Everything Advent and Christmas

By ministry_matters
Created on July 23rd, 2012

About This Bin

All your preaching, worship, outreach, and teaching ideas for Advent and Christmas in one place! Also see more specific bins for Advent and Christmas Sermon Series and Worship Videos for Christmas!

Articles How Christmas Can Help Your Church Grow in 2012
- By Ministry Matters
- Posted on November 28th, 2011
Churches sometimes underestimate the importance of the Advent and Christmas seasons when planning their growth stategies for the year. Because December is such a busy month, it…
Articles Sermon Series: Gifts
- By Bob Holloway
- Posted on October 12th, 2011
2 Week Series Week 1: Where Do Gifts Come From? Deuteronomy 26:1-19 One Christmas, shortly after my mother-in-law had passed away, a new dish appeared on our dining room table. …
Articles Tried and Tested Christmas Series Ideas
- By Ministry Matters
- Posted on October 18th, 2011
It's fun to brainstorm and plan your own sermon series, but there's no shame in borrowing or being inspired by what other churches have done. Here are a few sermon series that…
Articles Santa Claus Jesus
- By Mike Slaughter
- Posted on December 13th, 2011
What does God look like? How would you recognize God if or when God showed up? Artists have attempted to depict God’s image in countless ways through the millennia…
Articles Why Nazareth?
- By Adam Hamilton
- Posted on July 25th, 2011
The Christmas story begins in the town of Nazareth nine months before the birth of Jesus. Now, if any narrative ever cried out for attention to detail it is this one, so…
Articles Advent Studies for Small Groups
- By Ministry Matters
- Posted on September 29th, 2011
The four weeks leading up to Christmas are a special time of spiritual preparation that can often get lost in the tangible preparations of decorating, baking, and gift-buying…
Articles Review: The Journey
- By Patricia Farris
- Posted on July 18th, 2011
Pastor and prolific author, Adam Hamilton, has written an engaging, highly-readable book for the Advent/Christmas season based on portraits of the major characters and places in…
Articles Review: Christmas is Not Your Birthday
- By Eric Van Meter
- Posted on July 20th, 2011
Christmas has been hijacked, and Mike Slaughter is fed up. His latest book, Christmas Is Not Your Birthday: Experience the Joy of Living and Giving Like Jesus, lines out what he…
Articles Don't Just Talk about Jesus Again This Christmas
- By Shawn Wood
- Posted on December 7th, 2011
I know that titles that grab your attention usually resolve with being more catch than truth, but I am spitting truth here. Please don’t talk any more about Jesus…
Product Christmas: Just Invite
- By Beamer Films
- Posted on February 1st, 2011
Encourage your congregation to invite friends, family and neighbors during the Christmas season. This video confronts the fact that people are more open to spiritual truth during…
Product Christmas: So He Could Be Known
- By Beamer Films
- Posted on February 1st, 2011
This video is similar to Beamer's other Christmas video entitled "God's Greatest Gift", but with a few changes, including music with a more Christmas feel. Encourage others with…
Articles Walk Through Bethlehem
- By Sue Isbell
- Posted on October 24th, 2012
In the busyness of the holidays, take time to imagine what Bethlehem might have been like the night Jesus was born, as if you were a traveler on a special journey through this…
Articles A Mysterious God, a Tangible Christ
- By Robert A. Ratcliff
- Posted on November 12th, 2012
As Advent draws near, we spend a lot of time thinking, teaching, and preaching about the great Christian doctrine of the Incarnation. In Christ, God comes to us, becomes one of…
Articles Advent Wreath Liturgies for "A Different Kind of Christmas"
- By Jarrod Johnston
- Posted on November 19th, 2012
This Advent season, our worship and education teams have chosen to take on the A Different Kind of Christmas study, based on the book Christmas is Not Your Birthday by Rev…
Articles Christmas in Two Homes
- By Jenni Duncan
- Posted on November 21st, 2011
A suitcase, step-families, many grandparents, a manger, Santa, and maybe Hanukkah. Airplanes, long car rides, and different beds. Quick stops in many places. Gifts, food, and…
Articles Hurry Less, Worry Less at Christmas
- By Judy Pace Christie
- Posted on November 22nd, 2011
A Sweet and Special Time of Year Most of the people I know are nearly obsessed with time—not enough time, how fast time is passing, where the time goes. Part of the way we…
Articles The Truth About Santa Claus
- By Max Lucado
- Posted on July 24th, 2011
Some call him Sinterklaas. Others Pere Noel or Papa Noel. He’s been known as Hoteiosho, Sonnerklaas, Father Christmas, Jelly Belly, and to most English speakers, Santa…
Articles Worshiping Through Advent
- By Jenny Youngman
- Posted on November 25th, 2011
The season of Advent begins the Christian year. In Advent we learn to wait, to expect God’s movement in the world. The most familiar Advent tradition is the lighting of the…
Product Christmas: A Time To Prepare
- By Beamer Films
- Posted on February 1st, 2011
Pregnancy is a wonderful illustration of the season of Advent. Waiting, hoping, and anticipating that special day in which we celebrate the birth of Jesus -- the light of the…
Product Christmas: God's Greatest Gift
- By Beamer Films
- Posted on February 1st, 2011
Encourage others with this video about epic story of Jesus... how his humility is our gift, his poverty is our riches, his shame is our glory, and his life is our light.
Blog The Lowliness of God
- By Jan Johnson
- Posted on July 17th, 2012
What picture comes to mind when you hear this phrase: a homeless refugee with a price on his head? That description fits the baby Jesus held tightly by his parents fleeing in the…
