In 2020, I wrote to you about a “Christmas Tug of War”. It received a lot of response. I described the tug between Santa and Jesus, between cultural celebration and holy mystery, between what we say Christmas is all about and what we prioritize in our observation. Back then, I wondered how a child outside the church might make sense of a season where Jesus and Christmas were quietly disappearing from public life while movie characters, mascots, and a generic “holiday” were welcome everywhere.
Since then, I’ve noticed that as the public square grows quieter about Jesus, young people are growing louder in their desire for Him. College campuses are overflowing with prayer. Teens and young adults are getting baptized and worshiping without apology. The real, surprising, unscripted, spontaneous, Holy Spirit kind of Revival is stirring in places no one expected in 2020. But this movement isn’t “performance” to be seen. It’s personal surrender. It’s authentic encounters with Jesus. In truth, this shift reflects how Jesus’ own ministry began. Before crowds followed Him, before miracles drew attention, before His name spread through villages, the work began quietly… personally… in hearts ready to listen. Revival didn’t start in the temple courts. It started in a stable, in homes, in families, in the wilderness, in small towns, changing lives from the beginning through a private invitation to lowly shepherds to “Come and see.”
What might be changing about how believers observe Christmas? Especially since it is only a Christ following believer who would want to, anyway. I believe that five years from now, Christmas may look a little less like the cultural over the top carnival it once was. And that’s alright. Perhaps Christmas will feel more like what it was always meant to be: believers gathering for Advent worship, focused on a quiet Light shining in deep darkness. Choosing fewer distractions and more reverence. More time with people who still marvel that our God so loved the world He sent His only Son not to condemn, but to save, to redeem, to offer sinners a way home through Jesus. That’s personal, not public square, stuff.
Christmas five years from now might sound like young voices singing old carols with new conviction for people who listen with deeper appreciation. It might look like families praying before tearing into wrapping paper, or praying afterward. It might feel less like a holiday we “produce” and more like a holy day we receive, like the shepherds who received it. That’s personal, not public square, stuff.
Maybe this cultural shrinking is creating space for Christ Himself to grow larger in the lives of those seeking something real and personal. If the world is done competing with Jesus for center stage, then the Church has an open invitation to lift Him high again with humility, gentleness, and joy. We don’t have to fight a culture war to “win Christmas back.” Christmas is here, all year long. We simply need to live the Christmas story honestly, generously, and visibly. Jesus came so that we could. Say Jesus’ name out loud without fear or apology again and again and again until it rolls off your tongue again. Tell your story of how He saved you, carried you, changed you.
Friend, Revival rarely begins with the loudest voice in the room. It usually starts with the truest one. As we look back at where we’ve been and look forward to where God is leading, remember that Christmas doesn’t disappear when the world refuses to acknowledge it. Christmas disappears when the Church stops embodying it. Let’s be the church. Be real. Be blessed to be a blessing. “Come, and see.”
Merry Christmas and God Bless You,
Pastor Theresa