Dale Johnson: This week on the podcast, I’m delighted to have with me, for our Christmas Traditions episode, Dr. Jacob Elwert. He is the Pastor of Discipleship Ministries at Inter-City Baptist Church in Allen Park, Michigan, and serves as an Assistant Professor of Biblical Counseling at Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a certified member of ACBC, a Fellow, and a newly minted board member. I’m so grateful for this brother. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children and one grandchild. Jacob, glad you’re here today.
Jacob Elwart: Glad to be here.
Dale Johnson: I’m really looking forward to talking about Christmas. This is my favorite time of year, fall leading into the celebration of our Lord. It’s such a wonderful time with family.
I love traditions. We have certain ones we repeat every year, and we’re even in the middle of some of them right now. As Christmas approaches, there are always things we’re doing, and it’s exciting. People celebrate in different ways, and I love hearing how others do that.
So let’s start simply. What are some of your favorite Christmas memories?
Jacob Elwart: My favorite childhood memories all revolve around my family. My parents were saved out of Catholicism. My dad was 31 and my mom was 28 when they came to Christ, and they jumped into genuine Christianity with both feet.
As my dad grew in his understanding of Scripture, he grew more and more frustrated with the traditionalism of his Catholic upbringing. He became somewhat anti-traditional—not against celebrating Christmas itself, because he clearly recognized the importance of the incarnation and reflecting on it—but he didn’t like being bound to a specific day on the calendar. He also saw how over-commercialized Christmas had become and how that could detract from celebrating Christ. So throughout my teen years, and even before that, my parents would give us gifts several days before Christmas. We’d pick a day—sometimes random, sometimes planned—but it was never Christmas Day. That was important to my dad.
That made it fun. We felt special. Then when Christmas Day actually arrived, we could reflect on Christ and His birth. Some years we would read the Christmas story from Luke, and then we’d go see my grandparents. Those are some of my favorite memories.
Dale Johnson: That’s cool. Now that you’ve had children, do any specific memories stand out? Do you do some of the same things?
Jacob Elwart: We don’t, actually. The way we do it now is a bit different. We’ll often use an Advent calendar of some kind, and usually we’ll have a Christmas Eve meal together if we can get all the kids together. Then we do something on Christmas Day. Now that our kids are older, we don’t get up as early as we used to, which is kind of nice.
Dale Johnson: With the one grandchild, who knows what might change, right? Now, you mentioned the Advent calendar. Talk about some of the ways you prepare your heart for celebrating the coming of the Lord.
Jacob Elwart: This year I picked up a devotional called Gospel Meditations for Christmas by Chris Anderson, Joe Tyrpak, and Michael Barrett. It’s a 30-day devotional that includes a Scripture reading, usually a chapter, along with reflections on the character of God, the nature of Jesus, and His incarnation. It’s been very helpful.
In recent years, another major way I prepare my heart is through our church’s Christmas concert. For me, my joy regarding the incarnation peaks that night. I hear clear truth from Scripture, beautiful music, and a gospel message from our pastor. By the end of the service, my heart is just exploding with joy about our Savior.
Probably the main way I prepare is by completing my reading of the Scriptures for the year. Each year I try to read through the entire Bible, I have used several different reading plans but my favorite one is working through the Old Testament and New Testament at the same time. By December, I’m often in the Minor Prophets and Revelation. Studying the end times might not be everyone’s go-to Christmas topic, but I love seeing how the incarnation points to something that Christ won on the cross, and He will win. He will rule the world with truth and grace. None of those things from the Minor Prophets or Revelations can happen apart from Christ coming to earth, living a perfect life, dying as a substitutionary atonement for my sin, and decisively conquering death and sin. And on the final day, it will be clear to all that He won.
Dale Johnson: We love thinking about the incarnation and the way the Bible describes it that He will come in the same way, and it forces us to long for what’s to come. Now let’s zoom in on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Some people even talk about “Christmas Adam,” the day before Christmas Eve. What does that look like in your home, maybe not now, since your kids are out but what were some of those things?
Jacob Elwart: My wife’s parents live in Iowa, so every other year we spend Christmas with them. At their church, they have a Christmas Eve service. It’s a special service filled with Scripture with congregational singing and special music. We end by lighting candles and singing “Silent Night” a cappella. It’s beautiful.
