LOVE, GROW, SERVE

Archive for December, 2009

We are finally celebrating Christmas at Common Ground!

Because of other Sunday night activities at our church, we usually don’t get to do much during Christmas (besides, of course, our annual Christmas party).  This year, it’s different!  And I’m excited.  To be totally honest, usually by this time of year I am totally ready for a month (or more) break.  But really, this year, I’m looking back to September (when we started youth group back up for this school year) and wondering where the time has gone??  Time flies when you’re having fun, I guess.

Last Sunday (November 29) we talked about skipping Christmas–all the secular cultural things that surround celebrating Christmas in the U.S., such as stress, overbooked schedules, debt, excess in eating, excess in stuff.  And we talked about how we really do miss the point sometimes when we allow ourselves to get caught up in the hype of Christmas.   (Hey, remember that baby who was born in a manger?)

When we talked, mostly everyone could articulate the true meaning of Christmas.  We even had Mike Moore’s rendition of A Charlie Brown Christmas in the form of reading the passage describing Jesus’ birth out of the book of Luke (thanks, Mike!).  But I think many of us, myself included, get so wrapped up in all the stuff that we forget why we’re doing all this stuff to begin with.

We then broke up into small groups and talked about what each of us plans to do this Advent season to remember the simple reason for the season.  In my group, people shared about making gifts that have real meaning rather than focusing on the spending, being sure to take time with family because those are the people who matter most, and restricting activities so that Christmas is a joyous occasion rather than a draining one.  I was excited and proud of our students!!

Stay tuned for this Sunday where we will discuss Advent further–our challenging question will be, “What are YOU waiting for?”  Don’t miss our last “real” youth group of 2009!  (Dec. 13 will be our Christmas party!)