Pastor, Christmas services are almost upon us.

I know you’re busy, so I’ll be brief. But please, hear me out.

Be Interested

Don’t just go through the motions.

Don’t just rehash the same thing you do every year.

If you aren’t interested in your sermon, your audience won’t be either.

If you’re bored, imagine how much more boring it will be for them.

So get on your knees, beg the Holy Spirit to rekindle that flame inside of you, and recapture that fire you once had for the greatest story ever told.

Open your Bible and see the Christmas story again through eyes of awe and wonder.

God must do a great work in you before you can preach a great sermon.

Be interesting

Being interesting begins with being interested, but there’s more to it than just that.

Most people have heard the story before, so you need to get a little creative to break through the fog and help them see it with fresh eyes.

Tell it from a different perspective. Illustrate it differently. Use different images or video.

Tell the familiar story and sing familiar songs in an unfamiliar way.

However you do it, be engaging and capture the eyes, hearts, minds, and imaginations of your audience.

What a tragedy it is to bore people with the most magnificent story ever told.

Preach the Gospel

If nothing else, nail this!

The point of Christmas is not to merely fill the chairs or to brag on social media about the size of the crowds.

The entire reason for the Christmas season is to celebrate that God invaded earth. He came wrapped in human flesh to live among us, teach us, experience the full range of human joy and suffering with us, and to die for us so that we could live.

Without Christmas, there is no hope. Without Christmas, we’re all doomed to live in darkness. But God came down to save us when we could never save ourselves.

Yes, Christmas is about a baby Jesus, but don’t make the careless mistake of leaving Jesus in the manger. You must preach about what he did as a grown man to capture the gravity of his birth.

Nothing would please the enemy more than a Christmas sermon with only a baby Jesus.

May God bless you and your church this Christmas using your efforts to rescue the lost and welcome them home.