Christians: how do you celebrate the CHRIST in Christmas?

I'm always looking for ways to make sure Kaleigh understands the true meaning of the season. We have lots of fun with Santa and baking cookies but I'm looking for some ways to celebrate Jesus' birth. How do you celebrate the CHRIST in Christmas?

That is an AWESOME question!
I would love to know what people do as well!
Aside from going to church (we already do that!)....but things that can be done at home!
Thanks for posting that.

lol...we sing Happy Birthday to Jesus before opening the presents...and we always go to mass on Christmas Eve.

I am seriously thinking about doing something I have heard about.

When it comes to Santa gifts, I have heard about giving 3 gifts to each child representing the 3 gifts the magi brought to Jesus. I think this could be really neat. It may make them appreciate gifts more and also incorporate Jesus into the Santa part of Christmas.

I don't know~what do ya'll think?

lol...we sing Happy Birthday to Jesus before opening the presents...and we always go to mass on Christmas Eve.

When we go to my mom's house, she has a birthday cake with green frosting and puts a manger scene on it. We sing Happy Birthday to Jesus then. We used to do that when I was growing up and it really did make an impression on me.

We have a nativity set for each of the kids. Faith has a Fisher Price Little People one and I just bought Ben a plush one at Mardel's today. So we will be able to tell them/act out the Christmas story with their little figures (and without touching my nice ones). Mardel also had a set that you opened a "gift" each day for a week and each package contained a figure to set up and corresponding story/info. It looked cute, I still may go back and get that for Faith. She & I are also making a foam Nativity. I figure that is several ways to keep telling the story of Jesus' birth.

I want to take her to pick out an Angel on the Angel Tree and help me to decide on gifts for the child. Ideally, I want her to put away/donate things she won't use but I'm not sure at 4 that she'd completely understand that, and I'd have to really supervise that one.

We bake a birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas Eve and eat it with Christmas dinner. Ashlee has helped make it the last 2 years so we get an opportunity to talk to her about what Christmas really means.

We do the same as Shannon. We have a nativity and we read the Birth story of Jesus and act it out w/ the Nativity set.

I like the bday cake idea.

We do our advent wreath each Sunday and have a book with scripture that we read that goes along with each week. We also have the Nativity set they can "play" with and we tell Jacob about Jesus and the other Nativity figures. Our church has a baby Jesus birthday party, which we will have to miss this year because we will be out of town that weekend but that is something else we do. I also keep change with me when we are out and when we pass the Salvation Army bucket I let Jacob put money in and tell him that it helps people who don't have food, clothes, or toys. I think if you keep explaining in terms they can understand it will sink in.

We also do the birthday cake and sing happy birthday to Jesus, but I like the idea of having them help make it so we'll probably to that this year too.
My kids are birthday obsessed (just like their dad!) so we talk all year about who's birthday comes next - and Jesus is after Peyton. Because of that I think they associate the holiday season more with Jesus's birthday than they do with Santa, so the obsession had an unintended positive consequence!

Church on Christmas morning. Go up front and let the kids see the nativity scene.

Nativity under the Christmas tree.

Angel Tree from Church.

When it comes to Santa gifts, I have heard about giving 3 gifts to each child representing the 3 gifts the magi brought to Jesus. I think this could be really neat. It may make them appreciate gifts more and also incorporate Jesus into the Santa part of Christmas.We do this. Last year we got DD a little dress, a Christmas book, and one other thing that I can't remember! This year we got her a Melissa and Doug puzzle, a Christmas book, and the Leap Frog magnetic alphabet set. So, you can see that we don't do lots of the material stuff since our 3 gifts are really small and inexpensive. We're hoping to take the focus off of 'stuff' and put it back on Christ.

We also have a Little People nativity scene, hmm I wonder where that is? Now I'll have to go hunt for it!

I love the birthday cake idea, we'll probably do that next year.

We also are going to adopt a family or child to give Christmas to. I guess that doesn't focus on Christ necessarily, but it does put an emphasis on giving instead of receiving.

Those are all the ideas I have....I really think it has a lot to do with your attitude-are you worried more about shopping for hours to find the perfect gift or would you rather spend time with the ones you love. Are you stressed about parties, presents, and money or are you taking time to celebrate the miracles all around you??

Just my two cents! :)

We don't celebrate it as Jesus' actual birthday, because my boys are old enough to know that He was born in the spring, and having a birthday cake for Jesus is something I'd never even heard of until I was an adult. We have a family discussion about Christmas and the reason we give gifts. We've explained to them that there are three reasons we give gifts: one, because the Wise Men brought gifts to Christ; two, because God gave us the gift of His Son; and three, because Christ gave us the gift of His life.

This year we've really changed how we handle gifts, as well. We have lots of toys, and I just can't imagine them getting any more--there's nothing they really need. And if they don't need any toys and already have a ton, why get them more? It just seems to me to put too much emphasis on THINGS and material STUFF that isn't really what Christmas is all about.

