The winter chill is upon us, the season of Advent has dawned, and Christmas is in the air. In a few short weeks, we’ll find ourselves at a Christmas Eve service. We’ll sing carols by candlelight and place ourselves again under a story, a story that we remember and relive every single year. We remember the story of God who came to earth, who took on human form in Jesus, and moved into the neighborhood because of love – love for the whole world, for you and for me.
The Christmas season is one where we get to place ourselves inside that story. We get to lean close and listen again to the truth of those words spoken to the shepherds, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you” (Luke 2:10-11). We get to hear those words of good news again, and we get to offer them to those around us who may not know of this good news “that will cause great joy for all the people.”
Over the next few weeks, we’re rolling out a red carpet to our city, our families, neighbors, coworkers, and our friends this Christmas - a red carpet that doesn’t begin on December 24 with Christmas Eve services, but that starts earlier at a special Christmas event that each campus is hosting during the month of December.
Navidad Azul | Miércoles 4 de diciembre | Grandview Campus
Christmas Market | Saturday December 7 | Westerville Campus
International Christmas Potluck | Saturday December 7 | Pickerington Campus
Christmas Family Event at Ninja Citi | Tuesday December 10 | Sawmill Campus
Fiesta de Navidad | Thursday December 12 | Vina Westerville
Cozy Christmas Concert and Sing-Along | Friday Dec 13 | Grandview Campus
The goal of these Christmas events is that people who are not church-goers, people who are far from Jesus, people who are more ‘left’ or more ‘right’ than us, people who look different than us, people who live different lives than us, all come and have a WONDERFUL time and leave thinking “Wow that was so much fun,” or “Wow, I met some nice people and I heard that was a church, that’s interesting,” or “That was fun, and I see they have a Christmas service, hmm... I haven’t been to church in a while, I’ll check it out.”
We’re building bridges. We’re creating spaces of fun and joy and connection - for pure connection’s sake! And who knows maybe at some point in the future, someone will look back in the middle of a hard season and remember that random church they attended for a Christmas event and think, “I need to talk to someone, and I don’t have anyone to talk to, I’m going to go back there.”
Here’s what I’d like to ask you to do:
Take 5 minutes and think about the Christmas event happening at your campus. Imagine yourself attending, walking in the door, experiencing the whole event yourself. Once you’ve imagined yourself there. Now imagine the people you know who would love to attend something like that with you. Shoot them a text message and invite them to go with you. You can share the Christmas website link or invite cards that each of the campuses have available or share a social media invite or Facebook event. The options are aplenty.
Pray with us for these special events – that God will do all the above and so much more! Pray that God would fill us with his joy and that we would be radiant with his presence, and that people would be so attracted to the Jesus who lives in us.
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All the special Christmas events and services are listed on our Christmas website. You can find physical invite cards at your campus as well. As you peruse the website click ‘play’ and have the Behold Christmas album play as you add one of the Christmas Eve service times to your calendar! Who do you want to invite to Christmas at Vineyard with you?
