Leaders of area churches are reflecting on the meaning of the holiday season and agree that Christmas is a time of sharing God's love and giving back to the community.

For the Rev. Dennis Jones of Dublin Baptist Church, Christmas is a time to celebrate the miracle of God's love.

"Not only does God love us, but he shares his love with everyone across the world," Jones said.

Today, Jones said his sermon to the congregation will be a spinoff from "The Chronicles of Narnia" book series by C.S. Lewis.

Jones will ask his congregation, "What if Christmas had never come?" just as it happened in Lewis' first Narnia book, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe."

"Well, we know as Christians that would never happen because no one can lock out what God has to do," he said.

Jones said the Narnia books carry spiritual messages of God's love and hope.

According to Jones, Lewis was agnostic until he found Christ through another famous writer, J.R.R. Tolkien -- the author of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

Aside from the Christmas Day service, Jones said the church participated in the Angel Tree ministry, collected food baskets and gave money to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.

Moon was a famous missionary in the 1800s who traveled to China to provide food for others. She died of starvation after giving all of her own food away.

"These are the people that help to spread the message of God's love to others," Jones said.

At Christ Episcopal Church in Blacksburg, the Christmas celebration is just beginning.

On Tuesday, the Rev. Scott Russell said the church hadn't even been decorated yet.

Russell said the church follows the traditional 12 days of Christmas and will sing Christmas carols and participate in other holiday events starting today and ending Jan. 6.

"This is something people might find a little countercultural," Russell said.

He said that his message to his congregation will be traditional and will reflect on the images of light that come out of the story of Jesus' birth.

"We celebrate Christmas at a very dark and cold time of the year," Russell said. "But we light candles in the darkness in hope of the coming of the Christ child. There is light and life in the midst of darkness."

Another Christmas tradition of the church includes The Longest Night service. It is held for people who find the holidays difficult to deal with.

"For some people, it's hard to be merry and bright during the holidays," Russell said. "We try to help people cope with the sadness they may feel."

The congregation at Fieldstone United Methodist Church in Christiansburg is starting a new tradition this year.

For the first time, the Rev. Bryson Smith said he is encouraging families to "adopt Jesus" by spending less money on themselves and more on the community.

"If we all pitched in, think how much we could do," Smith said. "It's all about spreading God's love to others."

He said his son had already donated $1, and he is hoping the rest of the community will commit to raise $2,000 by the end of the year.

Smith said he is always searching for new opportunities to give back to the community and is encouraging his congregation to let God do new things inside them.

"God can do so many things, so I'm asking my community, 'Where's that place God can do something brand new with you?' "