More than one Christian has bemoaned that Christ is forgotten during the Christmas season, and it is not hard to see why people feel that way. Publicly practicing the Christian faith has increasingly become a social taboo even during the holiday season. Instead, the malls are filled with frantic people struggling to get the best deal on new electronics and clothes. The sheer number of radio, TV and internet advertisements are impossible to escape. The crazy crowds, shopping mania and contagious cases of the “wants” are everywhere. The madness can leave anyone feeling frazzled. Add children on a hot-chocolate-and- cookie- sugar-high or visiting in-laws to the already manic atmosphere and even the calmest people can start to feel overwhelmed.

Unfortunately, the tsunami of red-and-green shows no sign of slowing, but many Christian families are looking for ways to spend time together and to remember what the Christmas season is really about. how about a faith-based movie night featuring “Faith Filled Christmas?”

“Faith Filled Christmas” is a faith-based comedy-drama by Freestyle Digital Media starring Debbie Petersen, Michael Liddle, Gerry Gelley, Gene Mack Daniels and Essex O’Brien. The film follows three generations of the Fairway family as they work to keep Christmas focused on Christ. Their holiday, however, does not look quite like they expected. The Fairway family’s determined efforts to serve God, mean that the whole family cannot be together on Christmas. In order to seize the ministry opportunities available to them, even Grandparents Simon and Mildred must spend the day apart.

The 93 minute film serves as both entertainment and a way for Christian families to reconnect with the original meaning of the Christmas season. “Faith Filled Christmas” also reminds Christians to pay attention to those people who are often forgotten during the holidays. The Fairway family is involved in foster care, adoption, retirement communities and a homeless ministry. In real life, many of these groups slip through the cracks during Christmas when people are focused on their own families. “Faith Filled Christmas” also touches on how different members of the same family can develop their own individual Christmas traditions.

The trailer for “Faith Filled Christmas” is available on YouTube and the comedy-drama itself will be released on December 5, 2017. The film was directed by Don McChesney, the founder of both Equip Education Ministries and Manifest Pictures. McChesney worked in business for 18 years before leaving to work with home educated students in 2009. Five years later, he felt called to the film industry. In 2016, McChesney successfully founded Manifest Pictures with the goal of manifesting the greatness of God in film.

Written by Amy Simonson and Don McChesney, “Faith Based Christmas” is Manifest Pictures’ debut film. The comedy-drama will be available on VOD platforms just as Christmas starts getting crazy. So, this holiday season, take a break from the Frosty-and-fruitcake frenzy and have a family movie night. Turn on “Faith Based Christmas,” and revisit a few of the ways a Christian family can keep the true meaning of Christmas alive in the modern world.