Christmas Celebration

Recently I read a comment by a Christian arguing against celebrating Christmas, in which he wrote, "what about even the 'most conservative' celebration is not an adaption of unbiblical practices?"

In responding, I noted the following activities normally associated with Christmas celebration that have direct biblical support:

Hymn singing (Col 3:16), gift-giving (Matt 2:11), reading the Christmas story from Matthew and Luke, giving thanks to God for Christ's birth (1 Thess 5:18).

To the above list, I should add, "Giving to the needy and to missions" (1 Cor 8).

Certainly, none of the activities mentioned above should be limited to Christmas, but due to limited resources of both time and money, people cannot necessarily give the same amount every day of the year and we cannot proclaim and explain the story of Christ's birth in equal detail every week. Therefore, it is entirely appropriate that Christians should use the Christmas season as a reminder to serve Christ in these specific ways.