Blog Not Just a Tree
- By Betsy Hall
- Posted on July 24th, 2011
One of the highlights for me during the Advent season is the Chrismon Tree. A Chrismon Tree is an evergreen tree decorated with chrismons, or Christ-monograms. Chrismons are…
Articles 5 Things Your Church Must Do at Christmas
- By Ministry Matters
- Posted on November 19th, 2011
Earlier this week, someone asked us to list five things that churches really need to do at Christmas. The Ministry Matters team brainstormed the question and came up with the…
Video A Different Kind of Christmas
- By Mike Slaughter
- Posted on July 24th, 2012
This video is a preview of the DVD study sessions from Mike Slaughter's A Different Kind of Christmas, a five-session study for Advent based on the book, Christmas is Not Your…
Video Christmas is Not Your Birthday
- By Mike Slaughter
- Posted on July 24th, 2012
Articles Jesus' Birthday Wish List
- By Kevin Alton
- Posted on July 24th, 2012
What do you get for somebody who has everything? Choosing Christmas gifts is one of the most torturous social exercises known to humankind. It’s our own fault that it has…
Articles Longest Night
- By Ben Gosden
- Posted on July 24th, 2012
The Christmas season is often marked by expressions of joy, excitement, and happiness. It’s a time for family to gather and for churches to worship pointing to the hope that …
Articles Modeling Mary: Switching Agendas with God
- By John Burns
- Posted on July 24th, 2012
Mary of Nazareth must have been very excited about her immediate plans. She was engaged to marry Joseph, a good man from a great family. Surely her mind was filled with wedding…
Articles It's a Wonderful Life (Sermon Series with Drama)
- By Bill Barnes
- Posted on July 24th, 2012
This five part series for Advent uses the classic holiday film, "It's a Wonderful Life," as a creative vehicle to preach the lessons of Advent. The approach was especially…
Articles Focusing Christmas Outward
- By Josh Mauney
- Posted on July 23rd, 2012
It is a hot July all over the country and already thoughts are being turned toward Christmas. While it may seem a little crazy to already be talking about a holiday that is months …
Articles Christmas Remix
- By Rachel Gilmore
- Posted on July 23rd, 2012
Rethinking How and Why Your Congregation Celebrates the Season As a church leader, have you ever thought about skipping Christmas? There’s a quirky little John Grisham…
Articles Advent Traditions to Try
- By Josh Tinley
- Posted on July 23rd, 2012
Christians today have a tendency to get into the Christmas spirit a little earlier than we probably should. Retailers in the United States more than a century ago decided that the …
Articles Creating an Advent Devotional for Home
- By Joellyn Webster Tuttle
- Posted on July 25th, 2012
An Advent devotional booklet can encourage families and individuals to take time at home to remember what Christ's birth means. What we believe and what we do can come together in …
Articles Helping People Spend Wisely
- By Jessica Miller Kelley
- Posted on July 25th, 2012
Christmas is a half-trillion dollar industry in the United States. Gifts, decorations, big meals, travel, cards, shipping. . . all this merriment comes with a hefty price tag, if…
Articles Big Events for Christmas
- By Robert J. Morgan
- Posted on July 27th, 2011
After pastoring the same church for 31 Christmases, I’ve got mixed feelings about the holiday. For church workers, Christmas isn’t easy. It comes annually with the…
Blog Top 5 Ways to Mess Up Your Christmas Opportunity
- By Maurilio Amorim
- Posted on July 25th, 2011
Every year I have to convince senior pastors that Christmas Eve is a powerful and great opportunity to reach out to their communities. Catholic churches have known this for…
Articles Christmas is Not Your Birthday: Sermon Series
- By Mike Slaughter
- Posted on July 25th, 2011
I stood before our congregation in the fall of 2004 and said, “I want you to have a slim Christmas this year . . . and whatever you spend on your family, bring an equal…
Product Winter Snow v.7
- By Beamer Films
- Posted on February 1st, 2011
This is version 7 of 7 loopable motion backgrounds that show the glories of winter! Sure to add ambiance and heighten your winter or Christmas service offerings.
Product Glowing Lights Loop 03
- By Beamer Films
- Posted on February 1st, 2011
This loop is from our "Glowing Lights" collection, a set of 6 looping motion backgrounds great for sermon notes, announcements, lyrics, or by itself to add a creative edge to your …
Product Christmas Quotes Countdown
- By Beamer Films
- Posted on February 1st, 2011
Against the backdrop of nativity images, this countdown features powerful Christmas scriptures and quotes that are sure to inspire. Surely a perfect lead-in to your christmas…
Articles Try Something New for Advent
- By Ministry Matters
- Posted on July 26th, 2012
Before we know it, the air will be turning cool, leaves will fall, the Thanksgiving turkeys will go on sale, and the twelfth month of people's calendars will start filling up with …
Articles Worship in a Flash (Free Download!)
- By Ministry Matters
- Posted on July 26th, 2012
When your kids' Christmas gifts arrive on the doorstep from Amazon in a few months, many people's excitement may give way to panic when they see those dreaded words "Some Assembly …
Articles 5 Outreach Ideas for Advent
- By Shane Raynor
- Posted on July 25th, 2012
For the Western secular world, the Christmas season starts right after the Thanksgiving Day meal and ends on Christmas Day. Then we set our sights on the New Year. But…
Articles Keep Christ in Advent
- By Robert A. Ratcliff
- Posted on July 23rd, 2012
“Wait,” you say; “Didn’t you mean ‘Keep Christ in Christmas?’” Well, no, I didn’t mean that. As we’ve all suspected and…