not a thin, wishful thinking that dissipates every time we try to grasp it, but a firm, substantial confidence that we can wrap our arms around. A hope that reminds us that God is not done with us, nor with the broken world around us.

Discussion Questions:
1. What memories do you have of unwrapping gifts or looking for hidden Christmas gifts? How does the hope of Christmas—the unexpected hope that comes when God steps into our lives—affect your heart this season?
2. What promises or hopes are you currently waiting for God to fulfill?
3. Do we have the right to be frustrated with unanswered promises? Should life be “better” with God?
4. If Christmas is a reminder that the proper response to the frustration of God’s timing and unanswered prayer is faithfulness, how is faithfulness exercised in your life?
5. Spend some time praying in response to God’s Christmas gift: hope.

Joy in the Midst of Stress

“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:11

In Dickens’ Christmas Carol, the bitter old accountant Scrooge provides a memorable illustration. Tight-fisted and greedy, he lives in a universe so calculating and cold that no one escapes his suspicion. He is haunted by dreams of death, and dreads its approach. The dreams open his eyes and he sees a way out: “The time before him was his own, to make amends in!” No longer consumed with his own needs, he is free to love, and vows to dispel “the shadows of the things that would have been.” And as he runs from one old acquaintance to the next, he rediscovers the world around him with the contagious joy of a child.

The older we get, the more jaded we are by life, the joy of Christmas is often something that we reach for, but it’s not the same. I want to remind all of us that the magic, the joy of Christmas is not in the lights, decorated trees, or gifts under those trees. The joy of Christmas is found in Jesus. Instead of the stress and busyness that we tend to focus on, let’s remember that the season is about joy. Jesus didn’t come to live on earth so we could be stressed about celebrating his birth. Jesus came so that we could experience joy.

In Luke 2:8 we read, “In the same region there were shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.” Verse 10 says, “But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.”

Finding joy in life can be hard, no matter where we are. We could be financially secure for life, yet have no joy. We could be surrounded by family and friends and still have no joy. We could be involved in the things we love to do, yet still feel a lack of joy. What do we do?

Jesus was addressing His disciples in Luke 6:22: “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven…” Jesus also said in John 15: 9-11: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”

How important is finding joy in our lives? It’s everything. Fortunately for us, joy was born in Bethlehem. This is why the heavens rang out with “good news of great joy.” He has come for us. We did not deserve it, we could not earn it, but God loved us so much that He sent His Son for us. The truth is we can’t manufacture the joy of Christmas within ourselves. We can’t stir it up like a batch of Christmas sugar cookies. We can only accept it as a gift: the gift Jesus offers us if we would only stop long enough to hear His voice and accept His invitation. And when we accept Him as Lord and Savior, we will find joy in something every single day – through people, through experiences, through adventure, but always through Christ.

I’ll close with Peter’s words in his letter to the early church; my prayer for everybody who attends Northstar or reads this devotional is that we hold these words close this Christmas; “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.” (1 Peter 1:8)

Discussion Questions:
1. What is the difference between joy and happiness? How can we increase God’s joy in our lives? Why is joy an essential quality for believers?
2. In your own words, define what joy is in your life?
3. Why did the angel describe the news about the Savior as “great joy?”
4. Do you typically find joy at Christmas?

Peace in the Midst of Frenzy

“And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And he shall be their peace. – Micah 5:4-5.

“Peace on earth” is a phrase you see and hear everywhere during the Christmas season.

For many of us, we have to wonder where that peace is. It wasn’t here last Christmas. It didn’t appear at Thanksgiving. And whether it be trying to find peace in the chaos of our own lives or trying to wrap our heads around hope for peace on earth in a political or military sense, “peace on earth” seems elusive again this Christmas.

That is not all that surprising when you consider that we are struggling to struggle to find peace with ourselves. We regret past mistakes, struggle with our present weaknesses, and worry about the future. We try to “find ourselves” in different ways and search for our purpose in life through relationships, work, leisure and travel pursuits. We seek and long for peace in our relationships with others. And we struggle with the uncertainty of tomorrow and the turmoil going on in the world around us.

