An Easy Christmas Eve Add-On

Christmas Eve is coming before you know it, and you’re probably starting to fret about creating a memorable service. Don’t sweat it! We’ve got a simple idea to make your Christmas Eve extra special. An interactive nativity display can add a creative new element to delight your church.

Here’s what you do:

Set up some tables in your fellowship hall or foyer. Drape those tables in black fabric—it makes the nativity scenes pop! String up some Christmas lights for a little extra twinkle.

Then, invite your congregation to bring in their treasured nativities from home. Ask them to include a photo of their family and a paragraph about why their nativity is special. This gives folks a chance to share their traditions.

To really spotlight each nativity, have people bring battery-operated candles or mini lights. Keep the room dim so the nativities glow in the candlelight. Very peaceful, very moving.

While people wander and admire the nativities, have some musicians play quiet, meditative tunes in the background. Or just use a nice instrumental Christmas playlist if live music is too tricky.

This nativity display makes a perfect pre- or post-service activity on Christmas Eve. It gets people engaged and sets a reverent mood. Little fuss required on your part!

Now, if you wanna kick things up a festive notch, make it brighter and more upbeat. Use cheery Christmas tunes as folks peruse the nativities. Set up info tables about your church ministries to get new folks connected.

However you arrange it, a hands-on nativity display is a surefire way to delight your congregation on Christmas Eve. It reminds them of the true meaning of the season in a fresh, interactive way.

The Worship Leader’s Guide to Advent and Christmas

Many churches jump straight from Thanksgiving into singing Christmas carols, but Advent should not be skipped over. Advent is a sacred season of preparation, repentance, and hope as we await both Christ’s first and second coming. Christmas carols are premature before Christ’s birth on December 25. Worship leaders should spend Advent singing songs that cry out for God’s renewal and yearn for His return. Then on Christmas Eve, joyfully pull out all the stops with celebrating Jesus’ incarnation. Don’t lose sight of the deeply spiritual journey we walk from Advent longing to Christmas rejoicing. Thoughtful attention to themes and song choices enriches our worship in December.

Read the full article.

Top 15 Christmas Songs for Churches

Though new Christmas songs release annually, it’s the cherished carols that congregations love to sing each holiday season. Lifeway Worship has put together a list of the top 15 songs that every church member gets excited to sing!

See the full list.

5 Strategies For Churches To Celebrate Christmas

Christmas provides a wonderful opportunity for churches to get creative in sharing the love of Jesus. Rather than just neglecting the holiday altogether, consider special Christmas Eve services, volunteering experiences, hosted community meals, encouraging individual outreach, or social media campaigns. The goal should be keeping Christ at the heart of it all – not just putting on empty events. Whether large-scale or simple, let’s make sure this Christmas draws people to encounter the hope and joy we have in our Savior.

Read the full article.

Kanye West Speaks at Lakewood

Sorry for all the Kanye posts but this one is really interesting! Joel Osteen interviewed Kanye West last Sunday at Lakewood Church (that evening Kanye performed one of his “Sunday Services.”) Evidently Lakewood mysteriously removed a segment of what he said from Youtube. The doctored version is above, the full version is below (courtesy of someone’s camera phone.) If you’d like to watch I’d suggest sooner rather than later – Youtube has a habit of banning videos.

 

A Modern Church Stage Design Idea (And How We Did It)

VIDEO: Worship leader Dave Dolphin shares a new stage design for his worship center stage, and this video shares where the inspiration came from, the different stages of how they built it and how they safely secured it to the stage and the building structure.

worshipideas:

Essential reading for worship leaders since 2002.

 

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