Guide · 6 min read
What are good Christmas Bible games for church groups?
Good Christmas Bible games come straight from the story in Luke 1–2 and Matthew 1–2, so the Bible itself settles every answer. Play in table teams, read the passage aloud first, and give each answer with its reference. A Nativity quiz, carol lines, Nativity riddles and a read-aloud story suit every age.
Updated October 23, 2026 · Selenby Puzzles
Every church group already owns the richest Christmas game material of all: the story itself. Luke and Matthew tell it in four short chapters, and a game built on them gives the Sunday school class, the youth group, the women’s Bible study and the senior ministry something to share. The Bible settles every answer, so no volunteer at the front ever has to. Here are the games that work, a free one you can play this week, and how to keep it warm for every age.
Why the Christmas story makes a good game
Most Christmas games ask about songs, movies or traditions, and half the room is guessing. A Christmas Bible game asks about a story everyone has heard read aloud for years, often in the same sanctuary. That changes the feeling in the room:
- Every answer has a verse. When someone asks “Are you sure?”, a member opens a Bible and reads it out. The answer belongs to Scripture, not to the host.
- Two Gospels, two angles. Luke follows Mary, the shepherds and the temple; Matthew follows Joseph, the wise men and the flight to Egypt. Mixing them up is half the fun, and sorting them out is how people learn something new about a story they thought they knew.
- Nobody is left out. A child who heard it in Sunday school last week and a member who has read it for sixty Decembers can sit at the same table and both be right.
Five Christmas Bible games that work in church
A Nativity quiz in table teams
A quiz is the backbone of most church Christmas games. Our Christmas Bible Quiz has 40 questions in four rounds, In Bethlehem; Mary, Joseph & Angels; Magi & the Temple; and Prophecy & Promise, each with three answers. The Host Pack gives every question its Scripture reference, a fun fact and a “Talk about it” question, plus 5 tie-breakers. It asks only what is stated plainly in Scripture, and the wording was checked in three widely read translations, so it works with any Bible your group reads.
Luke or Matthew?
Read a moment from the Christmas story, and each table decides which Gospel tells it. It needs no printing and takes about ten minutes. A ready set of eight is below, with the answers and where to read them.
Carol lines the whole hall finishes
Many carols retell the Nativity, so a carol-line game belongs here too. In Christmas Finish the Phrase, the host starts a line and the room sings or says the rest: 60 lines in 6 rounds, from carols, “The Night Before Christmas” and classic sayings, each with its story. Nobody writes, which makes it a gentle opener.
Nativity riddles
Christmas Riddles has 60 riddles in three levels plus 8 Nativity bonus riddles, written for church groups and Sunday school. Every riddle has a hint, so a stuck table can ask for one, and teams talk each riddle over for 30 seconds before they answer.
A read-aloud story to close
Christmas Pass the Gift has four read-aloud stories. In the Church Christmas story, a children’s pageant rehearsal, small gifts move around the circle each time the reader says a direction word. It ends the evening with laughter rather than a score.
All four of these games, the quiz, Finish the Phrase, Pass the Gift and Christmas Carol Bingo with 100 different cards and 40 traditional carols, come in one download, the Church Christmas Games Bundle, with TV slides for the quiz, the carol lines and the bingo. For a full evening built from them, our church Christmas party plan lays it out game by game.
Free game: Luke or Matthew?
Read each moment aloud. Tables answer Luke, Matthew or, once, Both. Give a point for each right answer and read the verse after every one. The moments are told in our own words; read the verses from your own Bible.
- An angel visits Mary in Nazareth.
- Wise men come from the east, following a star.
- Joseph plans to break the engagement quietly, until an angel speaks to him in a dream.
- The baby is laid in a manger because there is no room in the inn.
- King Herod asks the chief priests and scribes where Christ should be born.
- Shepherds keep watch over their flock by night.
- Jesus is born in Bethlehem.
- An elderly widow, Anna, gives thanks in the temple.
| No. | Answer | Read it in |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luke | Luke 1:26–27 |
| 2 | Matthew | Matthew 2:1–2, 9 |
| 3 | Matthew | Matthew 1:19–20 |
| 4 | Luke | Luke 2:7 |
| 5 | Matthew | Matthew 2:3–5 |
| 6 | Luke | Luke 2:8 |
| 7 | Both | Matthew 2:1 and Luke 2:4–7 |
| 8 | Luke | Luke 2:36–38 |
Want a second round? Ask each table to write one moment of its own for the other tables to place. They will open their Bibles to do it, which is the whole point.
How to play with the Bible open, step by step
- Put a Bible on every table, in whatever translation your church reads.
- Read the passage before the round. Luke 2:1–20 takes about three minutes aloud. The questions then become “what did we just hear?”, and nobody feels tested on what they remember from years ago.
- Seat mixed tables of four to six. One person knows the shepherds, another knows the wise men, and the table answers together.
- Let the table that got it right read the verse. It turns the answer into a moment of reading Scripture aloud, and it hands the microphone around the room.
- Count generously. If a table’s answer matches the verse in their own translation, it counts.
- Close with a question to talk about, such as “How did you first hear the Christmas story?” from the Host Pack, or with a short prayer.
Sunday school and youth groups
Children love being the ones who look it up. Give each team a “Bible runner” who finds the verse and reads it out, and change the runner every question. The Luke or Matthew game works with young readers if you read the moments for them. For a lively class, add the Nativity riddles, read twice, slowly, with the hint ready. Youth groups enjoy a race: the first table to find the verse and read it correctly earns a bonus point.
Women’s ministry and small groups
A women’s Bible study can play the quiz over coffee in two teams, or simply read around the circle from the Host Pack; two people are enough. The “Talk about it” questions are where a small group comes alive: after a question on the wise men, “What has been a ‘guiding star’ for you in life?” can carry the next twenty minutes. For more ideas through the year, see our women’s ministry fellowship guide.
Christmas games for seniors in senior ministry
For a senior ministry gathering, keep the game short, seated and spoken:
- Easy Mode. In the Christmas Bible Quiz, everyone holds up an A, B or C paddle instead of writing. Any vote counts: a paddle, a finger or a word.
- The Gentle 20. The Host Pack lists the twenty friendliest questions as a short game of about 25 minutes. Or play Round 1, In Bethlehem, then a treat or a carol.
- Big print. On the question cards, each question and its three answers are printed at 40 pt or larger, and the TV slides put each question on a screen.
- A gentle pace. Read each question twice, slowly. A Christmas question can bring someone to mind who is missed; any question can be skipped, with no reason needed.
Our Christmas games for seniors guide has more seated games for December, and our games for seniors page gathers everything we make for older adults.
Printing for the church office
Everything prints in black ink on US Letter or A4, at 100% (Actual size). Print the Host Pack once for the leader, an answer sheet per table, and the A B C paddles on card stock so they last for years. If the room has a TV, the slides save most of the printing. One purchase covers one church, with as many copies as you need there.
Open to Luke 2, read it aloud, and the game is already half played. For more, browse all our church games or the questions in our Bible questions and answers guide.
