A simple ceremony for Christmas Eve

Many of us will be with extended family or friends for Christmas Eve. Here is a simple ceremony for the evening. Make it too complicated and you may not do it or some will balk at a drawn out proceeding.

So try this simple reflection for Christmas Eve.

In advance, buy a enough tea light or votive candles for everyone. Have a lighter handy.

Pass out the candles to everyone. You can do this before the meal to increase anticipation or wait till afterwards when everyone may be more relaxed. Prepare everyone that a moment of silence will come after singing the song in a few minutes.

Have one of the children or adults read Luke 2:1-20 or Matthew 1:18-25

Now light one candle and the person with that candle can light the next. This will be difficult with votives or tea lights (some Christian bookstores have long candles with cardboard wax protectors). Keep lighting until everyone's candle is lit.

Sing "Silent Night" while lighting candles.

End the song with a long moment of silence.

Say the Lord's Prayer aloud together or have the eldest person say a prayer (consider asking this person in advance--even before the day so they might prepare or write a prayer or think about appropriate words to pray).

Wineskins Advent Reflection Week 3

Advent is a time to prepare ourselves for the celebration of Christ coming into the world, and a time to prepare ourselves for Christ's second coming.

Read and Meditate
Isaiah 35:1-10; Luke 1:47-55; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11.

Discuss and Do
Live simply that others may simply live. –Ghandi

How can you live out this above saying, individually or as a family?

For that person who has everything—you can never think of anything to buy for him or her . . . Have you considered giving that person the gift of your time?

What about a donation to a charity in the name of the person to whom you are giving a present? Consider giving to the Mvule Project. www.kibogroup.org

Make a gift for Jesus
Make something with your hands, write a poem of praise, create something.

Wrap up this creation and put it under the Christmas tree or make a stocking for Jesus.

Sing
O Come All Ye Faithful

Wineskins Advent Reflections: Week 2

Advent is a time to prepare ourselves for the celebration of Christ coming into the world. Advent means arrival. So each of the four Sundays leading up to Christmas are marked by storytelling about Christ’s coming and self-examination and hearing from voices who announced his coming.

Read and Meditate
Isaiah 11:1-10; Romans 15:4-13; Matthew 3:1-12

Make room in your heart for the Lord
Start by giving away an extra coat to the person in need

Clean out your closet one garment at a time
And make room in your heart one attachment at a time
Clinging idols that crowd Christ, one by one
Then open your social calendar
write appointments for times with your Father in prayer

Make room in your heart
Then open your wallet and shelve your credit cards
make room for the poor
Make room in your heart for the Lord

Sing
Play your favorite songs about Jesus and Christmas. Each person in your group or family could decide a song to play. Have one of the children burn a CD with all the songs off of iTunes or just play CDs . . . or old records, if you have a record player!

Pray
Dear Father, we’re wandering in your world. We often come fully in a circle and recognize the path we’ve been so many times. Teach us to learn from this journey to love you more as you have loved us. Holy God, help us make room in our hearts for Jesus, Emmanuel, God-with-us.

From our readers
Opportunity of Advent
I just wanted to thank Wineskins for this great opportunity. I look at all the great opportunities I have missed being legalistic about Christmas. What other time of the year are people more open to hear the story about Christ? People are also longing for fellowship and relationships this time of the year too! I want to be like our Lord who used every opportunity to tell/show others about his Father, even a wedding feast!

Again, thanks!
Jeannine Tyree

Favorite Christmas Stories
One of my favorite Christmas children's books is One Wintry Night by Ruth Graham Bell. It's a bit long, but the first year when my kids were younger we read it a chapter a night. It begins the Christmas story in the beginning (Genesis) and does one of the most wonderful jobs of putting the advent into the big picture context. Plus the illustrations are glorious!

My kids laugh at me because I always cry at the end, like clockwork. But it's a great book. Also love The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey.

The other thing I've done that I learned from a friend is to visit different churches on Christmas eve with my children (now older teens). Our church is small and doesn't do anything organized on Christmas eve, so it's been a wonderful opportunity to participate in Christmas traditions with other Christians in our city.

Blessings,

Rendi Hahn
Abilene, Texas

Wineskins Advent Reflections: Week 1

When I suggested to Jacob, my eight-year-old son, that we hide baby Jesus from the manger scene on our coffee table, he jumped at the chance. We would put each person or animal out as we read parts of the Christmas story during Advent.

So we not only hid Jesus but also the shepherds, wise men, a lamb, and a donkey.

But Jacob thought Mary needed the donkey. So he tried to balance the Mary figurine on the donkey, but the composite polymer Donkey was frozen in the sitting position, so we both didn't see the point anyway.

So we left Mary to walk and the stubborn donkey to sit and perhaps catch up later.

For many years at Christmas time, I've been a stubborn donkey, and you can substitute the King James Version there if you want. I've simply resisted the season like a donkey, rather than opening myself to new experiences of Advent and simplicity and ways to pass that on to others
and my children.

Advent is a time to prepare ourselves for the celebration of Christ coming into the world. So once a week in December, leading up to Christmas, Wineskins will send out Advent Reflections. These will be marked by storytelling about Christ's coming, exhortation to examine our lives, and we'll hear from voices who announced his coming.

We'll also post some of your reflections. Email us.

The following brief reflection and instructions for an Advent Wreath is taken from and inspired by Simple Living.

Advent Wreath
Take a shallow bowl and fill with sand or salt and place four purple candles around the edges, or use candle holders. Place one large white candle in the middle. Make a circle of evergreens and place around the bowl or candle holders.

You need a Bible, matches, and you can also use a manger scene.

Light one candle during this week's reflection. The second week, light two, then three the third week and four the fourth. On Christmas Eve, light all and the middle white candle.

Set aside some time each week for this short ceremony. Invite those who are alone to join you in worship. Use the telephone to join someone. Gather as a family or with friends.

Read and Meditate and Prepare Ourselves
Isaiah 2:1-5; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44

Discuss
Are you prepared for this season? Are you already stressed out? Why? Have you considered giving the gift of time this month?

Average Americans consume five times more than Mexicans, ten times more than average Chinese, and twenty times more than average person in India. What do you really need this Christmas?

Are we willing to spend less on ourselves and more to needy people?

OXFAM: Give a donkey this Christmas



Calendar
Plan times to make visits, bake cookies for someone, donate your time or money to charities. Plan your shopping only on certain days. Plan NOT to be going to stores everyday in December but plan this out together. Plan your Advent Reflection times for a certain time together.

Sing
O come, O come, Emmanuel