The Christmas season is here, and life seems to have kicked into high gear. I know for me, the whirlwind of activity with my four kids, friends, family, church Christmas programs, office parties, and seemingly endless shopping can blind me to those who do not know the true meaning of Christmas. Yet, deep in my heart, I hear the distant cry of this multitude of people.

This Christmas, make the choice to listen to the lost. As a small group, plan to have several Christmas parties by asking pairs of families in your group to team up and host a party for those people in their own neighborhoods. After deciding on a host home for the party, the two couples or two different members of the group should develop an invitation list depending on what kind of party they would like to have. There are several options as to who could be invited: The party can be for adults only, families, just women (during the day), or a children's "birthday party for Jesus." Create the invitations appropriate to the type of party and hand-deliver them to those in the selected neighborhood. A personal invitation with a warm smile and handshake will greatly encourage your neighbors to attend. Ask the neighbors to bring their favorite festive dish to share, and let them know that you will be providing the drinks and place settings.

If the party will be for adults only, give each person a nametag as they arrive, asking them to write their first and last name in the center of the tag. Ask them to write their hometown in the upper left-hand corner, their profession or job in the upper right-hand corner, their favorite hobby in the lower left-hand corner, and their childhood hero in the lower right-hand corner. This simple activity will encourage conversation throughout the entire evening. Do a fun icebreaker together, pray for the meal, and eat. After everyone is finished eating, join together in one room and sing some Christmas carols. You can have someone play the piano or guitar, sing along to a Christmas CD, or sing a cappella. Take some time and ask everyone to share his or her favorite Christmas memory, with the host sharing first. This will be a unique and special time of developing intimacy with your neighbors. If you feel it's appropriate, end this sharing time with your testimony of coming to know Christ as your personal savior.

Ask your group members to continue building relationships with their neighbors in the coming year. Pray, as a group, for those neighbors that do not have a personal relationship with Christ. As your members get to know their neighbors better, have them extend an invitation to attend your small group.

More ideas:

• Consider volunteering to deliver presents to children of prison inmates through Project Angel Tree (www.angeltree.org). This is a great way to share the love of Jesus with hurting kids.
  
  
• Anonymously buy a Christmas present for an unsuspecting person. While shopping, you can buy an extra gift and leave it with the cashier with the instructions to give it to the next appropriate customer. If your children are in school, encourage them to buy an extra book on their child's book order form and ask the teacher to give it to a child who did not have the money to order a book. At the gas station, you can pay $10.00 towards the next customer's tank of gas.
  
  
• Encourage your group members to snow blow or shovel a neighbor's driveway, deliver fresh-baked Christmas cookies to a neighbor, or take a neighbor out for a hot cup of cocoa sometime before Christmas.
  
  

Originally published online at SmallGroups.com, December 9, 2002.

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