Outreach opportunities seem to abound at Christmastime. Realistically, the opportunities are always there, but there is something about the Season that makes it easier to outwardly express our gratitude for God's gift to us—His one and only Son, Jesus. It is during this season that we often decide to provide Christmas presents and/or food for a single mom and her children, or deliver presents to children who have a parent in prison, or serve Christmas dinner to the homeless at a local rescue mission. But. . .what about the Grinch? What about the person who doesn't need money, food, or presents? What about the person who seems to have it all—except God's gift? Unfortunately, there are many people who, for a myriad of reasons, don't believe in the spirit of Christmas. For some it could be an abusive past, a destroyed relationship, or an overabundance of money and material possessions that have pushed God to the outer limits of their reality. They may celebrate the commercialism of Christmas, but they do it with an unrecognized emptiness in their hearts.

In the Dr. Seuss movie, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Taylor Momsen as little Cindy Lou Who, reaches out to the Grinch in her search for the true meaning of Christmas. Because of her acceptance of the Grinch's quirky nature and her boldness in including him in her life, his heart finally grows big enough to believe in love.

This month, formulate a plan with your small group to get involved in the life of a Grinch. Once you have decided who this person is (a neighbor, co-worker, family member, etc.), consider individually and collectively following in the little footsteps of Cindy Lou Who:

1. Smile at the Grinch in an engaging and genuine way.
2. Visit the Grinch's home. Bring some homemade Christmas cookies or hot chocolate mix.
3. Invite the Grinch to a Christmas party (invite other people the Grinch may know).
4. Invite the Grinch to your small group.

Think about scheduling this outreach so the individual acts of kindness precede the group Christmas party. After the season's festivities die down, invite the Grinch to your small group.

More ideas:

• Pose the idea to your small group that each family treat a single mom and her kids to Christmas pictures at Sears, Wal-Mart, or another reasonably priced photo studio.
  
  
• Encourage each group member to deliver several dozen homemade Christmas cookies to their local fire or police station.
  
  
• Challenge each person in your small group to distribute 12 candy canes (with the Story of the Candy Cane attached) to twelve different people during the coming week. The Story of the Candy Cane can be found on several websites, including http://www.linda.net/cane.html.
  
  

Originally published online at SmallGroups.com, December 9, 2004.

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