Chapter 1

Keep Christ in Christmas

Keep Christ in Christmas!

It is a saying that you have probably heard your whole life!

Every year as the month of December approaches we see it on television, hear
it on the radio and in big bold letters itís splashed across billboards that line the
highways and byways.

As the holiday gets closer, churches that are normally bright take on an almost
surrealistic darkness. The sanctuaries that are supposed to be set aside for
prayer, worship and instruction in the Word of God; are instead decked out with
a tree, wreaths, candles and the other trappings that mark one of the most
hallowed days in all of Christendom.

Red and green (the traditional colors of the Season) are splashed across the
pews, the podium, the walls and the outer court with such magnitude, that it
looks as if a painter with only those two colors went mad. Mangers are
constructed and plays of the first Christmas staring the children of the church are
rehearsed.

Here in the USA, the day after Thanksgiving is the biggest sale day of the year.
Stores and malls open at unbelievably early hours (usually before dawn) in the
hopes of getting the first shoppers before the money is spent elsewhere. They
begin erecting the most elaborate scenes imaginable in anticipation of the
crowds that will descend on them before Christmas Day to spend, spend, and
then spend some more! The throne for Santa Claus is assembled and children
wait anxiously for their annual visit to see Old Saint Nick so they can give to him
their Christmas wish list.

Work places, gas stations, and just about anywhere else you go are draped in
the coverings and emblems of the Season. It is not unusual to see a co-worker
or someone else sporting a Santa hat during the holidays and greeting you with
a hearty ìMerry Christmas.î

In the midst of all of this we hear, ìKeep Christ in Christmas.î

Apart from all of the merchandising and hoopla that go along with the season
there are those that proclaim that the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ is the true
meaning of Christmas!