People want to attend church at Christmas

by Sunday Ready
on December 15, 2025
in stat, quote, story

You’ve got a few more weeks of preaching left in 2025, and then the calendar resets.

That’s one of the hardest parts of weekly preaching, in my opinion. No matter how good or bad you feel this Sunday went, another sermon is waiting for you in six days.

This week, I’m giving you 1 stat, 1 quote, and 1 story you can use for your Christmas messages.

But as we look ahead to 2026, I also want to help you get a jump on your sermon planning.

I’ve written a step-by-step guide to help you create a plan and actually get ahead in your sermon planning this year. And I created a free preaching calendar you can download to go with it.

In the article, I walk through 16 questions you should answer before you schedule anything. Then I take you step-by-step through how to actually build your preaching plan for the year that doesn’t make you feel trapped.

I know not every pastor uses a preaching calendar for different reasons, but I want to challenge you to at least consider it this year.

Read the article, think it through, and see if it doesn’t change the way you approach your preaching. Your family, your staff, and your church will thank you.

Stat

56% of non church attenders say they would likely attend church if someone they know invited them to attend with them at Christmas time.

It’s worth noting that 95% of church attenders plan to be at their church’s Christmas services.

Takeaway: Christmas services have the potential to be the biggest and most evangelistic of the year. Even more than Easter statistically.

Source: https://research.lifeway.com/2024/12/03/less-than-half-of-americans-attend-church-at-christmas/

Quote

“The gospel is only good news if it gets there in time.” – Carl F. H. Henry

Source: Carl F. H. Henry, The Christian Mission in the Modern World (1967).

Story

There was a father who lived in Miami. He called his son, who lived in New York City just a few days before Christmas, and said, “Son, I know it’s a bad time for me to give you this news, but after 45 years, your mom and I are done with each other. We’re splitting up.”

The son said, “Oh, Dad, you can’t do that. You can’t do that. Not after 45 years and not in December. Let me call my sister.”

So the brother who lived in New York called his sister, who lived in Los Angeles, and said, “sister, you’re not gonna believe it. Mom and Dad are splitting up.”

She said, “They will not!” So she called her dad in Miami from Los Angeles, and said, “Dad. Brother just told me what you’re saying. You just hold on, don’t do a thing till we get there. We’re both getting on planes tomorrow. We’ll be there tomorrow night.”

The dad hung up, and he turned to his wife and said, “It worked, and they’re paying their own way.”

Takeaway: Who doesn’t love a good preacher joke?

Interesting Links

Step-by-Step Guide to Building A Preaching Calendar
This is the link the article that will help you get ahead on your sermon preparation next year.

Free Prayer and Fasting sermon series (and book)
My friend Pastor JC Worley just released a new book called Deeper21: Experience the Power of Prayer and Fasting in Twenty-One Days. I’ve read it. It’s good.

He’s giving away a free 3-week sermon series you could use in January on the topic of prayer and fasting, and selling books in bulk for $10 if you want to purchase copies for your church. You can email kshaw@mygochurch.com for the books and/or sermon series.

Less Than Half of Americans Attend Church at Christmas
This is the article where I got the Christmas attendance stat. It also provides reasons people attend at Christmastime.

Want Next Week's Email?

I send emails just like this one to pastors every Monday. The goal is to help lighten the load of weekly preaching. I would love to add you to the list.