All that sounds familiar. Read Luke chapter 2 at home today and really think about what was happening in Mary and Joseph’s life at the time. The census was handed down. Joseph and his very pregnant wife had to made a long trip to Bethlehem. Traveling by donkey while pregnant does not make for a peaceful experience. They get there and there is no rooms for them. No peace there.

But look at Luke 2:6-7, “While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.” It sounds better when children recite those lines in the Christmas play. But I think the reality was somewhat different. If you have been in a labor and delivery room when a child is born, it is not a peaceful, serene place. Especially for the woman giving birth. Now replace the ultra sterile, technology filled delivery room with the dirty, noisy environment of a stable and think about the peace there.

In Luke 2: 8-15 we have the story of the shepherds. Shepherds had a hard life. They were hard men with a hard job and peace was not part of their job description. Then an Angel appeared. They were freaked out. I think most of us would have been as well. But then, the angel’s message. “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy…” Then a whole group of angels appear and praise God. “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (vs. 14)

So what does all this mean? Peace to men. Peace to you. Unfortunately, earthly “peace” will always change. Earthly peace is always short-lived. Christmas meals bring some peace, but just hours later you are hungry again. Happy relationships bring peace, but can you guarantee that even for one fleeting year, your solid relationship will never face arguments or problems? Christmas presents bring a little peace, but the very same gadgets that cause a hearty, “thanks” are soon broken or forgotten. And how many people ever get everything on their Christmas lists? And even if they did, would they have lasting peace?

Jesus came to bring you peace. Romans 5:1-2 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.” Peace is found in the person of Jesus. Immanuel, God with us. Isaiah 9:6 reminds us: ”For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Jesus brings peace, regardless of the circumstances you face. You’re at peace because Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Jesus is the One who brings peace on earth to men.

Discussion Questions:
1. What do you understand by the word “peace”?
2. Do you think Christmas is a time of peace? Why or why not? Should it be?
3. How would you rate your life? Contented? Rushed? Exciting? Stressful? Moving forward? Holding back? For many of us it’s all of the above at times. There are things we dream of doing one day, and there are things we wish we could forget. In the Bible, it says that Jesus came to make all things new. What would your life look like if you could start over with a clean slate?
4. What does peace with God mean? How do we have this kind of peace?

Christmas is a Time of Adoration

The re-do of the song Hallelujah with a Christmas theme by Cloverton is a moving summary of the Christmas message. Christmas is a simple story that is reflected in the lyrics of this song. A couple going to Bethlehem expecting a child, no room, born in a manger, angels, shepherds and wise men, a Savior that came to rescue us from our sin. The last lyrics are so powerful: “My sins would drive the nails in you, that rugged cross was my cross too.” Despite the immensity of the universe of stars, galaxies and planets, the birth of God with us is reason for praise and adoration. He is with us to save us from our sin.

I love Christmas music. I just can’t get enough of Christmas songs, with one notable exception: The twelve days of Christmas. Maids milking, lords a leaping and three French hens doesn’t put me in the Christmas spirit. I love the classic songs, the more traditional songs as well as some of the newer songs such as the one I included in this post.  These songs help remind me that Christmas is solely about God. Christmas is about God fulfilling His promises, saving His people, coming to us — as one of us — in Jesus. The truth can be so easily missed: Christmas is nothing but Jesus. And if Jesus is not in Christmas, then Christmas is nothing at all. We should be singing the lyrics from O Come All Ye Faithful; O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord. Or the opening lyrics from the song of the same name: Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of Glory, Lord of love. 

Our teaching series during December is called “Christmas Classics.” In this series we will look at the classic songs of Christmas and their application to our lives.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your favorite Christmas song? Why?

2. How can Christmas music help us refocus on the message of Christmas?

3. What if our church decided to “Skip Christmas?” What impact would that have on people or on you?