The Real Star of Christmas

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning." James 1:17

"And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son as Savior of the World."

Sweaters...

Sweaters...

More sweaters... 

Some were ugly Christmas sweaters. Some were funny. Some were clever.  

Here's our class, all dressed in stripes like candy canes.

Bible Buddies paid us a visit on Wednesday.

Mr. White read a story, then the middle schoolers shared cookies with their little buddies.

Reindeer showed up on Christmas hat day.

We had an assortment of Santas.

We had a few unusual hats.

Some hats came with lights.

 With all this talk about Santa and elves, it's easy to miss the real meaning of Christmas.  We love to watch the children's  faces light up with excitement when they see the Christmas tree aglow or when they spot that elusive Elf on the Shelf.  We love to give them gifts. After all, our Heavenly Father gives us gifts, and we know that every good thing that we have comes from Him. (James 1:17) On Christmas, we commemorate the greatest gift of all: the Father gave His Son as Savior of the world. (I John 4:14; John 3:16).

So what is the real meaning of Christmas? I love the classic line from "A Charlie Brown Christmas," where Linus says, "Sure, Charlie Brown. I can tell you what Christmas is all about." Then he proceeds to recite from Luke Chapter 2, the scripture passage that the kids are memorizing, where the angels announce to the shepherds that the Savior has been born in Bethlehem.

It's a challenge to explain this concept to children in language they can understand.  Why did God have to send Jesus to earth? Basically, because we are sinful and God is holy.  God's sense of justice says that sin must have consequences, but in His great love and mercy, He sent His Son Jesus to pay the consequences for our sin.  Jesus came as a baby---a human like us, but without sin---so He understands how tough it can be sometimes to be human.

We love the Christmas festivities, but we don't want to put so much emphasis on presents that we encourage greed. We need to remind our kids, (to quote another famous animated character), "Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more!"

Next week we'll shine the spotlight on the real star of Christmas......Jesus!

"A Star shall come out of Jacob; a Scepter shall rise out of Israel." Numbers 24:17