“…for in Him we live and move and have our being…” Acts 17:28
Every year in our junior high ministry we have a Christmas “Get2Gether”. One of the fun and most interesting things we do is our gift exchange. We ask that each junior higher bring a wrapped gift ($5-$10 value), but with specific instructions to “have Jesus on it, in it, or around it”. I then follow that up with “be creative” and those are all the guidelines I give. As you can imagine, this leaves a lot of room for interpretation and conceptualization. We’ve done this for at least 15 years and it’s always fun to see how creative (and humorous) our youth group can be.
I recently received an email from a junior high parent asking for clarification on the gift. I replied with the guideline of “being creative” with it. This parent replied back saying you could have anything with Jesus on it, in it, and around it? I said,
“Exactly! Run with that!”
My hope with this gift exchange is to help us see Jesus in everything and anything! Especially, during Christmas time when the giving of gifts can take precedence over the Giver of gifts. Knowing that it’s “in Him that we live, move, and have our being”.
“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” - 2 Corinthians 9:15
Brian Lee
Every year in our junior high ministry we have a Christmas “Get2Gether”. One of the fun and most interesting things we do is our gift exchange. We ask that each junior higher bring a wrapped gift ($5-$10 value), but with specific instructions to “have Jesus on it, in it, or around it”. I then follow that up with “be creative” and those are all the guidelines I give. As you can imagine, this leaves a lot of room for interpretation and conceptualization. We’ve done this for at least 15 years and it’s always fun to see how creative (and humorous) our youth group can be.
I recently received an email from a junior high parent asking for clarification on the gift. I replied with the guideline of “being creative” with it. This parent replied back saying you could have anything with Jesus on it, in it, and around it? I said,
“Exactly! Run with that!”
My hope with this gift exchange is to help us see Jesus in everything and anything! Especially, during Christmas time when the giving of gifts can take precedence over the Giver of gifts. Knowing that it’s “in Him that we live, move, and have our being”.
“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” - 2 Corinthians 9:15
Brian Lee
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