It Doesn’t Feel Like Christmas
We generally associate Christmas as being a season of joy and celebration, but many of us experience deep feelings of grief and loneliness during Christmas. That grief and loneliness grows as we tell ourselves we should be feeling positive emotions instead. If that’s you or someone you know, you’re not alone in those feelings. In the Bible, we read the birth of Jesus is welcomed by the brokenhearted. This week, we’ll discover that while we may not always feel able to celebrate, we can always open our hearts to welcoming our Savior.
Discussion Questions
What Christmas traditions do you and your family have?
Have those traditions changed at all this year? If so, how?
Has this year caused you and your family to build new traditions? If so, what?
Has it felt harder to get into the “Christmas season” this year? What things, if any, has made it harder?
Read Exodus 34:4-7. Despite all the things that have changed this year, what are things about God that never change?
Read Matthew 5:1-12. What does it mean to be blessed in circumstances that don’t feel like blessings?
When you tell the story of Christmas, what thoughts, experiences, or emotions are a part of the story you tell people this year?
Further Reading
The Gift of Christ
The love of material things often steals our attention. This leads us to focus on growing our collection of possessions, even thinking that those items can somehow provide authentic, deep life satisfaction. And when our idea of Christmas revolves around a misplaced...
Make Room for Jesus
The story of that very first Christmas includes chilling words for any family trying to deliver a baby: “There’s no room for you.” Truth is, that’s not the last time that sentiment would be spoken in Jesus’ direction. Life wants to crowd out Jesus. The pace. The...