我們正處於假日季節裡，常被稱之為耶誕季節，又名聖誕節期。我們活在一個與基督教有聯繫的國家，但許多人依然不嘵得聖誕節的真正含義。光看今年娛樂圈的綜藝節目，大衆普遍認為每年的這個時候都不過是家人聚餐、互送禮物、裝飾聖誕樹和草坪、把聖誕老人和馴鹿帶出來。可能我們會認為這想法有點可惜，因為並無慶祝耶穌亦無敬拜祂為王。然而我們假若換另一個角度來思考，我們就會有另一個很美妙的出發點、亦突出了聖誕節的真正意義來！
隨著聖誕節的臨近，再過兩週之後，請想一想您將會參加哪些慶祝耶穌誕生的活動？你在教會裡又會做些什麼呢？快來加入報佳音的行列吧！你在家裡又會做什麼呢？您會怎樣邀請其他人參加這些慶祝活動呢？考慮一下是否有些人是沒有家人陪伴慶祝聖誕節的，邀請他們和你的家人一起共度吧。然後，就如我家一樣，考慮大家一起参加以下的一些活動。花點時間一起唱幾首強調耶穌的出生和誕生目的之聖誕歌吧。「鈴兒響叮噹」是一首非常適合配以鍋子盆子和一些金屬湯勺伴奏的。如果您不會演奏樂器，只需在 YouTube 網搜索一些帶歌詞的聖誕歌曲。你甚至可以選擇和你最喜歡的歌手一起合唱。之後，我們一起來讀耶穌誕生的故事（馬太福音 1:18-2:12 或路加福音 2:1-20）。然後我們用一些時間感謝耶穌在這一年裡為我們所做的一切。甚至我們與客人進行了一場交換禮物活動，我妻子惠貞會先購買所有的禮物，然後大家很快樂地拆開禮物，然後還會互搶禮物，一切都非常有趣好玩。即使你的朋友未能來到你家，你仍然可以告訴他們你聖誕節打算怎麼，給他們播下聖誕節的種子，聖誕節豈是我們在電視上所能看得到的那麼少。聖誕節到了; 這是最好的時候告訴我們的朋友和我們所愛的有關耶穌的誕生和耶穌是誰！
Original Text
Christmastime ~Pastor Benjamin Chung
We’re in the midst of the holiday season, which we know as the Christmas season, aka. Christmastime. We live in a nation with a tie to Christianity, and yet many still don’t know the true meaning of Christmas. Just watching the shows that come out of the entertainment industry this year shows us that the general understanding is this time of year is about feasting together with family, giving presents, decorating the Christmas tree and lawn, and bringing up Santa Claus and the reindeer. We might think that this is a pity, because Jesus isn’t being celebrated and worship as King. But if we think of this from the other perspective, we have a wonderful springboard to highlight the true meaning of Christmas!
As Christmas draws near, in just 2 weeks, be thinking about what activities you are going to be participate in that celebrates the birth of Jesus. What are you doing with church? Come join in caroling! What will you do at home? And how can you invite others to join in the celebration? Consider if there’s an individual who doesn’t have family to join in celebrating Christmas and invite them to join yours. Then, consider doing some of the following activities, which my family does. Take some time to sing a few carols that emphasize Jesus’s birth and purpose. Jingle Bells is really fun with pots/pans and some metal ladles. If you can’t play an instrument, just search on YouTube for songs with lyrics. You can even pick your favorite singer to sing along with. After that, we read the nativity story afterwards (Matthew 1:18-2:12 or Luke 2:1-20). And then we take some time to give thanks for what Jesus has done for us during the year. We even hold a white elephant gift exchange with our guests, where Angelia buys all the gifts and then have fun opening and possibly stealing gifts from each other, all in good fun. Even if your friend can’t come to your house, you can still the friend what you will do and plant the seed that there’s more to Christmas than what we see on TV. It’s Christmastime; a great time to tell our friend and people we love about the birth of Jesus and who He is!
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