Christmas began through the Catholic church as a response to include paganism into their false Christianity. It has never been about Christ, only a distraction, the same with Easter, that's why these holidays went bad. They were not ordained of God. They are not in the Scriptures. The only celebration the Lord commanded was the Lord's supper, no other holiday was given to believers.
1 Corinthians 11:23-25 "…23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”…
I need no alternative to Christmas or any other holiday. There are those who feel a need to fill in when they removed the man made holidays. There i s no need to have any man made holiday. My husband and I are completely content not to engage in man made holidays. We love the freedom we have now, we do not rush around doing all the things most people are stressing over. We are relaxed and content to know our Savior without any human trappings.
Just take a look at these festive gatherings, evaluate how many times the name of Christ is mentioned and how much prayer occurs. Almost never except in the prayer over the meal. When Christ is brought up by the one attending fanatic, the room goes silent while the person who spoke His name is ignored and even subtly mocked.
Your gathering may be different from this but it would be rare. I have been to many holiday gatherings over the years and in every single case Christ was never worshiped or spoken of except in the canned prayer before eating the meal.
Thanksgiving can be about Christ without the trappings, although most often it is more about fun and games than about Christ.
Just some things to think about when you feel pressured by the culture to race around like a chicken with the head cut off doing useless and meaningless things just to fit into the culture.
We do not need human validation or acceptance when we have Christ. We are free to do as we please without the pressure of family and friends to do things they do and act like they do.
There is far more freedom in Christ when we just obey Him. The culture places monstrous burdens that are unnecessary and wearisome.
Think with your own mind, obey Christ and your burden will be light.
Matthew 11:30 "“For My yoke is easy, and My load is light.”
