
November 5, 2026
Not Just on Sunday
Lonetta McKee

The December 2018 Christian Standard issue features Christmas at the Movies: A Christmas Carol, with articles on Christmas, hospitality, missions, and church leadership.
The December 2018 issue of Christian Standard brings together Christmas reflection, ministry encouragement, and practical church insight through a strongly seasonal theme. Its feature article, “Christmas at the Movies: A Christmas Carol,” uses Dickens’s classic story to explore repentance, redemption, generosity, and the possibility of a changed future. That same Christmas focus continues through companion pieces on It’s a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story, as well as articles on hospitality, peace, missions, leadership, and gift-giving.
This issue serves both church leaders and everyday readers by blending devotional warmth with practical ministry content. Readers will find encouragement for leaders in difficult seasons, guidance for elders on spiritual priorities, insight into shopping trends and how they affect the church, and ideas for giving churches an international flair at Christmas. The issue also includes reflections on restoring a historic theater for church and community use, the gospel-shaped welcome described as coming with a house key, and a curated collection of Christmas wisdom for church leaders.
Across the issue, the dominant message is that Christmas is not merely sentimental or nostalgic. It is a season that calls Christians to worship, hospitality, generosity, mission, and renewed vision. For readers searching for Christmas at the Movies: A Christmas Carol, this issue offers a fuller December package of Christ-centered reflection and practical ministry help, rooted in the life of the church and the hope of the gospel.
2-3 | Letter from the Publisher
Jerry Harris
6-7 | Letter from the Editor
Michael C. Mack
8-9 | Movement
Three Greats
David Dummitt
10-12 | e2: Effective Elders
An Elder’s Greatest Priority
David Roadcup
13-15 | Imagine
Restoring Historic Theater for Church and Community
Mel McGowan
16-17 | Horizons
Give Your Church an International Flair This Christmas
Emily Drayne
18-19 | MinistryLife
The Christmas Vision
Daniel Schantz
20-25 | Metrics
How Changing Shopping Trends Affect the Church
Kent Fillinger
28-35 | Feature Article
Christmas at the Movies: A Christmas Carol
Jerry Harris
36-41 | Christmas at the Movies: A Christmas Story
Caleb Kaltenbach
42-47 | Christmas at the Movies: It’s a Wonderful Life
Dick Alexander
48-53 | The Gospel Comes with a House Key
Matt Proctor
54-57 | Silent Night
BJ Krug
60-65 | 10 Gifts that Give More
Carla Williams
66-71 | Joy to the Church Leaders
Compiled by Justin Horey
72-77 | The “Perfect” Christmas Tree
Max Lucado
78-79 | Interact
80 | Biblitically Correct
The Church of Christ Nativity Heist
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