Then Christmas Day with her family usually includes a big meal and exchanging gifts—after the dishes are cleaned, of course. The years when we’re in Michigan, my family opens one gift on Christmas Eve and the rest on Christmas Day. Most of my family lives in Michigan, besides my youngest brother, so we’ll gather with seven siblings and around twenty nieces and nephews. We usually meet the Saturday before Christmas for a big meal. A lot of times we will tell stories about our childhood stories we’ve probably repeated a hundred times—stories our kids can quote at this point. A few times, we’ve done dad-joke competitions in a tournament-style, one-on-one competition, where the goal is to make the other person laugh. I’m especially thankful that God has saved all of my extended family. We don’t take that for granted. We spend time thanking God for His goodness and enjoying one another’s company.
On Christmas Day, now that our kids are older and we only have one still at home, we don’t get up early. Jennifer usually has our kids, our daughter-in-law, and granddaughter over for a meal, some games, and probably a Christmas movie. Whether we are in Michigan or Iowa, I have to admit Hallmark movies are part of our family time.
Dale Johnson: Is that a confession?
Jacob Elwart: That’s a confession. I get a kick out of them because they all have basically the same plot. It starts with someone from a big city dating a person everyone knows won’t work out. The other love interest lives in a small town, is often widowed, and is trying to make ends meet while caring for their child and running a family business. Then the big-city person comes to town, they meet through some awkward accident—dropping papers, getting splashed by a car, or falling off a ladder into someone’s arms. They don’t like each other at first, but they work together through most of the movie. A trusted friend helps move things along and eventually they fall in love. Then there’s a misunderstanding, they break up for about four to five minutes, followed by four more minutes of commercials about compression socks and creams. After that, they reconcile, the big-city person quits their corporate job, moves to the small town, and they live happily ever after.
Dale Johnson: You forgot the kiss.
Jacob Elwart: That’s true.
Dale Johnson: I don’t know if you know this, but I have girls in the house too but we’re recording here in Kansas City, which is actually the home of Hallmark.
Jacob Elwart: I always assumed it was in Canada.
Dale Johnson: Nope, right here at Crown Center. That’s probably more information than I should know. Let’s get back to the incarnation. You have talked a lot about how you guys meditate on the incarnation. If you and I were encouraging each other about thoughts on the birth of Jesus and the incarnation, what are some of the key things that are central in your mind, not just intellectually but comforting about the truths on the incarnation that we can meditate on?
Jacob Elwert: Philippians 2 is super helpful in thinking of how Christ left heaven’s throne and humbled Himself, even to the point of death on a cross. The incarnation doesn’t stop at His birth—it points toward something. Christ became man in order to do something. He was born to die. And that death was meant to do something.
So I want to encourage others by keeping the main thing the main thing. I want my family not to lose sight of the most important thing. The local church is central to our lives, even during busy seasons. The church’s Christmas concert is a very important part of my experience, thinking about the incarnation, and several times we have themed messages based on that. It helps remind me of the importance of this time and push back against the culture that’s trying to distract us from the meaning of Christmas.
Christmas also gives us time to slow down. For much of the year, families are running fast. This season allows us to slow down and reflect on the good things that God has allowed us to enjoy.
Dale Johnson: That’s so good. You can’t have the cross without the incarnation. Let’s finish by talking about meals. It’s not just about the food, but the fellowship. What do those moments around the table look like for you?
Jacob Elwart: Jennifer’s family is much more traditional than my family was in terms of Christmas. They had a similar meal every year. Their meal includes rice, homemade meatballs, peas, a red cheese ball salad, crescent rolls, and a four-layer red velvet cake.
On Christmas Day, it is usually turkey or ham with traditional sides. When we’re in Michigan, Jennifer recreates that Christmas Eve meal so our kids can enjoy it even if we are not in Iowa. With my family, we usually have turkey or prime rib, and everyone brings a dish. It’s less traditional, but it works well, especially with allergies and preferences.
Dale Johnson: What a wonderful time to celebrate. As believers, we have every reason to celebrate. I hope you all have a wonderful week. Jacob, thank you for helping prepare our hearts to think about the incarnation. We pray you and your family celebrate with awe and wonder at what the Lord has done for us. Thank you for being with us.
Jacob Elwart: Thank you. Merry Christmas.