This swap series will help us to finish out the year with an attitude of worship! Jesus is the Reason for the Holiday Season, so let’s keep our hearts and minds on Him this Christmas! Read the recommended Bible passages and the Christmasy blurb below. Send your partner a letter or notecard answering the questions at the end of this post.

Bible passages to read and reflect on this week: Isaiah 53:1-7

One of the world's most loved Christmas songs is Silent Night. There's something especially moving about reflecting, through song, on the silent, holy night long ago when Jesus was born. About six hundred years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah described another silent time in the Savior's life. Though he was innocent, "he was oppressed and afflicted" with suffering during his arrest and trial; "he was led like a lamb to the slaughter," but "he did not open his mouth." When his persecutors made false accusations, Jesus said nothing. While he hung in torment on the cross for nearly six hours, he spoke only a few brief sentences. When darkness covered the land and it was like night for about three hours--the voice of Jesus and the voice of God were both silent (see Matthew 27:12-14, 45-50). Maybe you find yourself suffering in silence this Christmas. Perhaps every night is silent and lonely because there is no one available to listen. If so, remember that Jesus knows what it is to suffer in silence. Jesus knows our suffering, and he promises that even in the most silent of nights his holy presence is with us; we are not alone.

Are you, or someone you know, facing loneliness this Holiday Season?

Look up Matthew 28:20 and write out this promise from Jesus. How does this verse reassure you?