Happy Holidays

It’s Halloween today, so – of course – today’s topic is Christmas… The reality is that Christmas is here! At least it is from a planning standpoint. You should be in the midst of Christmas planning by this point [if not already done]. It’s a big deal – it’s one of the few times when some people will come to church, whether in-person or online. You have one shot to convince them to come back, so you need to:

1.     Make it good – no one will believe you care if there’s no effort;

2.     Make it real – a first-timer needs to know how this affects them;

3.     Make it memorable – there should be a “wow factor” – different from other weeks;

4.     Tell the story – the days of every kids growing up knowing the basics of Christmas are long over. “A Charlie Brown Christmas” is the closest many people under 40 have come to church, if they equate Christmas and church at all…

Seriously, don’t underestimate what I said about #4. Many of us in senior church leadership have a hard time believing it, because everyone when we were growing up at least knew and understood the basics of Christmas, whether they allowed those facts to impact their lives in any way or not. That is no longer true. The basics of the “why” behind Christmas have got to be in there only – don’t assume knowledge and background that’s not there. 

That being said, there is an incredible opportunity this year to help give something that our world desperately, desperately needs – hope. More on that in the days to come… #creativeworshipideas