Christmas Celebration

By Lynn MacKaben Brown

Is Christmas something that has to be predictable, aimed only at kids, limited to one calendar day, and more trouble than it’s worth? Not according to holiday specialist, Lynn MacKaben Brown. In her expansively creative book, Christmas Celebration, Lynn provides theology with flair, custom with uniqueness, and family unity with jubilation. Everything needed for a fresh, invigorating approach to Christmas is found within these pages—stories, music, devotions, prayers, activities, even decorating and organization tips. Whatever you need to revitalize your Christmas spirit can be found here, shared in simple language. Dig into a treasure trove of ideas you’ll revisit year after year! 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Nov 30, 2021
• ISBN: 9781649792884

Lynn MacKaben Brown

Lynn MacKaben Brown spent ten delightful years helping with her family’s Christian bookstore before attending nursing school, eventually earning her M.A. with majors in nursing (teaching) and gerontology. She is a history columnist for SEG-Way News and has written for magazines as diverse as Moody Monthly, RN, Christian Communicator, and Toastmaster. She is a wife, mother, and grandmother.

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About the Author

Lynn MacKaben Brown spent ten delightful years helping with her family’s Christian bookstore before attending nursing school, eventually earning her M.A. with majors in nursing (teaching) and gerontology. She is a history columnist for SEG-Way News and has written for magazines as diverse as Moody Monthly, RN, Christian Communicator, and Toastmaster. She is a wife, mother, and grandmother.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my wonderful children: Peter, Rachel, Bethany, and Kirsten.

Copyright Information ©

Lynn MacKaben Brown 2021

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher.

Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

Ordering Information

Quantity sales: Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the publisher at the address below.

Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data

Brown, Lynn MacKaben

Christmas Celebration

ISBN 9781649792860 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781649792877 (Hardback)

ISBN 9781649792884 (ePub e-book)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021921691

www.austinmacauley.com/us

First Published 2021

Austin Macauley Publishers LLC

40 Wall Street, 33rd Floor, Suite 3302

New York, NY 10005

USA

[e-mail]

[phone]

Acknowledgment

I am most grateful to Pastor Paul Berggren of Kenosha Bible Church and his Sixth Grade Pastor’s Class which met every Saturday morning for three hours. And he gave tests! I am also grateful to the united parents who did not make this class optional and expected good grades. Later, I would discover that it was a level 100 theology class. In the meantime, the teaching and hundreds of memorized verses kept me from many sins and doubts. Thank you so much!

I also want to thank my Bible professors at Wheaton College, Moody Bible Institute, and Grace College for the knowledge they passed on and the skill of reading what is actually in the Bible, not what I thought was there or what I wanted to read.

I have also been blessed by extraordinary preachers in my home churches, at the Winona Lake Summer Conferences, and on WMBI, which was on constantly at my parents’ house. My thanks to you all.

As to writing this book, I wish to thank Dr. Paulette Sauders, who was the first teacher to tell me that I was supposed to rewrite and edit my first drafts, even if they were A material. And thanks to Dr. Dennis E. Hensley, who taught me that writing is rewriting as many times as it takes until it’s the best you can write. Thank you to Liz Curtis Higgs. After a decade of struggle, I found my voice by reading Bad Girls of the Bible.

Finally, thanks to my family, with love, for being the guinea pigs of this devotional. Without our celebrations, this book would not have existed.

Christmas All Year—or Not

Welcome to my family’s Christmas!

Wait. You want it to be your family’s Christmas celebration. Let’s discuss options.

When do you want to celebrate Christmas?

Year-round: By celebrating Christmas on Sundays, you can rejoice forty-three weeks! Determine the Sunday before Christmas. That day you will read the Christmas devotional. Count back twenty-seven Sundays. That is your starting date. It will be near mid-June.

Non-Advent Christmas Season: November 28 is the first day of daily devotions.

Advent: Use the Advent Calendar in the following pages.

The ethnic celebrations I include are drawn from my own family heritage. I invite you to add yours. You could also add other countries to demonstrate that the gift of Jesus was for everyone in the world. If you do this, you will add a missionary flavor.

Make it your celebration.

Decide if you want to sing, play an instrument, or listen to a recording of the music.

Read the Bible version you prefer.

If you have dietary restrictions, medical or religious or personal, feel free to replace food suggestions with festive ideas of your own.

It’s fun to change your celebration! Don’t feel that you must do every activity suggestion. Goodness! You would have to make three Christmas Eve dinners! Keep Christmas from becoming routine by selecting or inventing different celebrations.

It’s fun to grow your celebration! You don’t have to do all of the activities the first year. Your stress would skyrocket. Start with the elements most important to you and gradually add others that enhance the season. Consider giving up secular activities if stress mounts.

It’s smart to store Christmas celebration items in an organized manner. Put away the articles in containers labeled with the day each item is to be used.

Most of all, be reverent and have fun. It’s the birthday of the King of Kings!

Despair and Hope

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