The Gift of Time

The Christmas Season is fast approaching. A time of celebration for all. It is also a time of busy-ness for everyone. Between family gatherings, pagents and plays, shopping, decorating, and cooking it can be a crazy time.

This is especially true in Children's Ministry as we are not only preparing in our homes for the holiday, but at our church as well. This is a time when we are reminded how important our volunteers are in doing what we do each week. But how do we ask them to add something more to their busy lives during the holiday season?

You could go with bribing...ummm...I mean giving gifts of encouragement. You could go with begging or even guilting them into serving during this time. Truth is that none of that gets to the heart of the opportunity to serve during the Christmas season. That's right - I said opportunity not obligation.

We have an opportunity to share Jesus with our kids during a time when there are so many voices telling them that it's all about what is under the tree and not so much about the birth of our Savior. A time when they will more often hear "Happy Holidays!" and a whole lot less "Merry Christmas!" A time when they will be singing "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer" more often than "O Come Emmanuel." A time when they will hear the stories of Santa and Rudolph more than they will hear about Mary, Joseph, and Jesus.

We also have an opportunity to share Jesus with kids that don't regularly come to church, but will be with us for Christmas. It is a fact that there are families that don't attend church throughout the year, but will come on Christmas. This one encounter with Jesus through a volunteer could be the moment that changes the life of a child forever.

So how do we encourage a volunteer to serve during this busy holiday season?

We cast a vision of opportunity.

An opportunity to give the gift of time.

A gift that could change the life of a child forever.

One of the ways that we will be sharing Jesus with our kids this Christmas is through the What's in the Bible? curriculum Why Do We Call It Christmas?

Take a peek at one of the videos:

http://whatsinthebible.com/2011/10/25/who-is-emmanuel-from-why-do-we-call-it-christmas/#ooid=t4ZTR4MjraHgJLpYyufllTYUn7slwiYX

We absolutely love this curriculum! It is a fun way to introduce the Bible to our kids and encourage them to fall in love with God's Word.

My fantastic friends at What's in the Bible? have given me a copy of Why Do We Call It Christmas? to give away here on my blog. To enter you can post a comment sharing who you are and where you serve. This will give me an opportunity to pray for you and your ministry during the Christmas Season.