Christmas Eve Sermon

Materials needed: A Christmas ornament, a small evergreen wreath, and a string of Christmas lights. Place them in a bag.

Call the children to you and seat them around you or walk to where they are seated. Be ready to show the items in the bag to the children and the congregation.

I brought some items to share with you today. As I show them to you, I’d like you to guess what you would do with each one. (Show the ornament.) What would you do with this? (Listen to responses.) You might decorate your Christmas tree with it. (Show the wreath.) What could you do with this? You could decorate your front door with it! How about these? (Show string of Christmas lights.) Your parents might decorate your house or trees with these.

All these items help you decorate and get ready for Christmas. If you look around in stores, at your school and church, and throughout your community, you’ll see lots of decorations. These decorations help us prepare for Christmas! What are some other ways you decorate and prepare for Christmas? (Listen to children’s responses.)

Did you know that this time of preparation before Christmas has a special name? We call the four weeks before Christmas Advent. Advent means “coming.” As we decorate and prepare, we are getting ready for someone to come at Christmastime. Who came to earth as a baby on the very first Christmas? Yes, Jesus! The reason we put up all the Christmas decorations—Christmas trees, wreaths, lights—is to prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus, our Savior.

Why do we do so much to prepare for our Christmas celebration? Why is Jesus’ birth so important? (Listen to children’s responses.) At Christmas, we celebrate God the Father’s great love for us in sending Jesus to be our Savior. Jesus is God, but He came down from heaven so He could go to the cross to pay for all our sins. Because Jesus paid the punishment for our sins and rose back to life, everyone who believes in Jesus as their Savior will one day live with Him forever. That’s a great reason to have a special Christmas celebration!

Let’s pray together. Dear Jesus, thank You for coming to be our Savior. As we prepare for Christmas, help us remember that You are the reason we prepare and celebrate. In Your name we pray. Amen.