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ministry to hands nailed on a cross.
Link to word document - opens in new window - Hand of Christ
Also a powerpoint reflection (words and pictures) used as people gathered for a Watchnight Service
Both available from Alan Reid kinrossmanse@tiscali.co.uk
http://youthministrygeek.com/media/digital-story-of-the-nativity.html
You Tube downloader is free and allows you to use You Tube stuff with power point without internet access
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH6mOCENG1o
You could check out Min in Black as well:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gZeZA9HbjE&feature=related
Play the following clip from YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE
Christmas food court flash mob - shows people suddenly breaking into the Hallelujah chorus in a food court.
a.. Liken the singing to the angels singing to the shepherds as they watched their flocks.
b.. Compare the surprise and delight of the shoppers to the shock, horror then delight of the shepherds.
c.. Note that this has become a "viral video" with lots of people passing on the clip while it has had over 20million hits on YouTube. The shepherds passed on the good news that they heard.
d.. Look at some of the comments beneath the video on YouTube - some believe and some are sceptical about how spontaneous the singing is - belief and scepticism is the same reaction the shepherds probably received and we hear today.
1. At the All Age Christingle Service I've persuaded three "acts" (including Airdrie's version of Wagner) to go before a group of judges to see who has the "X" Factor.
This will be a bit of fun leading into a more serious point about who has that "X" Factor, that something special to transform our lives. Is it the one with the most animated act (two elders doing a wacky dance), the one with the most powerful voice (cue Wagner) or the one who looked the part (cue the trendy young folk with their boy band). The Judges will respond to each and then I will bring on a surprise act, a baby which will change the whole mood of the judges and, hopefully the service. Many claimed to have that "X" Factor because (a) they put on a great show (b) they sounded convincing (c) they looked the part but it was the one who come into the world in the most surprising of ways who had the "X" Factor, the Christ factor, the God factor. He still comes into our lives in the most surprising of ways . . . etc Then I plan to simply share the Christmas story with the children and young folk about me perhaps with actions. This will lead into the lighting of the Christingles.
2. This year and for the past two years I've prepared reflections for Christmas Eve Watchnight Service. This year it is based on a theme of light - Mary reflecting on "He's the light of my life", a Shepherd reflecting on "He brought light to my life" followed by some thoughts on what it means for us today which will lead to midnight and the lighting of the centre candle on the Advent Ring.
Link to word document - opens in new window - Watchnight10
3. Last year I looked at it from the perspective of Joseph and had three reflections -
Joseph - "I'm going to be a father"
Man from today - "I'm going to be a dad"
God - "I am your heavenly father"
Recognising the difficulties for some of "fatherhood" I tried to be as sensitive as I could but I think it worked quite well. Link to word document - opens in new window - Watchnight09
4. The year before I picked characters from the Nativity who light a candle on the Advent Ring and reflected on what they were looking for -
Mary, a Shepherd, etc. Link to word document - opens in new window - Watchnight08
5. The Sunday after Christmas is, of course, Boxing Day and, reflecting on the tradition of giving boxes to servants who had been working hard on the run up to Christmas and Christmas Day, I'm organising a little gift box for each person attending that day. In it will be a tea light. Very often we reflect on what Christmas means to us, looking at God coming to us in Christ. But what are we prepared to share with others, especially those in poverty, marginalised in society. I will reflect on sharing materially with others but more than that, what are we prepared to share of our faith in the Christ child with others? I will invite folk to think of someone who is struggling at this time or someone they simply want to support for whatever reason and pray for them. Then I will encourage them to give the gift away to the person that they have remembered to say that they had been remembered in prayer. This, for us, will lead into Communion and I will reflect on what this sharing means for Communion.
We will also sing "Good King Wenceslas" - well, it is the Feast of St Stephen!! Different groups will sing different parts of the Carol and we'll have a bit of fun with that.
Hope these ideas are helpful.
Link to word document - opens in new window - Watchnight08
Link to word document - opens in new window - Watchnight09
Link to word document - opens in new window - Watchnight10
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Three quick, simple and effective ideas which I have used to good effect in
past years, biblical and Christ-centred.
1. Buy a bag of gold chocolate coins. Speak about gold as one of the
gifts of the wise men. Gold was the sign of a king. Jesus, although a baby,
is our King. Afterwards open the bag distribute a gold coin to each
child/adult as a reminder.
2. Introduce a Christmas cracker. What do we like about crackers? The
snap! Have a snap or two and get children out to pull them. What else? Bad
jokes! Have some bad jokes from crackers to read out (always popular!). What
else? The paper crown (yes, crown and not hat!). Have a paper crown and put
it on. Crown tells us of a king. Jesus is our King etc.
3. Have two cards one with HURRY and one with PONDER written on
them.Tell the Christmas story emphasising how the shepherds 'hurried' to see
the baby Jesus. But how Mary 'pondered' all that she had been told in her
heart. Stress the contrast in the story. Illustrate the ways we hurry at
Christmas, but how we need to ponder on and think about the story.
