After more than twenty-five years of ministry, I know only too well that Christmas is both a great opportunity and hard work!
When I was a young Assistant Pastor in Edinburgh (in the previous millennium!), I saved up all my Christmas talks ready for when I had my own church. But I well remember my first year as a sole Pastor because, just like this year, Christmas Eve fell on a Sunday, and the Deacons wanted me to do a Nativity and Carol Service on 17th December. Combined with Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, this meant five Christmas talks in one year – so all my talks gone in one go!
So how do we stay fresh and creative in preaching the gospel every festive season? Here’s what I do… which you may, or may not, find helpful.
1 – Rotate the source material
I have a pattern of basing my sermon series in the spring on a different Gospel each year (e.g., Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel one year, followed by parables in Luke the following, then encounters with Jesus in Mark, etc.). Then I base Christmas, before the series starts, and Easter, at its end, on the same Gospel. That way I rotate through Christmases with a different Gospel each year. (Mark is a bit harder – I usually look at OT prophecies when it comes round). This means that I only come to the shepherds or the wise men once every four years, and that really helps me to remain fresh… or at least fresher!
2 – Think about the USP
All four Gospels point to Jesus but each one has a USP – a ‘unique selling point’. I think and pray about, for example, what in particular Matthew wants to tell us about Jesus by starting with his genealogy. The basic gospel message remains the same each year – ‘he will save his people from their sins’ (Matthew 1:21) – but I work hard on what specific aspect of the gospel the Lord wants me to highlight each Christmas.
3 – Watch the news
The incarnation is all about God stepping into our neighbourhood, our existence. What are people in my local community thinking about at the moment? Fighting in Gaza? The economy? Global warming? How does the good news of Christmas speak into those issues? For example, for Christmas during lockdown 2020 our publicity was based around the public health announcements about Covid-19. My Carol Service talk was from Psalm 24: 1. Hands. 2. Face. 3. Space. We all have dirty hands and cannot see God face to face, so Jesus came to remove the space between us.
4 – Keep an eye out for social trends
This does not happen every year, but sometimes there is a strong Christmas trend that captures the public’s imagination. It could be the latest Star Wars film, a rearranged football World Cup, or maybe a ‘must have’ present. I’m not looking to base my talks on it, but I am looking for contact points with the people around us. I want to speak the gospel into their world rather than expecting visitors to first enter my world in order to hear about Jesus.
5 – Preach Christ
And only Christ! The danger of some of these tips is that I spend more time watching TV than reading the Bible. The most important thing is to read and reread the Gospel accounts of the birth of our Saviour. To mediate and dwell on the message of the gospel. I want to know and love Him more and more so that I am compelled to speak about Him. I need to spend as much time in prayer as in service preparation. If I am truly overwhelmed by Christ (and only Him), then I will find it easy to speak about Him this Christmas and every Christmas.
John Smuts is currently the minister of Rayners Lane Baptist Church in Harrow and has previously been a pastor in Scotland and Australia. He is married to Emily (who works at the London School of Theology) and has two daughters.
Photo by Zach Lucero on Unsplash