"You observe days and months and seasons and years.  I am afraid for you..."-Galatians 4:10-11

    Another change being implemented in churches and growing in popularity is the formal observance of religious holidays, specifically Christmas.  Churches are now placing Christmas trees in their buildings.  Preachers are preaching Christmas sermons and congregations are singing Christmas songs in the regular worship assembly of the church.  Drama often enters into the picture with churches offering full scale holiday pageants and performances complete with actors/actresses, costumes, and choral productions.
    Like many other practices, the observance of holidays in the context of the church as a religious activity is a recent innovation among churches of Christ.  It demonstrates a convergence of several worship practices which are foreign to the New Testament:  choirs, dramatic acting, female leadership in worship, and religious holidays.
    Must we have God's explicit or implicit approval for what we do in  religion?  Yes.  Does God  want  us  to
celebrate Christ's birth?  Not that we can find in the scriptures but, He has indicated that He does want us to commemorate the death of Christ every Sunday.
    With regard to Christmas, two extremes exist among believers.  Some clamor for Christ to be put back into Christmas.  Others conscientiously object to the Christian's use of a Christmas tree or any other signs of participation.  Two biblical principles ought to guide our thinking.  In the first place, God has always been concerned with the religious implications of practices that the believer adopts.  God wants us to refrain from engaging in religious activities that are equated with false religion.  Second, God desires that we engage only in those religious practices which are authorized (I Corinthians 4:6; Colossians 3:17; II John 9).  If religious activity is not in accordance with written revelation, it is sinful (Leviticus 10:1-3; I Chronicles 15:13; Galatians 4:8-11).
    What are the implications of these two divine guidelines?  First, Christians do not observe Christmas as a religious holiday.  As a religious holy day, it is unauthorized.  Scripture repeatedly stresses religious observance of Christ's death (Luke 22:19; Acts 2:42; I Corinthians 11:26), but makes no provision for the observance of Christ's birth.  To observe Christmas as a religious activity is to identify one's self with religious groups that worship God vainly (Matthew 15:9).  God wants His people to appear to the world separate and distinct from counterfeit religion (II Corinthians 6:16-17).
    Second, while Christians will avoid using symbols that associate the holiday season with unauthorized religious activity (like angels and nativity scenes), they can feel perfectly free to observe Christmas as a festive national holiday (Romans 14:5-6).  Decorating trees, giving gifts, and the like, are not necessarily associated with a religious observance of Christmas, as is readily apparent from the fact that thousands of non-religious, atheistic, and Jewish Americans observe the holiday season with all of the cultural trimmings (lights, trees, gifts, etc.).  They do so without assigning a "Christian" significance to the practice.  In light of biblical teaching, Christians are to consider the current cultural connotations of any given activity.—Adopted from the book, Piloting The Strait, pages 257-263.