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Christmas Traditions With Dr. Bruce Ware

Truth in Love 29

How can we help our kids better understand Christ in the Christmas season?

Dec 21, 2015

Heath Lambert:  This is Christmas week and we wanted to do something a little different this week. We actually wanted to begin a new tradition of our own. And so I have invited Dr. Bruce Ware to be our guest on the podcast this week. Dr. Ware is a professor of Christian theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, he is a well-known author and speaker. And Dr. Ware is one of the professors that I admired the most during my time at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary as a student there. I’ve heard him speak often about his family and his home as his children grew up, and as he lives life together with his dear wife, Jodi, and I wanted to have him on the podcast to tell you about some of his Christmas traditions and what happens in the Ware home.

So, Dr. Ware, we’re glad that you’re here, and I would love it if you would talk with us a little bit about your family, who’s in your family, and who they are, and introduce us to who they are a bit.

Dr. Bruce Ware: I’d be happy to. Thank you for having me on your podcast, Heath, that’s very kind. Well, I’ve been married to Jodi, and we’re coming up on our 37th anniversary in a couple of weeks. And we have to do two grown daughters. Rachel is a student here at Southern currently, single and just a delight really. A young woman who loves the Lord has a love for life, and a real heart for missions and for serving Christ. Our older daughter Bethany likewise is by God’s grace a very committed Christian. She married a young man who has actually served here at Southern. Currently, he’s on the faculty at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. His name is Owen Strahan, and Owen and Bethany have three children. We are very glad to claim as our grandchildren, Ella Rose, Gavin Edwards, and Ainsley Kate, they’re just precious to us.

Heath Lambert: That’s wonderful. I actually know every member of your family, some of them better than others, but I know all of them and they are a delightful family. It’s a testament to your leadership and your godliness that your family just radiates Christ.

Dr. Bruce Ware: Well, thank you. It’s a testament to the grace of God.

Heath Lambert: That’s right. Well, so, tell us about your Christmas traditions. What was Christmas like in the Ware home? And in particular, help us understand maybe how some of those traditions changed from when the girls were young to now that they’re grown-ups.

Dr. Bruce Ware: Yes, good. Well of course a number of them are related to cooking, which I didn’t play a part in, except being the beneficiary of it. But Jodi did a number of things with the girls growing up to help them learn to make Christmas cookies and different kinds of special dishes and things like that. So that was just a lot of fun. I could remember all kinds of laughter and fun going on in the kitchen. But in terms of things that we did, we tried to incorporate in our family devotions things that were focused on the Christmas season. One thing we did for a number of years that I really loved doing was we would make a list of names of Jesus from the Bible day by day. So each one would come up with another name that we hadn’t thought of earlier, you know, which at first it’s easy. Emmanuel, you know? But after you’ve got several on the list, then you have to think harder, you know, and look deeper. So that was really fun. And when you’re done, you know, you come to Christmas Day and look over this full list of the names that are given to Christ in the Old and New Testament. It’s really overwhelming that the beauty of who He is and what He has come to do is exhibited just by those names.

Another thing that we did is we got an Advent calendar and one through that every day. And of course, those are so nice because they, at least most of them, I think, have particular passages attached to the days of Advent that you can read together. So, we would do that and talk about those passages. And of course, the kids love when they were little to open the little door or whatever it would be, you know, on those Advent calendars. That was really a delight to do. And we tried to memorize a passage together. We do that at the table, just recite, and sometimes worked on it on our own. At least the adults did that, the kids didn’t need to, they just learned it, you know. It’s not fair but that’s how it happens. But we took some meaningful passages that were rich Christologically and related to Advent and we would work on memorizing those. And of course, we like to do things with our own church family, but also some special things. So we would go to Christmas concerts at local churches in the area when they had those available. We really tried to focus as much as we could on the spiritual reality of the season. Of course, we also enjoy the Christmas tree and opening presents. Of course, that’s a part of it as well, but we tried to make the spiritual part of it more prominent.

Heath Lambert: Yeah, that’s wonderful. Help us focus in on that a little bit more. How did you work to teach the truths of Scripture about the birth of Jesus during the Christmas season with your family?

Dr. Bruce Ware: Ah, okay. Well, one thing that I tried to do with our girls from a pretty young age was just talking with them about theology regularly. I didn’t want them to think this was just something for experts or for some adults to do. I wanted them to grow up realizing the beauty and the richness and applicability of rich theological truths to their own lives. And so, you know, I would spend a little bit of time with them, most evenings through the year and we would go through—we would basically go through Systematic Theology, through those evenings together. At Christmas time, of course, I would focus attention more on the person and work of Christ. And I tried just to pick a verse or two that would talk about something about Christ or something about His work or His ministry on Earth and read that together with my two girls, and then talk about that a bit together and pray, and thank the Lord for Jesus and just try to reinforce aspects of His life, ministry, His death, and resurrection. So tying Advent to the fullness of His life. You know, it’s really kind of sad, isn’t it? When you think, some people all they when they think of Jesus at Christmas is just the baby in a manger. But of course, that baby was born for a reason.

Heath Lambert: That’s right.

Dr. Bruce Ware: And that’s a lot more than just what takes place at Bethlehem. So,  it’s helpful to connect that. It’s good with your kids.

Heath Lambert: That’s good. Tell us a memory, something that stands out from the Ware home as just a delightful Christmas memory.

Dr. Bruce Ware: I do remember one Christmas that we were involved in a project at church in ministering, and our girls were involved in this as well. It was an endeavor to provide music and also some food for some poorer people that were in a neighborhood close to the church. And it was really a delight to just see the smile and the delight on my own girls’ faces as they participated in this ministry with these folks that I think really appreciated it a lot. You know, it’s amazing for people who don’t have a lot. The little things you do for them are just really appreciated. I just remember the joy that was for us to be a part of that and to see that on our kids’ faces.