What Is a Christmas Coffee?
It’s an opportunity to invite your neighbors or co-workers into your home for a time of fellowship and celebration of the good news of Christmas. It can be a starting point for new relationships or an opportunity to deepen existing relationships. We are a busy culture and our best intentions to know our neighbors and reach the people in our community often remain unrealized. The Christmas season (which now seems to start sometime after Halloween!) is a time when people are surrounded with echoes of the incarnation and the gospel and a natural time to invite people into your home.
Christmas Coffee Basics
Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, host a Christmas gathering for your neighbors or co-workers in your home. It can be as formal or informal as you like. It could be dessert and coffee in the evening, a Saturday morning brunch, a potluck dinner, or a fire pit in the front yard with hot drinks and warm clothing.
Bringing a Christmas Focus
Consider how you might take a few minutes to highlight the true meaning of Christmas. You could read the Christmas story from Luke 2, lead a short carol sing, or share a few planned comments about Christ and Christmas. In some cases, you may choose not to include this element and simply create an atmosphere that will lay a foundation for future relationships.
Tips
- Use a printed or handwritten invitation with start and end times, a clear explanation of what to expect, and an RSVP request.
- Deliver your invitations in person if possible. Even if the invitation is not accepted or the person is not able to attend, a conversation will happen and a foundation for future interaction will be laid.
- If you think children may come, plan something for them to do; a simple craft or coloring page, or a room with A Charlie Brown Christmas playing, etc.
- If you have other neighbors who are believers, invite them to help you in the planning, hosting, and sharing.
- Pray for this gathering. Pray before you pass out invitations. Pray for those once they have received invitations. Pray that friendships would be established and strengthened through this event.
- Send your guests home with a simple gift like a Christmas tree ornament, a bag of cookies, mistletoe to hang in their house, etc. You could include a Grace Advent invitation card (available at our welcome table).
- If you host your event before Sunday, December 11, invite them to one of our Christmas concerts at Grace La Mirada at 4pm or 7pm.
We Would Like to Pray with You
If you choose to host a Christmas Coffee, we’d like to join you in prayer for your gathering. Send an email to [email protected] to the attention of the Grace Fullerton Elder Team. Tell us about the event you’ll be hosting, when it will be, and any specific requests for prayer.
Resources
For more suggestions about planning this time, email Sara Kelly at [email protected].
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