Link to word document - opens in new window
Make a Christmas cracker (big as you can - I got inner tube of a roll of carpet from general george & covered with Christmas paper). It needs to be split & make a bang - you can take the bang strip out of some real crackers & attach, or fake it with party poppers).
Make a big deal of opening Jesus' cracker & see what's inside: a scroll of paper (message), a crown and a wrapped gift.
Message: read a few cracker jokes for fun, then say Jesus' christmas cracker doesn't have jokes, but a different kind of message - much more important! Show the Bible and talk about the angel's message to Mary and/or to the shepherds (you could easily fit in a Bible reading at this point).
Crown put on the paper party hat. Jesus' cracker is also about kings - bad king & good king - talk about Herod and Jesus as King
Gift: Jesus' cracker contains God's gift to us - what is it? Unwrap the present which contains a copy of Jesus' birth certificate (I struggled to get the original) with the text "unto us a child is born, a son is given". Talk about Jesus as God's gift. (and/or if you wanted you could talk about the wise men).
Jesus' cracker makes the biggest bang the world has ever known - if appropriate you could finish with kids letting off party poppers.
Immanuel - Heaven to Earth
This takes a bit of preparation but not as daunting as it first looks, & well worth it (hardest bit is getting the balloons as they only reliably last 24 hours). It is excellent for a church family service or whole school service especially if you can keep the visual for other Ch'mas services as it is very effective.
Preparation
You will need 8 helium balloons & roll of paper string (both from party shops), 8 clothes pegs or similar, box for a cradle, doll, folded sheet big enough to go in the cradle and drape down over the sides, post-its. You will also need another adult helper for the presentation.
write one letter of the word "Immanuel" on each of the balloons (I wrote it 3 times on each balloon so you will always see it even when the balloons move around).
attach paper string to each balloon & make a loop in the string about 4ft below the balloon. Then let each balloon go to the ceiling at the front of the church and cut the string near the floor (challenge is not to let a balloon go before you've attached string!!).
around children's eye height, attach post-its to strings as follows:
I = Peace; M = Joy; M = LIfe; A = Love; N = Hope; U = Truth; E = faith; L = Holy Spirit
drape sheet in & over box, put doll inside & display at front. Attach pegs to the sheet, spaced out around sides & back.of the cradle
Presentation
(optional introduction - omit if time is short)
Tell story of the unbelieving farmer whose wife went to Ch'mas Eve service while he stayed at home. There was a storm & he went out to bring in hens, but they were panicking & he couldn't communicate with them that he wanted to save them. Realised that only way to do so would be to become a hen - as he realised this, midnight Ch'mas bells struck from church (there are many versions of this story). Point is that God came from heaven to earth in Jesus at Ch'mas.
Jesus brought from heaven many things that God wants us to have on earth - what are they? Tell children you are going to have a quiz about what Jesus brought from heaven to earth. The clue will be a Bible verse & they will have to guess, eg
* "Peace I leave you, my peace I give you"
Child who guesses right comes out & finds balloon marked "peace", then pulls it "heaven to earth" until they find the loop. Use loop to attach string to first peg around the crib (your helper can show them where to put it, to allow you to keep the presentation moving).
Proceed with quiz:
* I have come that my joy may be in you & your joy may be complete
* I have come that you may have life, life in all its fulness
* Love one another as I have loved you
* Those who hope in the Lord will be made strong
* You will know the truth and the truth will set you free
* Your faith has saved you
* I will leave you another helper, the Holy Spirit
What you should end up with is the crib anchoring the balloons suspended between heaven and earth, spelling IMMANUEL
End by discussing what Immanuel means. The best way heaven came to earth was not only in all these qualities but in Jesus himself.
Last year I produced three scripts to tell the Christmas story from another perspective (I took them from an adult nativity I wrote that has never seen the light of day yet, but that's another story) They are scripts for Naomi, Joseph's Granny, Seth a shepherd and Balthazzar. I had adults read them, and it went really well with a very mixed congregation.
(Scripts as word document files are below - open in new windows)
Balthazzar, the man of science
Seth, the shepherd
Joseph’s Granny Naomi
Buy dead cheap crackers in a pound shop - I got boxes of 20 for £1 I think. Give one to everyone along with an adhesive address label. They write their name on the label, stick it on, and you can have some fun getting them to pass the cracker along at every verse of every carol. Come the activity, they have to find their cracker, & pull it with the person who had it (and learn their name). Inside there is a paper crown. We sellotaped the crown to some string and hoisted them up on the chandelier on string looped over it earlier on.
Lessons to be drawn:
At Xmas, we are known by name, and God came looking for us just as we looked for our cracker.
At Xmas, it's good to be with loved ones, but it unites us with strangers...who are just the same as us, on the same journey
At Xmas, the King of Kings came among us and we worship him.
