His Birthday Celebration

Kajijis,
Last week at Caroline’s was good fun and great conversation. Thanks, Caroline! We discussed how we can celebrate Jesus’ birthday in tangible ways. Here are some online ideas:

Happy Birthday, Jesus1

Offer Jesus a symbolic gift in honor of his birthday. Give him an area of your life you desire to change—an emotion, an activity, or a relationship—and physically wrap a box to represent it. Do this individually or as a family. Create a family present to display every year by painting an unfinished wooden box and tying it with a silk ribbon.

Guest of Honor
Set a place of honor for Jesus at your Christmas dinner table as a reminder of his presence.

Bake a Birthday Cake for Jesus2
Let your children help you make a special cake ahead of time and share it with friends and family on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day:
Make a white, round cake to remind your family of Jesus' purity and his eternal reign. Use 20 candles to represent the 20 centuries since Christ's birth. You can use red candles as a symbol of the blood Jesus shed for us and for Christmas joy. Tell your children that the candlelight reminds us that Jesus is the Light of the World. Place a silver star in the center of the cake to represent the star of Bethlehem. You can make a star with silver candles or by covering cardboard with aluminum foil. Before you sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus and blow out the candles, explain the symbolism to your children.

We also discussed the possibility of celebrating the Day of Epiphany – January 6th (more on that in a future email). And Shawna brought a book by John Piper (Future Grace? I think it was) who wrote a chapter in his book about our indebtedness to God and what we do with that feeling of indebtedness. It was a very interesting read, and I wish I had it in front of me to quote for you. But if I remember correctly, it was focused on our getting rid of our feeling of “IOU” to God and instead asking Him for more – more of Him, more of everything He has to offer us, etc. God delights in us and doesn’t want us operating from a feeling of indebtedness to Him – He just wants us to love Him and want to know Him more. Thank you, Shawna for bringing your book.

We will not be meeting tomorrow or next week and will resume our gatherings on January 5th. Anyone willing to host in the coming weeks, please let me know. Thanks! Have a wonderful Christmas and birthday celebration!

Three Wise Women would have…
Asked directions,
Arrived on time,
Helped deliver the baby,
Cleaned the stable,
Made a casserole,
Brought practical gifts and
There would be
Peace on Earth.3

:-) Crystal


1, 2, 3 – All of these were found on the internet, but I misplaced the information of where they were from. Sorry!