Skip to content ↓

Family Worship for the Christmas Season

Book Reviews Collection cover image

I was raised as part of a Christian tradition that did not place a lot of emphasis on the religious component of the Christmas season. Christmas was a time for family and for friends and for being grateful for all the blessings given us by God, but did not include a lot of distinctly Christian traditions. It is with some interest, then, that I read of advent and the traditions of other people around the Christmas season.

Ray Rhodes has given us a valuable guide in his small book Family Worship for the Christmas Season. Published recently by Solid Ground Books, this little volume provides a guide to thirty-one ideas for family worship during the advent season. According to the author, it is “designed to help you and your family focus on Christ during the Christmas season.” It is not a devotional, in which case it might provide a Bible verse and a reflection on that verse, but instead provides ideas for family worship during each of the days from December 1 to December 31. It opens with a Scripture reading and then provides a suggestion for what a family may wish to discuss or do during that day. It provides some pointers for family worship and a brief prayer relevant to the day.

Easy to read and filled with some good suggestions, I think this book could be a valuable component to a family’s times of worship during the family season. Jim Elliff says, “Make December different this year by trying them out with your family. This book can make a significant difference in your family’s understanding of the incarnation.” If you’d like to give it a try, you can find it at Amazon and other book sellers.


  • Too Small To Bother God With

    At times we all live burdened lives, weighed down by the cares and concerns, the trials and traumas that inevitably accompany life in this world. And while we sometimes feel crushed by life’s heaviest burdens—the death of a loved one, the rebellion of a child, the onset of a chronic illness—we can also sometimes stagger…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    Weekend A La Carte (March 15)

    A La Carte: The etiquette of speech / Steve Lawson’s repentance / It’s not too late to abandon Christian nationalism / Praying for dreams to come true / How marriage vows work / New gospel songs / and more.

  • Understanding Trauma

    Understanding Trauma

    I don’t remember encountering the world “trauma” very often in my younger years, yet recently I seem to hear it all the time. What was once deemed a rare experience or one rarely talked about, has become a common experience and one talked about both openly and often. Where perhaps it was once defined so…

  • A La Carte Friday 2

    A La Carte (March 14)

    A La Carte: When puppies replace people / Learning to disagree / Persevere in prayer / Demons and spiritual warfare / LARPing your job / Secret Christianity / Graphic novel on sale / and more.

  • A La Carte Thursday 1

    A La Carte (March 13)

    A La Carte: Somebody just made up a new religion / Signs of revival on campus / Walking towards destruction / Get more out of your reading / True for our souls / and more.