I bought 800 lightsticks to be used at a BB Battalion carol service which got cancelled on Monday....! So here's an unused idea and if anyone thinks they can use some lightsticks....... If not, the cheapest you will find them is http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/100-x-8-GLOW-STICKS-LIGHTSTICKS-BRACELETS-PARTY-/330376919486?pt=UK_WSJL_Wholesale_GL&hash=item4cebffb9be
Everyone is issued with a lightstick at the start of the night but told emphatically that they must not break them. When the time comes, you can tell them Harry Potter could do magic – we are here to celebrate someone even more powerful, Jesus Christ who was called the Light of the World because he brought light and love into everyone’s life.
Harry Potter used a wand, which instantly did whatever he commanded. Jesus’ love works differently, it doesn’t happen instantly, his light has to be spread from one person to another.
We’re going to put out the church lights, and starting at the front we’re going to use our light wands to pass on the Light of the World from person to person. When the first person gets their wand touched by ours they can break it to start it glowing and then turn to someone beside and behind and touch theirs.
When you touch someone’s wand you must say, “Christiamus!” That’s our blessing to each other, and it’s greater than any magic, because you’re telling the other person that at Christmas, the Light of the World came in to the world, and we’ve all been given the joy of sharing that blessing.
All lights are put out and the light spreads.
OPTIONAL ACTIVITY
After eveybody’s light is lit they are told to go and find people with the same colour of light, come to the front and collect some connectors and try and make the word JOY by connecting or holding together the sticks.
Other optional activity
With a connector, join your stick into a circle. See who can whirl them round on their finger – remember, we’ve got to let people see that light of Jesus love in us.
Place it on your head and you can be an angel. And during the last hymn you have wear it on your head as a halo.
Hope this might be of assistance to anyone with a family service on Christmas Eve
http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/worship/wpscots.htm#advent
http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/worship/wpscots.htm#christmas
Top 20 Nativity
A retelling of the Shepherds story using music from various years of the charts. Narrator reads and finishes mid sentence a musician or appropriate sections of the track are played to finish off the sentence. A wee competition could happen to see who can guess the track first.
How old is an angel - sketch for two
Stable Story - A retelling of the stable story for the Sunday after Christmas.
Beginnings - A litany for the beginning of the year
The Remembered Nativity -
We didn’t have enough children for a Nativity Play so we asked them to paint life-size characters onto hardboard which the adults cut and on the day we brought them in at the appropriate time and stood them up in the chancel to make the nativity scene.
But more importantly, while we did this, the congregation heard the story as the Sunday School children remembered it. To do this, one morning we asked them to retell the story in their own words which we wrote down. We prompted them using questions like ‘What happened next?’, ‘How do you think they felt?’, ‘What words would you use to describe…?’ etc and complied it into one narrative which the children read themselves while the characters were put in place. This is the version they gave us last year but I recommend you do your own because it is amazing what they remember, when you learn about how you tell the story, how they connect it with contemporary culture, and what they add to it. We left it exactly as they retold it to us
Link to word document - Remembered Nativity
Link to word document - Beginnings
Link to word document - stable story
Link to word document - sketch for two How old is an angel
2. CHRISTMAS PASS THE PARCEL
Wrapped two tins sweets Celebrations in layers of different paper (as below) with newspaper as the inner layer and Christmas paper on the outside:
- Christmas paper
- birthday paper
- new baby paper
- paper with stars on
- brown paper
- newspaper
Point out that the parcel is wrapped in Christmas paper - have a few suggestions as to what it might contain.
Asked congregation to play pass the parcel. Each time the music stops, someone took off a layer of paper. Discussed what was underneath and why that particular paper had been used.
Christmas paper = it's Christmas time!
birthday paper = Jesus' birthday
new baby paper = God's Son was born as a human baby at Christmas.
paper with stars = the star that led people to the stable
brown paper = Jesus was born into a very poor family, in a stable.
newspaper = Jesus coming is Good News for everyone
The box of Celebrations was shared with the congregation, as a reminder that Christmas is wonderful reason for celebration.
3. THE GIFT OF OUR CHRISTMAS PRAYERS
Used at a Children’s Christmas Eve Service - just as we all exchange Christmas gifts with one another we are going to make a gift of our prayers to God
Everyone was given a piece of red paper parcel as they arrived and during service invited to write or draw something that they wanted to thank
God for this Christmas Eve. Everyone invited to post their prayers in the ‘Parcel Prayer Box’ during the service while praise band sang ‘Christmas isn’t Christmas till it happens in your heart’
Prayers were all gathered up into closing prayers at the end of the service and offered to God as a Christmas gift
Stories in the style of Thomas the Tank Engine but set in the bus depot. Two stories suitable for an all age Christmas Eve service. Pictures of the characters available from Frank Campbell jedburgh@cofscotland.org.uk
Link to word document - all-age-christmas-eve-2008
Link to word document - all-age-christmas-eve-2009