Share Your Faith During the Holidays

“We couldn't wait to tell the shoppers about the greatest gift of all...Jesus, the Savior or the world!” Several years ago, members of St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Eureka, Missouri, used the Saturday before Christmas to witness within their community in a unique way. The local Wal-Mart gave them permission to have a gift-wrapping table in the storefront. As shoppers entered the store, they were handed a tract that said, “Two free gifts for you.”

The first message was simple, “Our greatest Christmas gift is from God. He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, and grants us forgiveness and eternal life. And His gift is free!”

The second was that shoppers could have one Christmas gift wrapped free as they left the store. While shoppers waited to have their gift wrapped, they were a captive audience for church volunteers who were wrapping the presents. Many shoppers tried to give a donation. That just made the “free gift” message concerning Jesus even more meaningful to share!

More than 500 tracts were given away. Over 100 gifts were wrapped with holiday paper, ribbons, and name tags. Volunteers reported that the two-hour shifts went quickly and that it was fun to watch the reactions of the shoppers.

As this congregation demonstrated through their innovative gift-wrapping program, the holiday season can offer us unique opportunities to share our faith.

Have you considered how you will share your faith during Christmas this year?

Here are some suggestions for you to consider:

• Invite someone who might spend Christmas alone to your home during the holidays. Witnessing opportunities abound as we eat cookies and snacks together. Thank God for the food and spend time getting acquainted. As you have the opportunity, talk about what Christmas means to you. Share how God sent His Son, for the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and why you are thankful for family and friends.
• Select and send holiday cards that share a Christian message. Christmas cards should focus on Jesus as the Savior of the world (Luke 2:11).
• Sometime back, a participant in a parenting class told me her family prays for each person or family who sends them a Christmas card on the day it arrives. What a great idea!
• Do you include a form letter with your Christmas cards? Why not add at least one paragraph about what Christ means to you? Don't just talk about church issues, talk about your relationship with Christ.
• Some families use the money they would normally spend on Christmas cards or gifts and instead give it to their favorite charity.
• Wear a Christmas button. Buttons that say, “Jesus is the Reason for the Season” present a message that can't be missed and may open up opportunities to share your faith.
• Put a Christmas message on your voicemail for all who call you during the holiday season.
• Invite an unchurched person you know to attend a Christmas event or worship service at your church. Children's programs offer a wonderful opportunity to invite relatives and friends.
• A local church encourages children to host Christmas cocoa parties. They invite friends to enjoy Christmas cookies and snacks and sing Christmas carols together. You can host it after school, sending invitations in advance so the special day can be set aside.
• Bake and deliver Christmas cookies or homemade bread to a shut-in from your congregation or a new neighbor. Stay and visit.
• Gather a group of friends and sing Christmas carols at a nearby nursing home. Stay and read the Bible. Or go caroling in your neighborhood with some friends.
• Drive an elderly neighbor or friend around to see the decorated homes.
• Take a family prayer walk together, and enjoy the beautiful world that God created. Then stop and pray for family and friends.
• Offer a single mom or dad a few hours off and take their children on a trip to the park or zoo.
•  Don't forget to share your faith within your own family. Begin a new family tradition by reading the Christmas story to your children on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning. Two appropriate readings include Luke 2:1-20 or Matthew 1:18-2:15.
• The Christmas season is a wonderful time to begin devotions within the home. Children love to light the Advent candles and read the Bible verses. Remind them that Jesus is the light of the world (John 8:12).
• Plan games, serve inexpensive snacks, and close with a short prayer. Devotional time might include a series of questions the children help you answer, along with appropriate Bible verses. Some suggestions include: “Why do you think God put the star in the sky when Jesus was born?” Talk about how it led the wise men to the Christ child. “Why do you think it shined so bright?” Talk about Jess being the light of the world and how He lights our path. Ask the children how Jesus was wrapped up. Explain that swaddling clothes were used during Biblical times and why they were used. Ask, “How could this relate to why we wrap presents today? What gifts did the wise men bring Jesus?” Then close with a prayer.

There are a myriad of ways to share our faith. Consider doing one or two of these suggestions during the upcoming Christmas season.

Then, join me, as well as my family and thousands of other Christians throughout the world in praising our Wonderful Counselor, the Prince of Peace, and the Savior of the world! He is worthy of all our praise and adoration!

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will rest on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”(Isaiah 9:6).

The above article is from Witnessing-A Lifestyle, a book by Kay L. Meyer and Putting God Back in the Holidays by Bill and Penny Thrasher.