So this year Santa brings presents, but only one. The kids drew names and will get one gift for a sibling. But instead of us getting gifts for all of them, and them getting presents for us, we're going to take all the money that we'd budgeted for parent-to-child and child-to-parent gifts and go shopping to buy things for the Metrocrest Family Services. Metrocrest has a list of suggested donations that they can use (which I downloaded and printed), and those will go into a "shop" where parents who can't afford to buy gifts, can go and get presents for their kids and not have to pay. That way those kids don't realize they're getting donated gifts.

We actually sat down and discussed that with our kids before deciding to do it; we didn't just make it a decision of "Here's what Mom and Dad say and you have to go along with it." They think it's a great idea and are very excited about doing it. We're taking one whole Saturday to hit the sales and try & get as much as possible with what we have to spend.

I'm really very happy about the whole plan. The kids will still get a couple of presents, but they're also learning about service and giving and sacrifice, because they know they're giving up something as well.

That is how we plan to emphasize Christ this season.

three reasons we give gifts: one, because the Wise Men brought gifts to Christ; two, because God gave us the gift of His Son; and three, because Christ gave us the gift of His life.




That is great! It could easily go along with the 3 gift idea too. (reasons behind it). I really like NOT putting too much emphasis on Christmas gifts. We would rather give more gifts for the kids birthdays (although~ like many of you, we already have way too many toys)

We do our best to attend church on Christmas Eve, but since I have been working at another church...it hasn't been that regular the last few years:(
We have a nativity scene & we have an advent wreath.
Mostly we just discuss God & Jesus & how we can incorporate our beliefs in our everyday lives.

http://www.amazon.com/Adventure-Christmas-Helping-Children-Traditions/dp/1590520890

A MOPS speaker/mom told me about this book-I am going to look for it.

We also do the advent wreath and the giving tree at our church, but the cake sounds neat too. :)

My mom sent Landon a cute movie called Spunky's First Christmas. It talks about the meaning of Christmas and has a cute ending where Sparky (a dog)ends up lost but finds his way to a church where they are doing the story of Jesus birth in a manger.
This will be the first year that Landon will really understand Christmas and I am not sure what we will do. He LOVES birthday's so that will be a great idea to have a cake!

Well, our daughter is too young to understand (only 6 months old!!)
But DH and I always adopt an angel (or two) every year in lieu of gifts for each other. We are very active at church and participate in activities there.
Now that we have a little one, we'll have to start thinking of ways to teach her. I love the three gifts idea - you could also incorporate the Trinity into that...
I am also getting ready to make an advent calendar for our home (It will take me so long to finish that I better start now if I want Olivia to be able to use it before she's 15). My mom had one at our house when I was a kid, and I loved getting to take turns with my brother. I am going to design my own and incorporate Christ into it.

As an aside, today at school, I was in a hurry and (I teach orchestra) wrote
"1. Up on the Housetop
2. 1st xmas march" on the board. The kids told me I had "crossed out Christ" - I thought that was really neat that they even said anything - I mean, it's public school. So I told them that I was sorry for offending them, that I knew what the real meaning of Christmas was and that I only did that because I was in a hurry - I hoped they could forgive me..
It was kinda cute actually!

I wanted my son to also understand that Christmas was about Christ so therefore I chose not to bring SAnta into the picture. Yes, scrooge, horrible mother, hum bug, etc. I just remember growing up and all I though about Christmas was gifts and what am I going to get and so on. I did not want him growing up that way.
So not doing Santa has helped our focus a lot.
I let my son pick out a special cake at walmart's bakery and we have a birthday party for Jesus. I also buy a dozen balloons and he sends them up to Jesus for HIs birthday. He so loves to do this that any time throughout the year that he gets a balloon, once we go outside he wants to send it up to Jesus.
When he was a year old I bought him the Fisher Price nativity scene. We pull that out each year as part of our decorating. We role play the acutal event using the little characters and then press the angel on top and sing silent night as it plays.
On Christmas morning before he wakes, I take the nativity scene up to his room and put a little night light so it shines on the nativity scene. When he wakes up that is the first thing he sees and I always tell him that it's Jesus' birthday today.
We also do the 3 gift limit thing. Although Jesus himself did not acutally receive 3 gifts, I still like the limit. The gold was for his parents to use as money, the frankencence and myrrh were medications to help Mary with her pain and bleeding.
I take my son to the dollar store and have HIM pick out gifts for all of our family members, not just mom and dad. He uses his OWN money to buy the gifts.
We will also be participating in the toy delivering thing that I mentioned in another thread so that he can acutally see children , not as fortunate as himself recieve gifts also.

My mom also has a birthday party for Jesus, on C-mas Eve.
Complete with cake and singing. :)