Christmas is coming: make the most of the opportunity

The new atheists may be grabbing the headlines, and materialism making the running in everyday life. But people will still turn out for carols by candlelight and an opportunity to hear the old old story!

That means that Christmas is still the greatest opportunity we have for bringing the good news of the gospel before family, friends and neighbours. But we have some serious work to do to rescue the real message of Christmas from the fairy-tale version that most people think is the real thing. Salvation has a habit of being pushed out by Santa.

Given the size of the gospel opportunity, it's not too soon to start thinking about it - no matter how much we hate the start of the Christmas music in shops and on the radio. On the blog in the next few weeks we'll be offering you some intriguing insight to the Christmas story, and some extremely practical ideas on ways you can get ready to use the Christmas season for godly gospelling. We'll be encouraging you to:

• Plan: I'm already well ahead in my planning for a children's christmas event at our church. And I'm taking the opportunity to think about how I can link it all together. Parents will drop off their children for an afternoon of activities, but I'm already thinking about how I can reach out towards whole families through it, maybe get them to another Christmas event, and move them forward into more regular attendance so that they can hear the gospel. These kinds of connections can "just happen." But they happen more if you think them through and plan for them. Some great ideas on running family Christmas events in One Day Wonders and some great ideas for how to build effective outreach through them.
• Share: Sending a Christmas card with a gospel message is one simple way to sow the seed of God’s Word into the lives of friends. And why not include one of our matching gospel tracts with the card? It may be the way that the Lord starts to work in their lives. Check out our full list.
• Tell: We’ve also gathered a brilliant range of “gospel gifts” for people of all ages and types. Life Changer, is a graphic gospel ideal for teenagers, and Christmas Uncut is a low-cost fun read for adults. Both are brilliantly written and illustrated, accessible, short and enjoyable.
• Bring: Perhaps the biggest thing we can do, however, is to personally invite friends to hear the gospel message explained at a carol service. A growing number of churches are using our overprint service to turn our card designs into effective and attractive invitations. A warm invitation could be the moment when the gospel starts to take root in someone’s life.

But finally, we should prepare to…

• Enjoy it ourselves! OK, it’s a lot of work, and there’s a ton of things to do to get ready for it, and loads of church services and initiatives to get involved in. But it is first and foremost a season to be enjoyed as we celebrate God’s enormous saving love for us and the brilliant, shocking and wonderful truth of God made flesh for our sake.

Check out our bumper Christmas Catalogue, with special offers, massive discounts and brilliant ideas for gifts and outreach during the Christmas season. And check out our Christmas Overprint Service for invitations and flyers for your Christmas outreach services.