Narnia: Promises Foretold Series

“Promises Foretold.¨ Mark 1:1-8, 12-4-05, Advent 2, Narnia 2

Children’s Message: For those of you who were here last week, you know that we. re getting ready for Christmas by thinking about a story called, “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,.¨ from the Chronicles of Narnia. Today, we’re going to continue reading some of this wonderful little story.

[from the Narnia “Movie Storybook.¨ read pages 7-15, starting with “Beside the Faun. s blazing fire. ¨ and ending with, “Then they would ascend to four thrones in a palace called Cair Paravel!.¨ Have the pictures displayed on the screen so everyone in the congregation can follow along!]

Does anybody know what a prophecy is? Many times it is a promise spoken long ago of something that is going to happen. In Narnia, there were two prophesies, they call them two old rhymes, that we. re going to look at in the sermon for today in just a few minutes. We also know that there are some very real prophecies and promises that God has made about us and about Jesus. Can you think of any of those promises, one especially as we. re getting close to Christmas? [take responses] He would send a Savior .V that He would come to us and save us! Today, listen for those promises, those prophecies and how wonderful it is to have a God who loves us so much! Pray.

We continue our series, “A Glimpse Into Narnia: A Kingdom on the Move,.¨ by looking today at those prophecies from C.S. Lewis. delightful little book, “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.¨ We’ll see the parallel in Jesus to what we know from the Scriptures to be far more than a make believe story. I realize that there were some of you who were gone last week and missed the start of this series as we explored “Winter in Narnia.¨ and the thought of having it always winter but never Christmas. So to help everyone both to catch up and to hear and see again those prophesies we’ll be talking about, let. s watch the following clip: [from the Narnia Resource DVD from Outreach, under “The Story,.¨ use from 0:37-2:28. At 1:21 into this clip, you can splice in from the Narnia Resource DVD from Outreach, under “Visual Effects,.¨ from 1:57-2:11 where the beavers are speaking]

[after clip, have the following two prophesies on the screen, white on black] 1) Aslan will come back! 2) Four Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve will sit on the thrones of Cair Paravel and that will be the end of evil. s reign.

There are two prophecies .V I’ve summarized them on the screen. Let me read these old rhymes as they are from the story itself. First, in regard to Aslan, both his coming again and what will happen when he returns. As you listen to this prophecy, see if there is anything that that sounds somewhat familiar [put on the screen]:

Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,

At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,

When he bears his teeth, winter meets its death,

And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.

Does any of that have a familiar ring to it? How about these as we think about our Aslan, our King Jesus coming and what the results will be when he comes again: [have on the screen]

„h Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

„h Isa 9:6-7 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David. s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this..¨

„h John 14:3 Jesus said, “if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am..¨

„h Is.25:8 “he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth..¨

„h Is.61:1 “the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release for the prisoners, .Kto comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve..¨

„h Rev 21:3-4 “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, .¥Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.. .¨