Last night I started a new series of lessons for our teenagers entitled “Christmas at the Movies.” We are going to talk about “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas” in the coming weeks, but last night we started with the movie “Elf.” About 90% of the teens in attendance raised their hand affirming they had seen the movie. If you have seen it then you know it is an off beat film with a far-fetched idea of a human boy raised by elves at the north pole until he finds out the truth at age 30. He then sets out on an adventure to find his real father and find his place in this world. It is a theme that resonates with teens and I thought it was a good place to start. Over the past 2 weeks I have watched all or part of the movie 4 times. I took extensive notes and did a Google search for what other people had said about it. I put together a pretty good list of ideas to talk about but landed on the topic of joy.

Joy is that attitude or emotion of great delight caused by something exceptionally good. Buddy the Elf has joy because he is associated with Christmas, the most wonderful day of the year. He loves to spread Christmas cheer during the holiday season. I believe as Christians we have more reason to be joyful than Buddy will ever know. We do not just see this time of year as an opportunity to give and be happy, Christians see this time of year we celebrate the birth of our Savior. The journey of grace in my life started in a manger over 2,000 years ago. God’s exceptionally good work began in a manger, then reached to a cross and finally into my life. The angels told the shepherds that the message of baby Jesus was one of great joy for all the people.

Buddy the Elf has a problem though. He, like many of us, has a number of kill joys in his life. We are surrounded by events and people who are constantly tearing away at the joy we have in Jesus. I especially think this is true at Christmas. It is easy to get on this roller coaster of emotions with every passing event of the holiday season. I didn’t share this info last night with the teens but it has been on my mind so I want to offer a couple quick thoughts to help this be the most joyous holiday ever.

1. Lower Your Expectations. You do not have to be Martha Stewart in your decorating and Rachel Ray in the kitchen. You do not have to have a Clark Grisswold light display that outdoes everyone in Whoville. Food will not always turn out. People will give lousy gifts. Your decorations will not be the best. That’s okay. The more we lower our expectations the more we can be surprised when things do turn out well.

2. Enjoy. Step back and enjoy each moment. You do not have to take pictures or videos of everything. Just sit and watch. You can even wait to open your gifts while watching other people open theirs first. Take time to live in the moment.

3. Rest. You do not have to do everything this holiday season. In fact, let me teach you a powerful word: “No.” You do not have to volunteer to do everything and be everywhere. You do not have to shop till you drop. You can tell people no and enjoy a quiet evening with your family drinking hot chocolate and watching “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

4. Plan. I believe that most people are on overload at Christmas because they fail to have a plan. Do you have a day set aside to rest? Do you have any plans for a date night with your spouse? Do you have plans for worship? Set down and look at your calendar and make some plans to do things that will grow your joy.

5. Pray. Everyday ask God to be with you this holiday season. Trust that He will take care of everything. Rest in the hands of His powerful plan. Ask God to make each day a blessing for His kingdom and for your life.

These are some simple tips I have used in my life. I know it is not an exhaustive list so maybe you have something to add. I do know that God wants us to be filled with joy as His followers. For most of us, we need to think through how that can happen in our lives, especially during the holidays. May God bless you and I hope this is a day you enjoy.

Yesterday I blogged about the idea that it is important how we celebrate Christmas. As Christians we believe “Jesus is the reason for the season” but I see many people who act quite differently. So – how do we keep Christ in Christmas? Here are some ideas I have collected.

1. Read the Christmas story out loud as a family. Read Matthew 1:18-2:12 or Luke 1:26-38 & 2:1-20 (or both) together as a family. Have the father or grandfather read it or maybe go the other way and have the kids read it. Keep this story a bigger part of Christmas than “The Night before Christmas”

2. Have a Birthday Party for Jesus. This is usually a big hit with small kids. One Church I know has a big program for kids on the afternoon of Christmas Eve to do this. I know of another family that does this first thing on Christmas morning.

3. Sing Christian Christmas Carols Somewhere. Songs like “Joy to the World” and “Silent Night” and “Away in a Manger” tell the story of Jesus in a powerful way. Go to the home of an elderly Church member or shut-in and stand on their lawn singing about Jesus. It is usually a great experience for all.

4. Go to a Candlelight Service Somewhere. Numerous Churches have some type of program on Christmas Eve – ours is 5:30-6:30 pm. Find one that fits your schedule and attend. Take an hour to worship, pray and commune together focusing on the story of Jesus.

5. Budget. I mean this two ways. For many of us Christmas gets bigger and bigger every year. This is not because we plan to do it that way, it is usually because we have no plan to keep it from getting bigger. Budget for gifts and focus on the personal gifts rather than expensive. The second side of this is that we need to budget some amount to give to those in need. Set aside some time and money to give to someone who has a real need. Maybe that is locally, nationally or even globally with groups like World Vision and Samaritans Purse.

???? What other ideas do you have to keep Christ in Christmas? Comments are open.

This past Sunday I started a new 4 week Sunday School class on the topic of Christmas. We are going to cover the Bible story the next two weeks and finish off by talking about Christmas traditions like Santa and trees. My first session was focused on the idea of Christmas. Why do we celebrate on December 25th? Honestly, we do not know the year, the month or even the day Jesus was born. We have little details about the day Jesus came into the world and yet we celebrate it globally every year.

With every passing year people in Church leadership, like myself, have increasingly bemoaned the fact that it is becoming more and more of a commercial holiday. So I posed this thesis to my class – “How we celebrate Christmas is just as important as who we celebrate.” Jesus may be “The reason for the season” but how we display that truth is extremely significant. Let me ask you a simple question, “Would anyone know you are celebrating the birth of Jesus just by watching you this Christmas?” “What are you doing to focus your life on the incarnation of God this holiday season?”

In the book of Romans chapter 14 verses 5-6 Paul tells the Church that one man can consider every day the same and another can consider certain days special and that is just fine as long as he considers them days set aside “to the Lord.” My prayer is that this Christmas season is set aside to the Lord and that He is celebrated in all that we do.

This week I started a new sermon series based on Isaiah 9:6. This verse is a prediction of the coming messiah and is a part of the Hallelujah chorus in Handle’s Messiah. If you have not seen this video (or one of the many like it) by a High School group called the Silent Monks then take a few minutes and enjoy.