Five Ways to Observe Christmas Afresh
This is part two of an ongoing “Youth Group at the Holidays” series. We will do our best to publish these articles a few weeks prior to the holidays to give you time to prepare. Last week’s article helped you prepare students for Thanksgiving. Enjoy!
Christmas is one of the most anticipated seasons each year. We often participate in family traditions, sing much-loved Christmas songs and hear the same Christmas story. This routine of Christmas can often cause us to become complacent about one of the most beautiful stories of Jesus Christ – His birth.
Here are five ways to approach Advent and Christmas in your student ministry afresh, as either a one-off Christmas message or an Advent series.
1. Observe the Incarnation
My wife and I have described Christmas as Jesus' birthday to our toddlers because explaining the theological nuances can be difficult. But at some point, we will need to move from celebrating “Jesus' birthday” to celebrating the Incarnation – the beautiful and mysterious doctrine of God becoming man. Now, some may think this teaching is very lofty for students. So, is it necessary? Yes, I believe so! We see the incarnation in John 1:1–18, Philippians 2:1–10, Hebrews 1:1–2, Isaiah 7:14 and 1 Timothy 1:15–17.
With this doctrine, it is important to note for students that:
God cannot be known apart from revelation, and He perfectly revealed himself to us through Jesus.
Salvation cannot happen by any other means than by God becoming man.
We look to the incarnation and the cross as our reason and example for humility.
2. Observe the Names of Jesus
I wish our culture in the West valued names with meaning. In the Bible, a name was usually given at birth not because it sounded nice but because of its meaning. There are many names to describe and teach who Jesus is. In fact, the name “Jesus” was given to proclaim that “Yahweh saves” (Matthew 1:21, Luke 1:31).
Most people are familiar with the names that were prophesied about Jesus in Isaiah 9:6, but there are many more that we can also teach about. He is called Immanuel (God with us) in Matthew 1:23. He is the Lamb of God (our atonement) in John 1:29. He is the Alpha and Omega (beginning and the end) in Revelation 1:8. He is the promised King of the Old Testament in Matthew 27:37. He is the Bread of Life (the only one who can satisfy) in John 6:35. He is our Redeemer (the one who takes our shame) in Isaiah 59:20. He is our Living Stone (the foundation of God's kingdom) in 1 Peter 2:4–8.
These names can teach our students to describe who Jesus is beyond the box church kids are prone to close Jesus into.
3. Observe the Old Testament Foretelling of Christ
Students need to know biblical theology, which is stated by 9 Marks as a "discipline that attempts to trace the Bible's one main storyline through all of the Bible's different books and genres. Biblical theology in this sense looks at how certain themes develop throughout all of scripture, how the Old and New Testament relate to each other and how all of scripture… points to the saving work of Jesus."
The temptation is to teach what we are comfortable with, namely, the New Testament. However, when teaching our students about Christmas, knowing about the covenants and prophecies that led up to Christ can give them greater reason to believe and understand who the Savior is by knowing what He came to fulfill.
For example, when teaching about the covenants, we can observe the genealogy in Matthew 1. In this passage, we not only see a lineage of misfits who Jesus came to save, we also see the writer break his genealogy into three sections that correspond to three distinct covenants: Abraham (Genesis 12:1–3), David (2 Samuel 7:10–13) and the Babylonian exile (the new Covenant in Jeremiah 31:31–33). The purpose is to show how Christ came to fulfill long-awaited promises. In our waiting, we look at the promises fulfilled to encourage us that He will fulfill His promise to return and make all things new.
4. Observe the Narrative of Christ's Birth From Multiple Perspectives
Teaching on the narrative of Christ’s birth is the most common Christmas message, but there are so many directions we can go:
We could do a character study of Mary with the visit of the angel or her song.
Although there isn't much said about him, we could study Joseph's faith and how, despite uncertainty, he believed in the angel and stayed with Mary.
We could demonstrate how God was missional at Jesus' birth by drawing Gentile 'wise men' and lowly outcast shepherds.
We could do a thematic study. For example, we could look at glory and humility by showing how the long-awaited King was born in humility and not in glory. This teaches us that His whole life was one of humility, not just His death.
5. Observe the Gospel as God's Greatest Gift
Although the gospel is present and implicit in narrative form above, it is more direct and explicit in a topical format.
It is good to teach students how the secular Christmas of the world is not the same as Christmas in the Bible. The world celebrates Christmas as consumers, while Christianity celebrates Christmas through the gospel.
For many, this false Christmas is on display through Santa Claus. I am not going to argue whether a family should celebrate Santa Claus; I do believe that if we are not careful, our students could subtly believe in a Santa Claus gospel. This Santa Claus gospel teaches that you get a gift if you are good and don't if you are bad. This enforces a works-based salvation where one aims to be good enough. However, the true gospel teaches us that no one is naturally bent toward doing good, 'not even one' (Romans 3:12). Each of us deserves God's righteous judgment, but it is "by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast" (Ephesians 2:8–9).
As we have shown, there are different ways we can observe the beautiful story of Christmas each year with a new aspect of Jesus’ birth. Even though this season can feel remarkably familiar year after year, I encourage you not to miss this opportunity to disciple your students in the hope of Christ afresh this Christmas.
Helpful Resources to Consider for Youth Workers
YPT Podcast: Episode 48 (Avoiding Heresy at Christmas) and 19 (Teaching the Incarnation and Christology at Christmas).
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