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Intentional Christmas Fellowships with Groups


It's the most wonderful time of the year...

I get very excited when it comes to preparing for Christmas.  There are parties, cheesy movies, there is good food, there are presents, and of course tacky sweaters.  We all have that one guy that is able to find the fake turtleneck and white sweater just like Christmas vacation.

With all of this, don't forget that this can be one of the most effective times to share our faith in groups.  With a world that seems hopeless with all that is going on, what better time to invite people to trust in Christ.  I guarantee that you will find people searching for truth in the midst of this chaos.  I say all of this to say, we need to be very intentional this Christmas season in making sure that we are inviting people to our Christmas fellowships.

Now with all of that being said, I want to give you some things that should happen at each Christmas fellowship that will help us to be intentional.  Some of these are beforehand and some of these are during the actual fellowship.

1. Invite guests to come, but make it free for them.  I have seen some groups to go all out on preparations and they have to supplement the cost.  This is fine, but if you are going to invite someone to attend that is a guest or even first time guest to the group, make it free for them.  They are guests to our groups and it should be free for them to come in.  The danger by charging everyone that comes is that it will close off the group or begin to make the group look like a clique.

2. Read the Christmas story (Luke 2).  I have been to many Christmas parties before that are even church sponsored without there being the reading of the Christmas story.  Take the time to stop whatever you are doing and read this chapter.  It may be the reminder that a family needs in the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season to remember its truly about Christ.  It also may be the first time (and sadly only time) that some families will even hear the Christmas story.  Once again, if we are not going to be intentional about this time of year, we are guilty of just being social instead of intentional.

3. Pray for an unreached people group.  You can go to the IMB website and find unreached people groups that have never heard about Jesus or have never heard the true reason for Christmas.  What a great time to pray as a group and ask for God to send people to these groups to hear about Jesus!  You never know, it may even inspire someone in the group to go and share the message of Jesus!

4. Have fun!  Christians are to be the most joyful people in the world!  We have the truth living inside of us!  We have the power to live for Jesus everyday!  We have a home that is waiting on us!  Let's celebrate together the arrival of Jesus!

5. Be intentional to invite everyone to church.  Once again this is a great time to stop and invite everyone to be at church during this Christmas season.  It may be challenging, but I believe the reason that a majority of people never come to church is because they are not asked to come.

These are five simple things that you can do with any Christmas fellowship.  The key is the be intentional in accomplishing these tasks.  I believe that if we do these things, we will see fruit from being faithful to God's Word and by building fellowship among one another.

God bless

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