By Rose Meeder, Volunteer Host at Connexus Church in Orillia
Christmas is such a cool time of year.
Of course, for me, as a Christian, it is a celebration of the birth of Jesus and recognizing with awe, once again, that it was God’s plan from the very beginning to come and “be with us”. I love that. Emmanuel means “God with us” and I think it is my favourite way to address God at this time of year. Addressing God as “Emmanuel” just makes me feel less lonely, more understood and oh so deeply loved. Invite Your Friends to Church
Christmas is also a universal time of changing up our routine and hitting the ‘pause’ button for at least a moment. Even in a year when your routines have probably already changed a lot, Christmas really is different. Invite Your Friends to Church
No matter what people believe about Christmas, it seems relatively well understood that sometime during the season of Christmas most people will either spend time with their family, connect with some friends over a Zoom call, or even treat themselves to some special alone time in honour of it being ‘Christmas’.
Whether those times are joyful or stressful or both! The season we find ourselves in at Christmas is universally noted as different than any other time of year. And because it is ‘different’ and ‘special’, people often engage in certain behaviours and traditions that are a bit different than other times during the year.
Unfortunately some of your typical traditions might look a little different this year. But, hang with me here, we are going to invite your friends to Christmas Eve Together! Invite Your Friends to Church
Yes, because you know what else? Christmas is a time of year when it’s not weird to invite your friends to church. I have found that people almost expect to be invited. Seriously! the conversation often goes like this:
“Hey, do you have a church service that you go to with your family/friends at Christmas? No?…Oh! well, then you should join me for Connexus' Christmas Eve service! It’s actually an online Christmas service for anybody and everybody. They actually EXPECT that people who don’t go to church anywhere else, will watch on Christmas Eve and they love that. That’s totally what they do! They are a church for people who don't go to church anywhere else and they make their Christmas service the best service of the whole year! Let me know if I can send you the link so your family can watch!”
That’s when you say the service is great for kids and is only an hour long, plus, it's online – so what have they got to lose really? Then … they are in! 🙂 … A lot of times, not all the time, but yes, they are in.
So go crazy and stay cool, invite your friends to Christmas Eve Together. You will love it, they will love it and well, I will love hearing the story after, too. Good luck. Invite Your Friends to Church
Rose
Rose lives in Orillia with her husband Rob and their four children. She is a runner and an active member of Connexus Church. She is passionate about genuine human connection and sharing people’s authentic stories on her podcast, Intersection, where she explores the stories, struggles, and experiences of people who are on their own faith journey.
