All Christmas articles – Page 2

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    Blog

    Mince pies, icy ponds and an alternative Christmas date!

    2017-01-19T00:00:00Z

    If you Google ‘Christmas’ right now, you will find a lot of Christians around the world just beginning to get into the Christmas spirit. Just as your young people are going back to school and you’re getting your head back into consent forms, finishing off the last mince pies and turkey sandwiches, there will be people jumping into lakes, rivers and icy ponds to find a cross that has been thrown there by a priest. Why is that? What Christian festivals are going on right now and why are people just starting to celebrate Christmas on January 7th? Isn’t Christmas the 25th of December?

  • Blog

    A talk for a Christmas Assembly

    2017-01-19T00:00:00Z

    As an extra resource for this month, Ali Campbell shares a Christmas themed talk that you can use in the advent period.

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    Issues

    The Axis of Good and Evil – Christmas

    2017-01-19T00:00:00Z

    There’s this constant tension in youth ministry: we want to use culture to talk about big issues and themes with young people, but often the films, TV shows and video games with the best moral messages are the ones made by well-meaning Christians in a shed. To put that another way, often the films, TV shows and video games with the best moral messages are terrible. So, here’s our solution to this problem: a monthly round-up where we rank a whole heap of stuff on whether it’s any good, and whether it’s both suitable and worth showing to your youth group. This month, we look at Christmas! So, festive ideas in the top right are to be commended for youth group shenanigans ... the darker side of Christmas in the bottom left - less so.

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    Issues

    Putting Christ back in Christmas

    2017-01-19T00:00:00Z

    Christmas is fast approaching and a Christmas assembly is a great opportunity to tell children about the amazing events that surrounded Jesus’ birth. However, children will take part in so many Christmas activities, plays and parties that there is a danger of them all running into each other. What can you do that will make your assembly stand out from the all the other events?

  • Issues

    Christmas Games

    2017-01-19T00:00:00Z

    Christmas is often perceived as simply being a time of fun, frivolity and food. As youth workers who are interested in the holistic development of the young people we work with, why not battle this inadequate view of what the season is all about by playing these games, which neatly encapsulate fun, frivolity and food. I have included a handy ‘reason-for-the-season’ link for each game too incase you wish to take your group ‘deeper’ into the Christmas story.

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    Issues

    Christmas at Ho-Ho Home

    2017-01-19T00:00:00Z

    Church services, nativities, Christmas cards…It’s easy to get carried away IN the whirlwind of festive activities on offer. Despite this, most of our early memories of Christmas revolve around family traditions. Jane Butcher gives us her top tips for a creative Christmas at ho-ho-home (sorry, it had to be done).

  • Issues

    Christmas Songs

    2017-01-19T00:00:00Z

    As Christian knowledge in the UK slowly dwindles, it’s less and less likely that people will know the words to Christmas carols. This makes it hard to use them as illustrations when communicating with people who don’t regularly go to church. There is good news, though. Lots of contemporary Christmas songs are really Christian allegory waiting to be unlocked and used as handy illustrations for your all-age, evangelistic carol service. Here are four secretly Christian Christmas songs, ready to use for your next Christmas assembly.

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    Issues

    Christmas is for life, not just for Christmas

    2017-01-19T00:00:00Z

    Christmas is the busiest time of the Church calendar, but how do we take all that energy and enthusiasm and dissipate it throughout the year? Alex Taylor has some ideas…

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    Issues

    Slaughter at Christmas

    2017-01-19T00:00:00Z

    We’ve all heard the Christmas story, but in our overfamiliarity, have we missed the dark side of the story? Krish Kandiah explains how the unexamined side of the nativity can influence your children’s work

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    Issues

    Christmas Journeys

    2017-01-19T00:00:00Z

    Christmas comes but once a year… yet seems to last for longer and longer each time it comes. It’s easy to get tired of the festival before the day has actually arrived. However, the story is central to our faith so, this Christmas, we’ve decided to provide something a little bit different, to help you and your church community engage with this amazing story in a new way.