{"id":534,"date":"2023-12-03T16:43:40","date_gmt":"2023-12-03T16:43:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/winseattle.org\/?p=534"},"modified":"2023-12-03T16:43:40","modified_gmt":"2023-12-03T16:43:40","slug":"december-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/winseattle.org\/?p=534","title":{"rendered":"December 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Three Ways to Keep Christ in Your Christmas<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, there are more than three ways, but here are three ways I\u2019ve seen families do (including my own family!) <\/em>to keep Christ in their Christmas celebrations\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Start\/Keep Christ-centered TRADITIONS.<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prayer. Bible. Church<\/em>\u2026 while the world gets busy with the commercialism and consumerism of the season, make sure your household keeps these Christ-honoring traditions intact. No matter how awkward it gets, read the Christmas Story from the source (The Bible), say a family prayer (not just for the food!) and worship together in church! I\u2019ve even heard of families with traditions of volunteering in community service events or caroling in another part of town! The shopping, exchange gifts, parties and decorations are not bad\u2026 just more difficult to connect to Christ \u2013 He\u2019s the Reason for the Season!   <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. GIVE in the Name of Jesus.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

God so loved the world that He GAVE!<\/em><\/strong>\u2026 Christmas generosity started with God (not in the North Pole!)<\/em>. Go out of your way to plan on giving to a worthy cause this Christmas. Let the Husband\/Wife plan and decide with the kids\u2026 then let everyone contribute! (no matter how much!). Whether it\u2019s to allow the less fortunate to celebrate Christmas too or to support the local food bank or your family\u2019s favorite charity or church activity\u2026 the point is to teach every member of your household the priority of giving. Give for goodness sake! Give in the Name of Jesus!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Let your HOME DECOR say, \u2018Christ is here!\u2019<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only on the outside, but especially inside your home\u2026 let it all be centered on Christ! Let it open up gospel-conversations with your neighbors, visitors and holiday guests. Let every piece of decor have a small Christ-connected line you can say when asked or complemented about it. From the star to the gifts, the manger scene, the light display and the ornaments and even the kind of music you play!… Let anything and everything \u201cchristmasy\u201d point and lead them to say \u201cChrist is in that home!\u201d<\/em><\/strong> . Paul told Timothy \u201cPreach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season.\u201d <\/em>(2 Tim.4:2)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May the countenance on our faces be the reflection of the Joy in our Hearts and the glorious Song of our Souls \u2013 \u201c<\/em><\/strong>Glory to God in the Highest – Our Savior is born!\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merry Christmas!<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pastor Vino Atienza<\/p>\n\n

<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three Ways to Keep Christ in Your Christmas Of course, there are more than three ways, but here are three ways I\u2019ve seen families do (including my own family!) to keep Christ in their Christmas celebrations\u2026  1. Start\/Keep Christ-centered TRADITIONS. Prayer. Bible. Church\u2026 while the world gets busy with the commercialism and consumerism of the season, make sure your household keeps these Christ-honoring traditions intact. No matter how awkward it gets, read the Christmas Story from the source (The Bible), say a family prayer (not just for the food!) and worship together in church! I\u2019ve even heard of families with traditions of volunteering in community service events orRead More →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-winadmin","4":"post-534","6":"format-standard","7":"category-pastorscorner"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/winseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/winseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/winseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=534"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/winseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":536,"href":"https:\/\/winseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534\/revisions\/536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/winseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}