8 Reasons You May Need To Change Your Christmas Plans

There are a number of churches canceling their services on Christmas Day this year. I don’t remember Christmas 2016 that well, the last time Christmas Day fell on a Sunday, but that is probably because the church I attended then did not cancel services on Christmas Day. If they had done so, I would remember because I would have been unhappy about it. We will not have to have this discussion again for eleven years since the next Christmas Day on a Sunday is that far away, but it never was a discussion to be had in my mind and it will not be then. Let me lay out eight reasons why we will have services this December 25th, and why I believe every Christian should have plans to attend a worship gathering that day, even if you need to go to another church because your church closed.

1.  Christmas is about Christ.

Over my lifetime there has been a lot of complaining about the secularization of Christmas. “Keep Christ in Christmas” and making sure to say “Merry Christmas” and not “Happy Holidays” has been a theme for many years now. So, how can the church complain about the world taking Christ out of Christmas if she herself chooses to not assemble with His body on the day set aside to specifically worship Christ? Let’s be consistent and keep Christmas about Christ and gather on Christmas Day with the church to worship Him.

2.  Christmas is a celebration of our Lord’s birthday

We claim that we are celebrating Jesus’ birthday on Christmas. Many in the church today will skip a regular Sunday worship service to attend a birthday party of a family member, then on Christmas would prefer to skip the birthday celebration of our Lord together to also gather with family. At some point, do we not need to ask the question whether our priority is to gather with our earthly family rather than with Christ’s family? Let’s straighten out our priorities and gather together on Christmas day to celebrate our Lord, focusing on His incarnation.

3.  It is Sunday morning.

The fact that it is Christmas, or a celebration of our Lord’s birthday, is not the primary reason we should gather. Rather, we should gather because it is Sunday morning, and Sunday mornings are reserved for the gathering of believers to assemble to worship the Almighty, the King of creation. Our Lord and Savior is worthy of one morning, of only a couple of hours of one morning, is He not? Sunday is the pattern we see in the early church in Scripture, as well as throughout church history. It should only be something very extreme that causes us to not meet on Sunday morning with the body. Let's continue our pattern of gathering on Sunday mornings to worship God together on Christmas morning.

4.  We are the body of Christ.

Christ is the Head and we are the body, and together we equip one another (Ephesians 4:1-16). We must gather to equip one another. Some might argue that taking a week off would not kill our sanctification, but I would take that argument in a different direction and ask this, is your sanctification going so well that you can afford to not take advantage of the grace God offers to you in your sanctification? I know for myself, I need more and more sanctification, that I am far from what I am supposed to be. I am yet holy and perfect, despite being commanded to be so. I need every grace God offers me for my sanctification. Let’s be committed to taking advantage of every grace of God as often as we can and plan to meet together Christmas morning.

5.  We are the family of God.

Christ is not only our Head, but God is our Father, and we are therefore brothers and sisters in Christ. We are not blood related, we are spiritually related, which is a greater relationship. I definitely want to spend Christmas morning, particularly on a Sunday morning, with my family…my church family. I get weary of churches that call themselves family to draw people in and then shut out that family on special occasions so they can be with their earthly relatives. Bring your relatives with you to church, and if they refuse to come because they are not believers, be a testimony to them that Christ is worthy of worship even if it means you miss out on time with them. Christ is worthy. Furthermore, there are people within churches who do not have believing earthly family, or any earthly family for that matter. Telling people to gather with earthly family instead of heavenly family might be acceptable to the majority of the congregation, but it might be extremely hurtful, and even cruel, to a few. Let’s remember who our true family is and that we need one another and gather on Christmas morning.

6.  It is instructed by God’s Word.

Hebrews 10:25 teaches us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. Pastors have a responsibility to keep calling people to assemble, congregations have a responsibility to continue assembling. If Jesus is Lord of your life, what right do you have to tell him, as a pastor or congregant, that you are going to take Christmas Day off from assembling? I had someone try to convince me that taking one Sunday off is not forsaking the assembling. Forsaking the assembling is not about frequency, rather it is about priorities Certainly sickness, severe weather, and other things can leave us with no option but to miss, but forsaking the assembling is about what we choose to do. Let us choose to gather together on Christmas morning in obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ.

7.  It is worship of Jesus.

Our Lord Jesus Christ is worthy of our worship, and He desires for us to worship Him. Furthermore, it is our high privilege to worship the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Perhaps we have neglected to understand how unworthy we are and how worthy He is that we consider the gathering of worship of Jesus to be something mundane or trivial. I fail to understand how any truly redeemed individual could long treat our Lord so casually. Some might claim I’m being legalistic, but I am talking here about devotion to the One who purchased you out of darkness into His glorious light. He is God almighty and is worthy of all worship, so let us gather together this Christmas morning to offer worship of our worthy Jesus.

8.  Jesus gave Himself for us.

The love of Christ constrains us, compels us, moves us, causes us to be obedient. I am not seeking to make claims that we would be better than others if we assemble, rather I am looking at our Savior and asking us to see what He has done for us. Perhaps the ultimate question we ought to examine in our own hearts is how valuable Christ is to us. Our God wrapped Himself in human flesh, came into the world through the womb of His sinful, unclean creation, born into a lowly estate, submitted Himself to a mother and father who were not sinless as He is, who were not holy as He is. He lived sinlessly among a sinful people, and endured the mocking, pain, torture, persecution, and death through the cruelest instrument of punishment known to man, the cross. More than that, He endured the wrath of God that I deserved, and He did all of this to redeem me because of His great love. Therefore, the question before us should always be, what can I return to my Lord, my God, my Savior? Am I willing to make any sacrifices for His sake, or do I just thank Him for His sacrifice with my lips while my heart is far from Him? Let us gather together, motivated by the love of Christ to worship Him in spirit and in truth.

I plead with you this year, make the worship of Christ first in your life. Let’s keep Christ in Christmas, not with our lip service, but with our whole hearts, devoted to Him in word and in deed. Devoted in every aspect of our lives, willing to give to Him our everything. We can never offer to Him enough. Let us fix our eyes on Christ together.

After all, is that not what Christmas is supposed to be all about?