If you celebrate Christmas, how do you do it?   Have a classroom discussion about this.

Here are some questions that might help your discussion:

• Do you eat sprouts?
• When do you open your presents?
• Do you stay at home all day or do you visit family?
• Will you go to church on Christmas Day?
• Do you go to midnight mass?

One of our staff members is from Australia and I asked her how they celebrate Christmas.  This is what she said…

‘We go to church on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day we either have a big roast dinner (Roast Pork) or we have a barbeque.  It is very hot at Christmas so we might even have a pool party in the afternoon or go to the beach!  Since living in the UK, I find it really strange that people have turkey – that is not a thing in Australia.  No-one roasts a turkey!’

Last week when we had our visitors from Uganda staying with us, I asked them how they celebrated Christmas.  This is what they said…

‘We start to decorate our houses around the 20 December and arrange to visit family.  Christmas is all about family and on Christmas day we will go to church and then spend the day eating lots of nice food with our family and friends.  We eat roast meat with ‘matoke’ which is a green banana and very delicious.  We mainly buy new clothes as presents and wear these all day!’

The Christmas story demonstrates diversity and difference and that everyone is welcome to worship in their own way.  There were rich wise men, poor shepherds, a busy innkeeper and angels, as well as many others who all celebrated the birth of Jesus in their own way.  There were no comparisons, and everyone could just be themselves and be different.

The one thing that they all had in common, though, was the desire to worship Jesus.  So this Christmas – you are welcome as you are.  Come and worship Jesus in your own way.  He welcomes you with open arms.